Evaluation of the law no. 2911 on Meetings and Demonstrations in light of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights

The right to assembly, as an indispensable part of democratic participation, enables individuals to collectively express their thoughts and opinions. This right has found its place in Turkish law as the right to hold meetings and demonstrations. However, this right must be exercised peacefully. In order to regulate the right to assembly, Law No. 2911 on Meetings and Demonstrations was enacted in 1983. Although this law, which was enacted after the military intervention, has undergone many changes to this day, it still carries the spirit of the intervention period with it. Because violation decisions against Turkey continue to be issued before the European Court of Human Rights. A similar situation is observed in individual applications made to the Constitutional Court. In order to reveal the role played by the Law in violations, it is necessary to subject the Law to a holistic evaluation, rather than considering the articles individually. Because many articles of the Law are interconnected. Since the Constitutional Court is bound by the request in annulment cases brought before it, it cannot evaluate these interconnected articles together. This situation creates a perception that these provisions are not contrary to the Constitution and the Convention. However, when the decisions of the ECtHR and the Constitutional Court are examined, it can be revealed that the main reason for the violations stems from the systematics of the Law, and that some provisions that do not individually cause a violation may be a source of violation when examined together with other provisions. For example, some articles of the Law have stipulated the form and conditions for the exercise of the right. These do not mean a violation of the right on their own and even aim to ensure that the right is used effectively. However, when the deficiencies in these conditions are examined together with different provisions of the Law, they lead to consequences such as the assembly being deemed unlawful, dispersed, and individuals participating in the assembly being subject to sanctions. However, the ECtHR states that a peaceful assembly should not be terminated due to non-compliance with the form and conditions, and individuals should not be subject to the threat of sanctions. In the event of such a result, it states that the relevant regulations have a deterrent effect on the exercise of the right, in other words, the right has been violated. Provisions that do not cause a violation of the right when examined individually may be a source of violation when evaluated together. That being the case, the Law needs to be re-evaluated in its entirety in order to prevent violations.