UYAP (National Judiciary Informatics System)
4 is another tool for accessing
information. However, it is not possible for ordinary people to retrieve closed cases
to support their own cases. Only related authorized people (lawyers, judges etc.) are
allowed to reach these closed cases fully. Participation and monitoring mechanisms
like the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive, which is crucially important
in environmental struggles, do not work effectively. Public Participation Meetings
under the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive are not conducted properly.
They are mostly perfunctory, and people are not aware of the devastating results of
projects (Politeknik, 2015).
Despite of these limitations, civil society organizations, activists and local
movements have become the main actors in the environmental struggle in solidarity
with each other. They use both street activism and legal practices. There are
organizations which give their support to legal struggles against environmental
violations, but it is still hard to obtain information. It is also important for people in
these struggles to reach other people with the same problems and share their
know-how. In such situations, technology could close the physical distance and
provide many different opportunities.
Transparency International Turkey and the Environmental Law Association got
their idea for their EU-funded project,
5
“Turkey’s Map of Environmental
Violations”, from the setting where environmental violations have become a
debatable issue. In this hectic environment, these two associations pooled their
ideas on more transparent, participatory and accountable law practices. They started
the project to contribute to more transparent environmental policies, create an
interactive platform for sharing information on environmental law cases, and
empower citizens in environmental law cases.
This chapter aims to summarize this project experience, provide some information about its main findings, and state its challenges. To make it easier to
understand why this project was undertaken, the background of the project will be
given first. Then the scope of the project, main findings and suggestions arising
from the sample cases will be shared with the aim of guiding and helping new cases
in the area. In the final section, the challenges of the project will be outlined to
inform future projects and struggles.
4
National Judiciary Informatics System: “The Ministry of Justice has prepared a ‘National
Judiciary Informatics System (UYAP)’, which is to implement a very ambitious information
system between the Courts and all other institutions of the Ministry, including prisons. UYAP has
equipped these institutions with computers, network and internet connection to give them access to
all the legislation, the decisions of the Court of Cassation, judicial records, judicial data of the
police and army records. Thus, UYAP establishes an electronic network covering all Courts,
Offices of Public Prosecutors and Law Enforcement Offices together with the Central Organization
of the Ministry of Justice,” see at: http://www.e-justice.gov.tr/.
5
For information about the program Developing Civil Dialogue among CSOs Grant Scheme, see
at: http://www.cfcu.gov.tr/program/255.
7 Environmental Cases …
115
4 is another tool for accessing
information. However, it is not possible for ordinary people to retrieve closed cases
to support their own cases. Only related authorized people (lawyers, judges etc.) are
allowed to reach these closed cases fully. Participation and monitoring mechanisms
like the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive, which is crucially important
in environmental struggles, do not work effectively. Public Participation Meetings
under the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive are not conducted properly.
They are mostly perfunctory, and people are not aware of the devastating results of
projects (Politeknik, 2015).
Despite of these limitations, civil society organizations, activists and local
movements have become the main actors in the environmental struggle in solidarity
with each other. They use both street activism and legal practices. There are
organizations which give their support to legal struggles against environmental
violations, but it is still hard to obtain information. It is also important for people in
these struggles to reach other people with the same problems and share their
know-how. In such situations, technology could close the physical distance and
provide many different opportunities.
Transparency International Turkey and the Environmental Law Association got
their idea for their EU-funded project,
5
“Turkey’s Map of Environmental
Violations”, from the setting where environmental violations have become a
debatable issue. In this hectic environment, these two associations pooled their
ideas on more transparent, participatory and accountable law practices. They started
the project to contribute to more transparent environmental policies, create an
interactive platform for sharing information on environmental law cases, and
empower citizens in environmental law cases.
This chapter aims to summarize this project experience, provide some information about its main findings, and state its challenges. To make it easier to
understand why this project was undertaken, the background of the project will be
given first. Then the scope of the project, main findings and suggestions arising
from the sample cases will be shared with the aim of guiding and helping new cases
in the area. In the final section, the challenges of the project will be outlined to
inform future projects and struggles.
4
National Judiciary Informatics System: “The Ministry of Justice has prepared a ‘National
Judiciary Informatics System (UYAP)’, which is to implement a very ambitious information
system between the Courts and all other institutions of the Ministry, including prisons. UYAP has
equipped these institutions with computers, network and internet connection to give them access to
all the legislation, the decisions of the Court of Cassation, judicial records, judicial data of the
police and army records. Thus, UYAP establishes an electronic network covering all Courts,
Offices of Public Prosecutors and Law Enforcement Offices together with the Central Organization
of the Ministry of Justice,” see at: http://www.e-justice.gov.tr/.
5
For information about the program Developing Civil Dialogue among CSOs Grant Scheme, see
at: http://www.cfcu.gov.tr/program/255.
7 Environmental Cases …
115