Kenan İpek (born 5 October 1959) is a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

legal

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...

and

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

who served as the Minister of Justice of Turkey from 7 March to 17 November 2015. Having previously served as the Undersecretary to the Justice Ministry, İpek succeeded the

Justice and Development Party Justice and Development Party may refer to several political parties, the best-known ones being: * Justice and Development Party (Morocco) * Justice and Development Party (Turkey) Justice and Development Party may also refer to: * Justice and Dev ...

minister Bekir Bozdağ as the Minister of Justice in accordance to Article 114 of the Turkish Constitution three months before the June 2015 general election. He is, formally, of no political affiliation, and concurrently served as the President of the

Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors The Council of Judges and Prosecutors ( tr, Hâkimler ve Savcılar Kurulu), HSK; previously named as Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors ( tr, Hâkimler ve Savcılar Yüksek Kurulu) is the disciplinary body of the legal system of the Republic o ...

during his time as Minister.

Early life and career

Born in Rize in 1959, İpek graduated from the

Istanbul University , image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg , image_size = 200px , latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis , motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü , mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future , established = 1453 1846 1933 ...

Faculty of Law in 1982. In 1983, he applied to join the judiciary in Istanbul and subsequently served in numerous roles as a Prosecutor. On 12 November 1997, he joined the Ministry of Justice, becoming the Prisons Manager on 6 October 2003 and as a senior advisor to the Ministry on 26 August 2008. He served in this position until 31 December 2013, becoming the Undersecretary to the Minister on 1 January 2014.

Minister of Justice

With the Constitution requiring that the serving partisan Minister should vacate his position to his or her Undersecretary at least three months before a general election, İpek took over from Bekir Bozdağ as Minister of Justice on 7 March 2015 and is due to serve until a new government is formed after the election. As the Minister of Justice, İpek concurrently serves as the President of the

. The other ministers who replaced partisan ministers due to the constitutional requirement were

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, who replaced

Efkan Ala Efkan Ala (born 21 February 1965) is a Turkish politician and former civil servant who served as the Minister of the Interior from November 2015 to August 2016;. He previously held the same post from 2013 to June 2015 despite not being a member ...

as the Minister of the Interior and Feridun Bilgin, replacing

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as the Transport, Maritime and Communications Minister.

Judicial suspension controversy

In late April, the Supreme board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), of which İpek serves as the President, suspended the judges who ordered the release of imprisoned Samanyolu TV broadcaster Hidayet Karaca and 70 other police officers. The individuals were being held due to alleged links with the anti-government Gülen movement led by exiled Fethullah Gülen, with Karaca being accused of establishing an armed terrorist organisation. In a statement, İpek claimed that the judges who ordered their release did so illegally from an illegal court and suspended them indefinitely while also accusing them of being followers of Fethullah Gülen. He further stated that attempts to destabilise the social order and the employment of illegal methods to do so would be curbed. President

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also openly supported their suspension, while opposition commentators accused the government of undermining the rule of law and the independence of the Judiciary. In May, the HSYK expelled and suspended indefinitely four judges and a prosecutor involved in the investigation of the 2013 government corruption scandal.

External links

Website of the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors
*www.justice.gov.tr

(English)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ipek, Kenan 1959 births Living people Ministers of Justice of Turkey Istanbul University alumni Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni Members of the 63rd government of Turkey People from Rize Turkish judges

Early life and career

Minister of Justice

Judicial suspension controversy

See also

External links

References