Legal oaths to take a more secular twist
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Anatolia News Agency
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 10, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - A draft bill seeking to alter the oath taken in courts of law is currently being discussed in Parliament’s Justice Commission.
The oath, which currently reads "I swear on Allah and my honor," will be changed to "I swear on every belief and value that I consider holy." The argument in favor of the change is that this will make the oath more secular.
The draft bill aims to better facilitate correct, fast and efficient rulings and consists of 458 articles, one of which is the oath. According to the bill, the oath will cover testimony provided for events that are vital to the resolution of a case, events that are controversial and events that occurred through the actions of an individual.
Instances where oaths won’t suffice
Oaths won’t count for events where the concerned parties cannot mutually verify incidents, situations when declarations from concerned parties are not legally acceptable to validate a procedure, situations that might affect the dignity and honor of the individual under oath and situations that might lead to an individual facing legal action for taking an oath.
If an individual fails to show up in court, that person will be sent an invitation to provide testimony. Details of the content of the testimony and probable questions will be included in the invitation as will the disclaimer that failing to show up to take the oath or refraining from taking the oath will mean to acknowledge the oath’s contents.
The oath for legal entities
The draft bill also seeks to rearrange the oath for legal entities. If one of the parties is a legal entity the person authorized to represent the legal entity will take the oath to verify a procedure undertaken by the entity.
The oath will be taken in court. Prior to taking the oath, the sitting judge will explain the contents and the importance of the matter and remind the oath taker of the consequences of lying under oath.
Oath on "holy values"
The draft bill is seeking to change the current oath, which is taken in the name of Allah, to one where people will swear on values and beliefs that they consider holy. The judge will ask the oath taker, "Do you pledge to swear on your honor and every belief and value you consider holy that you will answer the questions asked based on the truth and without hiding any information?" Everybody, including the judge, will stand while the oath is taken.
In the general justification of the draft bill it is noted that the change in the currently used oath aims to make it more secular. The change is explained in detail in the justifications section of the draft.
It is indicated that in the official dictionary of the Turkish Linguistic Society an "oath" is, "To confirm a matter by presenting God or another holy entity as witness" therefore "holy values" is something that may be presented as a witness while claiming the validity of a matter.
It is indicated in the justification that the internal dynamics of the individual should be employed by the words in the content of the oath and using a more inclusive text will bring in the necessary elasticity demanded by social factors.
The old oath has come as a surprise to many people wno are not aware of legal procedures yet expected the oath to already be more secular given that the Turkish Republic has the concept of secularism embedded in its constitution.
The draft bill aims to better facilitate correct, fast and efficient rulings and consists of 458 articles, one of which is the oath. According to the bill, the oath will cover testimony provided for events that are vital to the resolution of a case, events that are controversial and events that occurred through the actions of an individual.
Instances where oaths won’t suffice
Oaths won’t count for events where the concerned parties cannot mutually verify incidents, situations when declarations from concerned parties are not legally acceptable to validate a procedure, situations that might affect the dignity and honor of the individual under oath and situations that might lead to an individual facing legal action for taking an oath.
If an individual fails to show up in court, that person will be sent an invitation to provide testimony. Details of the content of the testimony and probable questions will be included in the invitation as will the disclaimer that failing to show up to take the oath or refraining from taking the oath will mean to acknowledge the oath’s contents.
The oath for legal entities
The draft bill also seeks to rearrange the oath for legal entities. If one of the parties is a legal entity the person authorized to represent the legal entity will take the oath to verify a procedure undertaken by the entity.
The oath will be taken in court. Prior to taking the oath, the sitting judge will explain the contents and the importance of the matter and remind the oath taker of the consequences of lying under oath.
Oath on "holy values"
The draft bill is seeking to change the current oath, which is taken in the name of Allah, to one where people will swear on values and beliefs that they consider holy. The judge will ask the oath taker, "Do you pledge to swear on your honor and every belief and value you consider holy that you will answer the questions asked based on the truth and without hiding any information?" Everybody, including the judge, will stand while the oath is taken.
In the general justification of the draft bill it is noted that the change in the currently used oath aims to make it more secular. The change is explained in detail in the justifications section of the draft.
It is indicated that in the official dictionary of the Turkish Linguistic Society an "oath" is, "To confirm a matter by presenting God or another holy entity as witness" therefore "holy values" is something that may be presented as a witness while claiming the validity of a matter.
It is indicated in the justification that the internal dynamics of the individual should be employed by the words in the content of the oath and using a more inclusive text will bring in the necessary elasticity demanded by social factors.
The old oath has come as a surprise to many people wno are not aware of legal procedures yet expected the oath to already be more secular given that the Turkish Republic has the concept of secularism embedded in its constitution.