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THE OMBUDSMAN INSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF TÜRKİYE

• Protection of fair expectations of the individuals in order to ensure legal certainty
in the event that long-lasting practices and arrangements are amended or
abolished
Case Study

In the Decision dated 07/02/2008 and numbered 2005/38 E., 2008/53 K. of the
Constitutional Court, it was stated that the principle of the protection of vested rights
was among the general principles of the law, that this right referred to the protection
of the subjective rights vested in the individuals arising from the objective rules of the
law eligible for granting rights generally in the field of private law and public law, that
a right shall be vested only if acquired with all its consequences de facto in accordance
with the rules in effect as per the previous law, and it was ruled that a vested right was
a right arisen from the status of the person, finalised by his party and transformed into
a right of personal nature.

On the other hand, in the Decision of the Constitutional Court dated 04/05/2017 and
numbered 2015/41 E., 2017/98 K., it was stated that if an unpredictable amendment
in a law, which was in favour of and relied on by the persons, was made and if this
situation caused a situation expected objectively by every person to remain inconclusive,
the principle of the protection of fair expectation would come to the fore; however, the
mentioned conditions were not sufficient in order to protect a fair expectation by law.
It was also added that there should not be a public benefit that hindered the protection
of this expectation, i.e., when the public benefits and personal benefits are both in
question and in conflict, only in the absence of an important public benefit, the fair
expectation may be deemed to be protected.

RIGHT TO BE HEARD AND RIGHT TO MAKE STATEMENTS

Right to be heard and right to make statements are the principles that enable those
concerned to submit all kinds of information and documents before the completion
of a proceeding the consequences of which they will bear, that allow them to express
their opinions regarding the issue and which, accordingly, secure the participation of
the concerned individuals.

Above-mentioned principles stipulate the following:

• Acting on accurate data and respecting the requests of those concerned while
taking an action;

• Ensuring the effective participation of the individuals in decisions which will
affect them.

2019 ANNUAL REPORT 55