Home > 5.3 Validity of the question > TÜRKIYE - Opinion on the Amendments to the Constituion Adopted by the Grand National Assembly on 21 January 2017 and to be Submitted to a National Referendum on 16 April 2017
 
 
 
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Paragraph 77
 

Under the amendments, the President does not have the power of legislative initiative. However, by virtue of draft Article 104(17), the President may “issue presidential decrees on matters relating to executive powers”. This is a rather vague formulation, as there are hardly any matters which would not somehow “relate” to executive power. The draft provision specifies that the decrees may not be adopted with respect to issues that are to be regulated specifically by law (the Turkish authorities stressed that there are 82 constitutional provisions that reserve regulation to the law) or that are already explicitly regulated by law. The decrees, furthermore, may not regulate matters having to do with certain human rights enshrined in the Constitution. The draft amendments on the contrary specifically indicate certain issues which have to be regulated by presidential decrees (“the formation, abolition, functions, powers and organisation, and formation of central and regional organisation of the ministries” – Article 106(11), “the functioning of the State Supervisory Council, the term of office of its members, and other matters relating to their status” – Article 108(4), “the organisation and duties of the General Secretariat of the National Security Council” – Article 118).