Saudi Arabia

The case arose from the killing of Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul.Turkish prosecutors initiated criminal proceedings and indicted Saudi suspects. Because:- Saudi Arabia refused extradition of its nationals;- the suspects could not be physically secured for trial in Türkiye,Saudi authorities requested transfer of proceedings under Article 24 of Law No. 6706.The Turkish Ministry of Justice approved transfer.The Istanbul Heavy Penal Court suspended domestic proceedings and transferred the case to Saudi Arabia.The applicant challenged the transfer.The Constitutional Court examined whether this transfer violated the procedural obligation to conduct an effective investigation under the right to life.The judgment analyzed:- the Ministry of Justice’s role as Central Authority;- conditions for transfer of proceedings;- judicial reviewability of transfer decisions;- and compatibility of the transfer mechanism with constitutional guarantees. The judgment provides significant analysis regarding the relationship between:- criminal jurisdiction;- extradition impossibility;- prosecution transfer mechanisms;- international cooperation constraints.The Constitutional Court found a violation of the procedural aspect of the right to life, holding that the transfer of criminal proceedings to Saudi Arabia and the termination of domestic prosecution failed to satisfy the State’s obligation to conduct an effective investigation into the killing of Jamal K..