The Judicial Recess; Should Justice Stop for 40 Days?

In Türkiye the judiciary is officially on holiday every year between 20 July and 31 August. The courts stop, the registries fall silent, petitions learn to wait. Of course duty courts are open for urgent matters; but most of the judiciary nevertheless stays in idle for forty days.

Is that not enough? There is also another interim period that everyone knows about even though it is not officially recognised; January is lived like an unofficial judicial recess under the pretext of file handover. Work mostly proceeds slowly until mid-February. Everyone knows, but no one says it.

How far is this compatible with the principle of continuity of public services? While the Constitution gives the state the duty to protect and develop the fundamental rights of citizens, is it reasonable to wait so long for the judicial system to come to its senses?

What is the situation around the world? In England some courts schedule their files according to judges’ leave, but the system does not stop entirely. In the United States the federal judiciary and most state courts work all year round; the judge takes leave, the court does not. In France and Italy things ease off in summer but do not stop; flexible working is applied.

Let me not pass without mentioning an oft-told legend. It is said that the judicial recess in Türkiye was taken from Spain, where judges had to go to the fields for the maize harvest in the summer months. Perhaps it was once so. How many judges in Türkiye today are also farmers?

Of course members of the judiciary have a right to a holiday too. But the solution could be, instead of sending the system on holiday en masse, to ensure the flow of justice all year round through a rotating, planned and efficient organisation. If we say “justice is the foundation of the state”, is that foundation set to the summer heat?