EU/TURKEY : ERDOGAN SUSPENDS ADOPTION OF CONTROVERSIAL JUSTICE BILL.

The Turkish parliament suspended work on a bill that would curtail the competences of the country's High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) and bring self-administered justice further under the government's control. Turkish media have published quotes from three letters sent by Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule to the Turkish government on 14, 20 and 22 January - the last one the day after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Brussels.

According to these press reports, Fule complained to Turkish EU Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu about not having been made aware of the draft law on the HSYK. The planned changes would not be in line with the Copenhagen criteria, the commissioner stressed in the second letter, still not satisfied with some modifications proposed by the Turkish Justice Ministry's draft. The third letter referred to Turkey's Justice Academy that provides training for judges and prosecutors. Fule pointed out that the Turkish Justice...