Didim Today

In part one of this article I mentioned an interesting article I read in Today’s Zaman. It was about the Supreme Court of Appeals and how it has issued a number of controversial verdicts.Many people believe these verdicts contradict various international and domestic laws, including a constitutional article that ensures equality between men and women. So is this really the case?

Would it be correct to see the Supreme Court of Appeals as a trendsetter? One of the court’s decisions takes the virginity of a woman as the most important thing in a marriage. Will the court also say that a man must be a virgin, too? Supreme Court of Appeals and private life The story is hidden in the details of a recent court decision of the Supreme Court of Appeals.

Let’s read the lines from Today’s Zaman: “Last week, a 2007 ruling of the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals annulling a marriage on the grounds that the woman was not a ‘virgin’ on her wedding night became public, resulting in outrage and confusion.

Jurists also stated that the second chamber had ignored a medical report attesting to the woman’s virginity and made its ruling solely based on the man’s testimony. With this decision, the Supreme Court of Appeals overruled a local court decision that had refused to grant an annulment of the marriage.

The 2007 ruling regarding the case of a Bolu couple unashamedly reads: ‘Evidence compiled in the case makes it understood that on the first night of the marriage the woman was not a virgin. For this reason, on the grounds that a characteristic that needs to be present in a woman was lacking, ruling against the husband’s case instead of ruling in favor of it was a wrong decision.’

The second chamber also ruled for an annulment of the marriage contract rather than a divorce.” What is the annulment of a marriage? Under Turkish law there are three possible ways to end a marriage.

The first is if one or both spouses die. In the event of a death of one spouse, the marriage shall end and the birth registration office shall register the living spouse as a widow(er). The second way for a marriage to end is through divorce. The third avenue is for a marriage to be annulled. The annulment of a marriage is a very extraordinary way to end a marriage as it limited and only applies if certain conditions are met. Let me give you a few examples.

A marriage is to be terminated if the following circumstances are met: If one of the spouses is already married at the time of marriage, only the second marriage can be terminated, and there will be no divorce; if one of the spouses is developmentally disabled and the marriage still takes place, the marriage can be terminated; if the spouses are found to be close relatives; if one of the spouses gets married to the other spouse without knowing a very important fact, then the marriage can be terminated.

This fact should be of such a nature that the spouse calling for the annulment of the marriage would have certainly not gotten married to the spouse if s/he had known this fact. This is the grounds on which the Supreme Court of Appeals’ decision is based.

What does the high court really want to say? What should the court have emphasized to avoid misunderstandings? What went wrong when making the decision?

Berk Cektir http://www.berkcektir.av.tr/ The information provided here is intended to give basic legal information. You should get legal assistance from a licensed attorney at law while conducting legal transactions and not just rely on the information in this corner. http://www.todayszaman.com/ info@berkcektirlaw.com