Ottoman Rule of Law and the Modern Political Trial: The Yildiz Case "In 1876, a recently dethroned sultan, Abdülaziz, was found dead in his chambers, the veins in his arm slashed. Five years later, a group of Ottoman senior officials stood a criminal trial and were found guilty for complicity in his murder. Among the … Continue reading Recent Scholarship: Rubin on the Passage of Ottoman Law into the Modern Era
By Cem Tecimer Summary and context: In 1924, Turkey abolished the Ottoman Caliphate through a statute numbered 431, or Law No. 431. The construction of the statute was somewhat ambiguous in that it stated that the Caliphate was abolished because that institution was inherent to the State and the Republic, thus almost justifying its abolishment … Continue reading Commentary :: Did Republican Turkey Really Abolish the Ottoman Caliphate? The Curious Case of Law No. 431
By Cem Tecimer Professor Kim Lane Scheppele has convincingly drawn attention to the fact that most legal scholarship on citations of foreign law by supreme or constitutional courts tends to focus on citations of “positive” models, that is, models to which the jurisdiction citing them aspires.[1] Professor Scheppele pluralizes the universe of citations by adding … Continue reading Commentary :: Kadijustiz in Turkish Constitutional Adjudication: Islamic Law as an Aversive Model?
By Cem Tecimer In 1926, the young Turkish Republic abandoned its codified Islamic personal status law and replaced it with the secular Swiss Civil Code.[1] The new republican government, replacing its Ottoman predecessor, also adopted the Swiss Code of Obligations laying out the law of contracts.[2] Both of these legal transplants were part of a … Continue reading Commentary :: Religious Accommodation in an Assertively Secular Legal System: Mahr and the Turkish Case
The latest issue of SSRN’s Islamic Law & Law of the Muslim World eJournal includes: “Who or What Is the Wali al-Amr: The Unposed Question” by Nathan J. Brown This article explores how, in Islamic political writings, the concept of the wali al-amr (head of the community) has been transformed from an individual ruler … Continue reading Recent Scholarship: Islamic Political Leadership
This week’s issue of the Islamic Law & Law of the Muslim World eJournal includes: "Security Design, Incentives, and Islamic Microfinance: Cross Country Evidence" by Yaoyao Fan, Kose John, Hong Liu, and Luqyan Tamanni This study finds that Sharia-compliant microfinance institutions have less credit risk than conventional ones, have better poverty outreach, are less likely … Continue reading Islamic Law & Law of the Muslim World eJournal: Nov 30th
This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the Republic of Turkey (Turkiye Cumhuriyeti), based on research produced by GlobaLex at NYU Law School and the Library of Congress. Under Turkey's Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) has no legal status. Country Background Turkey is located in the Middle East/Southeastern Europe. It is bounded by Greece, … Continue reading Country Profile: Turkey
By Cem Tecimer While the founding fathers of the Turkish Republic erased reference to Islam in the Constitution in early 1928, it was not until 1937 that the term “secularism” was inserted into the text of the Constitution. While this legal move was backed up by full parliamentary support in the form of a constitutional … Continue reading Commentary :: How Was Secularism Added to the Turkish Constitution? The Varying Rationales
