Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced that a new system based on service points and point rankings will be introduced for the appointment of judges and public prosecutors. Under a decision by the Council of Judges and Prosecutors, promotion and inspection results, as well as indicators of merit and suitability for the profession, will be reflected in the scoring; the east-west distinction will be abolished, with objective and measurable criteria prioritized. The system, which will be implemented through the 2027 Main Decree, is intended to strengthen fairness and predictability. Gürlek said that measures to accelerate judicial proceedings had been implemented through the 12th Judicial Reform Package, adding that they aimed to ensure citizens could access justice more quickly and that cases were concluded within a reasonable time.
Why it matters
The new approach reduces the impact of geographical distinctions on duty station planning for judges and prosecutors by bringing professional backgrounds under a common assessment framework. This change concerns members of the judiciary by allowing them to calculate their appointment order in advance, and citizens receiving judicial services through its effect on staff distribution across courts. However, the weight of promotion, inspection, merit and professional suitability indicators in the total score, as well as which criterion will be used in the event of equal scores, has not yet been disclosed. The fact that the system will begin with the 2027 Main Decree establishes a timetable for clarifying the details of its implementation. The appointment system focuses on staff distribution, while the 12th Judicial Reform Package focuses on judicial proceedings, forming two separate dimensions of the goal of access to justice.
Background
Gürlek is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: over the past 90 days, we have published 4 news stories mentioning this name; the latest was dated September 9, 2026.