The Workshop on Improving the Admissibility of Applications to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) by the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) and Diyarbakir Bar Association, with the support of Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) Turkey Office, took place on Saturday, April 15th. The workshop, to which lawyers registered with regional bar associations, including Diyarbakir Bar Association showed great interest, featured presentations by legal experts Levent Yalçın, Dr. Atilla Nalbant, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ümit Kılınç, and Dr. Rıza Türmen, who shared insights with participants on how to enhance the admissibility of individual applications to the ECtHR in light of Article 47 of the ECtHR Rules and court practice. The workshop commenced with opening speeches by MLSA Co-Director Lawyer Veysel Ok, Diyarbakir Bar Association President Lawyer Nahit Eren, and FNF Program Director Gülçin Sinav.
An admissible and effective application to the ECtHR
In the morning session moderated by MLSA Legal Unit lawyer Merve Kurhan, Levent Yalçın, a lawyer from the ECtHR Registry, addressed the topic of 'How to make a valid application under Article 47?'. Yalçın highlighted common mistakes made in applications through the application form and drew attention to small but significant details that may lead to applications being deemed inadmissible by the Court. At the end of Yalçın's presentation, he answered questions from the participants. 
The workshop continued with a presentation titled “Criteria of admissibility from the perspective of legal practice” by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ümit Kılınç from the Strasbourg Bar Association. Kılınç, who actively practices law in France, provided concrete examples, highlighting the points that the Court pays attention to in applications and the mechanisms that can be triggered during the initial application. Kılınç answered questions from the participants after his presentation.
‘Is the ECtHR aware that it is the last resort for people in countries such as Turkey, Russia, and Ukraine?’
The afternoon session was moderated by Emine Özhasar, a lawyer from the MLSA Legal Unit. Av. Dr. Atilla Nalbant, Head of the Turkey Section at the ECtHR Registry, started his presentation titled “Current cases and functioning of the ECtHR” by providing an overview of the Court's overall workload and that of originating from Turkey. 
Nalbant emphasized that the workload of cases originating from Turkey at the ECtHR, as well as the workload of the Constitutional Court (AYM), is due to the erosion of the rule of law. He stated that applications from Turkey have increased after constitutional amendments, and the growing notion of a "security state" following the July 15th Coup Attempt has also contributed to this. Nalbant pointed out that violations against journalists, human rights defenders and politicians have become more frequent due to existing structural problems, and these cases always come before the Court. He concluded his presentation by answering the questions from participants. In the final session of the workshop, former ECtHR judge Dr. Rıza Türmen addressed the issue of non-implementation of ECtHR judgments. 
Türmen stated, “The issues discussed today actually show how important the ECtHR is for Turkey. All social and political issues in Turkey come before the ECtHR, and the Court's judgments also have an impact on these issues. Of course, it is a separate issue to what extent the ECtHR is aware of this, and we should also discuss how much the Court realizes that it is the last resort for people in countries like Turkey, Russia, and Ukraine.” Türmen also expressed that the non-implementation of ECtHR judgments undermines the credibility of the Court. Türmen shared with the participants that the ECtHR had written a memorandum to state and government leaders who will attend the upcoming Council of Europe Leaders Summit to be held in Reykjavik on May 16-17, 2023, regarding the non-implementation of its judgments. Türmen pointed out that this indicates that the Court is taking action to address the issue of non-implementation of its judgments and is bringing it to the attention of high-level officials in member states. Türmen pointed out that the argument that “the ECtHR cannot give instructions to local courts”, which has been raised even by legal professionals in Turkey, is highly erroneous. He also reminded the participants of Article 90 of the Constitution, which states that Turkey has committed to implementing ECtHR judgments. Türmen concluded his presentation by answering participants' questions. MLSA will continue its ECtHR workshops in collaboration with Diyarbakir Bar Association and other bar associations.
