Conciliation and Conciliation Culture in Turkish Law

 

Although reconciliation is a phenomenon that has recently settled in our lives in the legal sense, it appears as a concept that is not far from Turkish social life. For this reason, first of all, the concept of "conciliation" and the concept of "reconciliation", along with its place in the Turkish legal system, should also be emphasized, as well as its place and importance in our culture.

 

Compromise, as a lexical meaning, is defined in TDK as "to agree, mutually agree and agree, to stay on an agreement by removing the difference of opinion or interest between them with mutual concessions".

 

In the legal sense, Conciliation is used in the Criminal Procedure Code: "While expressing the agreement reached at the end of the communication process, conciliation is used to express the process itself in which the parties participate."

 

Compromise when both definitions are considered; It can be defined as finding a middle way, compensating the damage, and eliminating the conflict by making mutual concessions when necessary. When these definitions are analyzed; It is seen that reconciliation has a communication and cultural aspect besides its legal dimension, and even it is one of the sine qua non.

The primary element in the success of reconciliation is communication. In this context, only individuals who know how to talk to each other, who have empathy skills and who are also good listeners can make reconciliation. As a matter of fact, Napoleon said in one of his words:

“People who can talk about anything can get through anything.” says.

At this point, clues emerge about what qualifications and equipment the mediator, who manages the mediation process, should have besides his legal knowledge. 

The second element in the success of the reconciliation is the culture of the society in question. Moreover, it is the place of consensus in culture, its position and its effectiveness in solving problems. We live together with individuals from every thought, belief and culture in social life. There is no doubt that as a requirement of social life, sometimes our problems/problems may arise. At the stage of solving these problems, one must act in a culture of consensus in his social relations. At this point, reconciliation is one of the ways of using the mind and benefiting from the minds of others, where the win/win principle is dominant instead of lose/lose.

In the legal literature, conciliation is encountered in the English Anglo-Saxon legal system and in the example of Japan from the Far East countries. In particular, the Japanese legal system is largely carried out within the conciliation process. In the Turkish legal system, the institution of conciliation; especially the workload in the judiciary, the lack of judicial personnel, the inability to conclude the ongoing cases for many years, the cost of the litigation process to the parties, the state, etc. Therefore, it was seen as an alternative solution method and put into practice. In a very short time, very positive results have started to be obtained throughout the country, especially with many successful examples locally known as the "Izmir model". Despite the fact that the conciliation process has a very short history in our legal system, it can be said that this yeast has taken hold both in our legal system and in the Turkish society.

In this context, it would be useful to dwell on the roots of the process of reconciliation and reconciliation in the structure of Turkish society. Compromise; Although it is a phenomenon that has just entered our literature in terms of legal regulation, it is a solution method that we are not alien to, which is in the traditions, culture and even genetics of Turkish society. Even in our recent past, where urbanization has not been experienced intensively, both among individuals and in the solution of social problems, where everyone knows each other in the settlement where they live, and neighborhood relations are experienced, the solution of problems was solved by respected personalities from the neighborhood who were loved and respected by everyone, whose word was listened to, and who were consulted when starting a business. . The solution of these people, who were a kind of voluntary mediator, was accepted by all parties, and disputes were settled amicably. Who knows, maybe the biggest damage of urbanization to our social culture has been the damage to this social fabric and individualization.

The first examples of reconciliation in terms of Turkish culture appear with the character "Dede-korkut" in Dede-korkut stories. This epic story character, which is an important work of Turkish social life and culture, Dede-korkut; The projections, perhaps the first examples, of reconciling the role of reconciling the parties, solving problems amicably, reconciling and giving advice in Turkish traditions and customs can be counted.

Again, when the Turkish family structure is examined, aren't we all examples in our own family where the elders of the family come into play, especially in solving the problems in the family, and the problems are eliminated by bringing the parties together and getting together with the parties in the family at the point of solving the problems? In this context, in rural life where social ties are stronger than in cities, especially elders with religious identity or people who are believed to be a kind of wise/confident human being can come into play in solving the problems between the parties. This situation, which we encounter especially in rural areas/villages, is seen in the example of resolving the dispute between the parties through the mediation of the prominent and respected people of the village. 

Sometimes, special days such as religious holidays, which are important for our culture, can be an important place in the settlement of problems in the reconciliation process. On these special days, the parties come together and the problems between them can be resolved peacefully under the leadership of the community leaders.

As a result, although the concept of reconciliation/conciliation is a new phenomenon in our legal literature, it is not a very distant method to Turkish society at the point of solving problems. It can even be said that it is an application that has practice and practice in society. Perhaps this reality underlies its great success despite its short history in the Turkish legal syste

mediator Serkan HORUZ
serkanhoruz.blogspot.com