Transition to Modern Attorneyship Profession During the Republican Era, Discussions in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM), and Criticisms Regarding Today

The Ottoman Empire, within the constraints of its own circumstances, made reasonable efforts to modernize the profession of “legal representative for the case” existing under the term “attorneyship for being party in the case/hearing” in Islamic Law. In this regard, the Regulation on Legal Represent...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mustafa Okan Yağcı
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Istanbul University Press 2024-08-01
Series:İstanbul Hukuk Mecmuası
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Online Access:https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/31A1E7C2ABAC48D18803828415D880C9
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Summary:The Ottoman Empire, within the constraints of its own circumstances, made reasonable efforts to modernize the profession of “legal representative for the case” existing under the term “attorneyship for being party in the case/hearing” in Islamic Law. In this regard, the Regulation on Legal Representatives for the Case of Regulatory/Nizamiye Courts dated 1875, the first regulatory framework related to the legal profession, holds the status of being the foundational regulation for the profession of advocacy in the Turkish legal system. When the Turkish Republic era was reached, the prevailing view was that the profession of legal representative for the case was inadequate, and there was a need to create a new one. In this context, Attorney’s Act numbered 460 was enacted within the ongoing judicial reform efforts. The consensus that has been present since the Ottoman period on the fundamental solutions outlined in the Attorney’s Act has led to debates in the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye focusing more on secondary issues. These issues include the duration and form of the internship required to be eligible for the profession of attorneyship, whether graduation from a law school is a prerequisite for practicing as an attorney, and whether the terms “muhami/muhamat” which means “protector”, are suitable for the newly established profession. In this study, I will first examine the development of the attorneyship profession in the Ottoman Empire. Subsequently, I will discuss the regulations introduced by the Attorney’s Act and the debates held in the Parliament, drawing connections to today’s perspective.
ISSN:2667-6974