Canan Karatay decision from the Constitutional Court: The penalty imposed due to vaccine statements was considered a violation of rights

According to the decision published in the Official Gazette, Istanbul Medical Chamber initiated a disciplinary investigation in 2018 due to Karatay's statements about vaccination in print and visual media.

As a result of the investigation, Karatay was sentenced to "temporary suspension from profession" for one month.

Karatay made an individual application to the Constitutional Court, alleging violation of rights, after the case he filed for the annulment of the disciplinary penalty against him was rejected.

The Supreme Court ruled that the right to freedom of expression guaranteed in Article 26 of the Constitution was violated and that the decision be sent to Ankara 14th Administrative Court for a retrial to eliminate the consequences of the violation.

FROM THE REASONS OF THE DECISION

In the Constitutional Court's decision, it was reminded that Karatay was a specialist physician and academician, and it was emphasized that interventions against freedom of expression should be based on an accessible, specific and predictable legal provision, and that there should be sufficient safeguards to prevent arbitrariness.

In the decision, it was stated that the basis of the disciplinary penalty given to Karatay was Article 39 of the Turkish Medical Association Law No. 6023, and it was stated that the disciplinary penalties to be applied to physicians were regulated in the said article.

In the decision, it was pointed out that the regulation "does not allow within the legal framework to predict which legal sanction or result is attached to which concrete act and phenomenon" and "It is concluded that legal assurance is not provided against arbitrary interpretations and practices in terms of disciplinary penalties to be imposed." evaluation was made.

In the decision, which was reminded that the Supreme Court annulled Article 39 of Law No. 6023 by finding it contrary to Article 2 of the Constitution in 2025, it was noted that there was no clear legal regulation regarding the implementation of the disciplinary penalty given to Karatay.

For these reasons, the Constitutional Court ruled that the disciplinary punishment did not meet the requirement of legality and decided that Karatay's freedom of expression was violated.