Judicial harassment against women right defenders as a consequence of their actions within the scope of freedom of assembly and association - An evaluation within the context of the Constitution and the ECHR

In this study, judicial harassment against the freedom of assembly and association of women's rights defenders has tried to discuss without denying the impact of social and political developments on legal assessment. Freely exercising the rights which are based on generating and sharing "expression" collectively and with diverse methods is fundamental for right defenders. Belonging to disadvantaged groups, on different discrimination grounds such as religion, language, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, citizenship may lead to different treatments in terms of the usage of fundamental rights. In this survey, judicial harassment was examined in the context of gender and ethnicity, which intersect with the identity of being a rights defender. In the first chapter of the study, the concept of "misuse of power" which constitutes the legal basis of judicial harassment, is examined in the context of supranational contract regimes. Secondly, populism which constitutes the political context of the production and practice of judicial harassment is addressed as a rational strategy. In the third part, the concept of enemy criminal law, which constitutes the legal basis of different judicial harassment in practice is examined. In this section once again, within the framework of the reports of international observers and NGOs, the current situation regarding judicial harassment in Turkey has been tried to be determined. In the second chapter of the study, principally in the regime of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right of assembly and association is discussed and within the scope of the indictments reached by us the interferences against the freedoms of women's rights defenders are surveyed. In this regard, with reference to the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court, a triple test has been fulfilled to check the legality of the interventions. Finally, based on the case laws pertaining to Article 18 of the ECHR, determinations were made in connection with judicial harassment.