Civil oversight of law enforcement: A review in the context of the Law Enforcement Oversight Commission

Law enforcement units have some exceptional powers due to the nature of their work. While using these superior and exceptional powers, unlawful acts may occur from time to time. The fact that the investigation of these unlawful acts made by the law enforcement agency is also carried out by law enforcement personnel. This raises doubts as to whether the inspections are carried out adequately and as they should be, and may cause a public perception that they are being covered up. Eliminating these concerns, ensuring that the audits are carried out as they should be, ensuring the trust of the public in the complaint mechanism and at the same time protecting the law enforcement units from unfair, accusatory and slanderous complaints can only be possible with an independent and effective oversight mechanism consisting of civilian authorities. In order to ensure this, the Law Enforcement Oversight Commission was established with the Law No. 6713 adopted by the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye on May 3, 2016. In this thesis, civilian oversight of law enforcement will be examined in the context of the Law Enforcement Oversight Commission. First, a conceptual framework was drawn on the civilian control/oversight of the law enforcement, and an examination was made in the context of the Law Enforcement Oversight Commission, which was established to handle complaints about the law enforcement agency in an independent, impartial, effective and transparent manner, taking into account the best practices in the world. The established system has been discussed in detail and some suggestions have been tried to be developed. Keywords Law Enforcement, Police, Gendarmerie, Civil Oversight, Accountability, Independent Oversight, Law Enforcement Oversight Commission