Turkish women can now continue to use their maiden names after marriage after a verdict was passed in light of evaluations made by the European Court of Human Rights, the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeals.
The Turkish Constitutional Court passed a verdict on Friday granting Turkish married women the right to keep their maiden name after marriage. Likewise, the court annulled the law requiring a married woman to take her husband’s last name after marriage or hyphenate it with her maiden name, according to Official Gazette.
In a lawsuit filed by a woman in order to use only her own surname after marriage, İstanbul 8th Family Court requested the cancellation of the provision of the Turkish Civil Code that regulates that “a woman can use her surname before marriage only in front of her husband’s surname”, stating that it is against equality.
In the justification of the request for annulment, the court stated that while it is possible for a man to use the surname he acquired at birth throughout his life, the denial of the same right to a woman is contrary to the principle of equality.
In this respect, implementing Article 187 of Law No. 4721 for the applicants was incompatible with the principle of legality and led to a violation.
Following the Constitutional Court’s findings, the Supreme Court of Appeals developed critical jurisprudence in cases related to women’s surnames and accepted that the provisions of international conventions should be applied according to the fifth paragraph of Article 90 of the Constitution.
Having a surname, often a crucial part of a woman’s identity, is an obligation and a right under Article 20 of the Constitution. The ECtHR accepted that the abovementioned right falls within the scope of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. With the constitutional amendments made during the process, the principle of equality before the law was strongly emphasized and it was stressed that it should be fully ensured.
A landmark decision
Commenting on the Constitutional Court’s cancellation decision to Evrensel Daily, lawyer Sevil Aracı pointed out that this decision is long overdue. “In the past, women could apply to the court with the same allegations and win the right not to use their husbands’ surnames,” said Aracı and continued as follows: “The regulation had been proven to be contrary to equality many times by court decisions and there were also ECtHR judgements in this direction. The Constitutional Court’s decision is important and pleasing as it will enable all women to exercise this right without waiting at the court gates.”