Constitutional Court Rejects Claim That Establishing Legislation For Istanbul Arbitration Center Is Unconstitutional

123 deputies of the Turkish Grand National Assembly asked the Constitutional Court to annul and suspend execution of certain expressions from Article 6(1)(b) of the Law on the Istanbul Arbitration Center numbered 6570 ("Law"). After examining the claim's merits, the Constitutional Court held that the claim was not an obstacle to establishing the Istanbul Arbitration Center ("Center"), or electing the General Assembly.

The Center will have a 25-member General Assembly. Four members of the General Assembly will be lawyers, each registered with a bar association and elected by bar presidents (Article 6(1)(b) of the Law).

The deputies argued that the phrases "bar presidents" and "to be elected" are contrary to Article 2 of the Constitution. The deputies claimed that election of the lawyers by bar presidents: