The sociological analysis of the opening speeches of judicial year in Turkish law (1943-2001)

In Turkey, every year with the opening ceremony of the judicial year and the inaugural speech made by the President of the Court of Cassation is entering a new judicial year. This practice, which started in 1943 and was abandoned for a short time between 1956 and 1960, continues today. In Turkey, the judiciary perspective on the overall reputation of the social events are embodied in the inaugural speech of the judicial year. These speeches have emerged as speeches in which judicial problems are sometimes expressed, sometimes the concerns of the political regime are instigated, and sometimes the efforts to direct the society or the government are embodied. The judiciary did not remain indifferent to the political and social processes, both in the process of becoming a nation-state during the founding periods of the Republic and during the military coup periods. Many evaluations have also been made by the judiciary regarding the perception of social danger revealed within the friend-enemy dilemma. On the other hand, over the years, the judiciary declared their needs, which they demanded from the legislative and executive powers, to both the public and the interlocutors. In this study, the perspective of the judiciary on social and political events, its relations with the legislative and executive powers, and the mission it attributes to itself in this context, is tried to be put forward from the opening speeches of the judicial year and to understand the extent to which universal legal principles such as the supremacy of law, independence and impartiality prevail in the judiciary.