New jurists should serve only law: Turkish president

ANKARA

Turkey’s newly appointed judges and public prosecutors should serve the nation guided only by the Creator and the law, said the country’s president on Wednesday.

“I request you put your conscience or signature under the order of no one and no power except for the fear of Allah and the law,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a ceremony for nearly 1,400 new state jurists in the capital Ankara.

Saying there is neither peace nor safety in a society where people do not trust in justice, Erdogan said: “The saying ‘Justice is the foundation of the state’ inscribed on [the walls of] courtrooms and court houses should always be your guide.”

He also said in the new legislative year, Turkey will implement the Judicial Reform Strategy Document, a plan unveiled last May to improve the working of the nation's judiciary.

The document's reforms are designed to "strengthen trust in the judiciary [and] have an important place in our efforts to take our country to a brighter future," Erdogan said in a statement last year following the announcement of the package.