ERGI JUDGMENT OF 28 JULY 1998
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It had not been apparent from the incident report in question that it was
the PKK who had fired the bullet which killed the applicant’s sister.
Furthermore, the sketch map accompanying the report appeared to place
security forces to the south and north-west and terrorists to the east but there
had been no plan of the Ergi house and neighbouring houses which clarified
from which direction the bullet was likely to have been fired. Nor had there
been any explanation in the text of the report as to the location of the
security forces.
44. Following the decision of lack of jurisdiction, the file had been
transferred to the public prosecutor’s office at the Diyarbakır National
Security Court. Except for the ballistics report issued on 1 April 1994, no
documents had been provided relating to any investigatory measures since
that date.
45. Major Kuzu had stated to the delegates that there was a fundamental
principle in the planning of military operations that these be not moved into
civilian areas. In this incident, the plan had been to restrict the activity in the
north of the village but the PKK had not approached them from the
expected side. No military inquiry or investigation had been carried out as
to the conduct of the operation. Major Kuzu, having seen the incident report
and sketch by İsa Gündoğdu, forwarded them to the public prosecutor and
took no further action.
II. RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW
46. Article 125 of the Turkish Constitution provides as follows:
“All acts or decisions of the administration are subject to judicial review...
The administration shall be liable to indemnify any damage caused by its own acts
and measures.”
47. The above provision is not subject to any restrictions even in a state
of emergency or war. The second paragraph of the provision does not
necessarily require proof of the existence of any fault on the part of the
administration, whose responsibility is of an absolute, objective nature,
based on a concept of collective liability and referred to as the theory of
“social risk”. Thus the administration may indemnify people who have
suffered damage from acts committed by unknown or terrorist authors when
the State may be said to have failed in its duty to maintain public order and
safety, or in its duty to safeguard individual life and property.
48. The Criminal Code contains provisions dealing with unintentional
homicide (Articles 452, 459), intentional homicide (Article 448) and murder
(Article 450). In respect of these offences, complaints may be lodged,
pursuant to Articles 151 and 153 of the Turkish Code of Criminal
Procedure, with the public prosecutor or the local administrative authorities.