Home > 1.1 Universal suffrage > TÜRKIYE - Opinion on the Suspension of the Second Paragraph of Article 83 of the Constitution (Parliamentary Inviolability)
 
 
 
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Paragraph 13
 

Non-liability focuses on guaranteeing the freedom of opinion and speech of Members of Parliament, and, thus, facilitating free parliamentary debates. Provisions on non-liability can be found in most constitutions. The Venice Commission argued that despite general provisions on freedom of speech in national constitutions and international human rights instruments ”national rules on parliamentary non-liability are still a legitimate element of constitutional law, justified by the need to effectively ensure the particular needs for freedom of political debate in a democratically elected representative assembly” and ”there is still a need for national rules on parliamentary non-liability even if the substantive scope of protection is today for the most part also covered by Article 10 of the ECHR.”