ISTANBUL – Lawyers in many main court districts in Istanbul are halting their free bar-appointed defense attorney services in response to an order from the Finance Ministry to pay taxes on the money they receive for case-related expenditures such as transportation and photocopies. Lawyers say the order prevents them from defending the rights of the poor
Until 10 days ago, a penniless criminal suspect arrested in Istanbul could turn to one of 4,000 bar-appointed lawyers for legal aid, with the fees paid for by the state. But now, indigent suspects are on their own.
The disappearance of free legal services comes amid a dispute between lawyers and various government agencies, including the Finance Ministry, which has sought to retroactively tax the money paid to lawyers by the state. In the shell-game-like dispute over the money trail from government to lawyers, payments began drying up some months ago in various court districts, and not for the first time. When the Finance Ministry moved two weeks ago to tax last year’s payments, it was the last straw for lawyers, leading them to stop providing the free services.
“It was first in 1992 that the poor had the right to benefit from free attorneys; after that, the greatest reason for the end of torture in prisons, and especially at police stations, was our colleagues. I am afraid we will experience a return to the past,” said Turgay Demirci, an administrative board member of the Istanbul Bar, which is responsible for bar-appointed attorneys.
“The bar-appointed-attorney system is a legal structure to defend the rights of the poor against the state. Where a lawyer cannot enter, rights are violated inevitably,” said Halil ?brahim Erdo?an, the lawyer responsible for the Bak?rköy district. Attorneys who spoke to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review said the current system prevents the full implementation of this right.
The issue is not a new one. Two years ago lawyers in Istanbul stopped providing services when they were unable to get their fees from the state. The issue seems more complicated this time.
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