Defendant's right of appearance before the court in the light of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights

The conduct of a fair trial in criminal procedure depends on the defendant's effective exercise of his right to defense. The key to the exercise of the right to defense is the right of appearance before the court. In order for the defendant to be said to have received a fair trial, he must be able to participate in the trial directly, effectively and efficiently. The defendant present at the trial will be able to make his defense in person before the court, evaluate the evidence for and against him and have a direct impact on the outcome of the trial. In addition, the appearance before the court is a necessity in terms of reaching the material truth and determining and individualizing the basic punishment. Therefore, any interference with the defendant's right of appearance before the court must be made only if it is absolutely necessary. The relevant arrangements should be clear, unambiguous and exceptional. However, although the rule in the criminal procedure law is that the appearance before the court, it is seen that many exceptions are made to this rule and there are issues in the regulations regarding these exceptions that are incompatible with the right to a fair trial. In practice, the trial is held in the absence of the defendant before the conditions are met and it is often preferred for the defendant to attend the trial by video conference method instead of being present in person. This situation leads to the restriction of the defendant's right to defense and results in the violation of the right to a fair trial. In this study, the place, scope and importance of the defendant's right of appearance before the court within the right to defense were examined in the light of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. The regulations that constitute an exception to the defendant's right of appearance before the court were evaluated in the context of the right to a fair trial. Besides the problems arising from the legislation and practice were identified and solutions to these problems were proposed.