Yalçinkaya v Türkiye: A Chocolate-Box Judgment or a Victory for Human Rights? European Court of Human Rights (Grand Chamber): Judgment of 26 September 2023

After the failed coup in Türkiye on 15 July 2016, the Turkish government responded with an extensive purge of the public sector and the criminal prosecution of tens of thousands of individuals suspected of being associated with the Gülen Movement (FETÖ/PTY)—the organisation believed to be behind the coup. In several cases, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR or the Court) has been asked to address allegations of human rights abuses arising from this response and in Yalçinkaya v Türkiye, the Court issued a forceful rebuke of evidentiary short-cuts taken to convict alleged members of the FETÖ/PTY. The judgment was not unanimous, however, with several judges taking issues with the reasoning deployed under some articles of the Convention, and the failure to engage with other allegations. The most forceful rebuke came from the Turkish judge to the ECtHR, Judge Yüksel, who took specific issue with the majority’s approach to Türkiye’s derogation from the Convention and the question of whether the measures were proportionate to the exigencies of the situation. An examination of the various judgments reveals a court walking a delicate tight-rope between protecting human rights in the extreme conditions when abuses are highly likely to occur, and respecting the sovereignty of a State in the highly sensitive area of national security. Ultimately, this is a “chocolate box” of a judgment from the Grand Chamber: there is most likely some facets of the judgment to please everybody while other aspects fall short of ideal standards.