Lawyers for Lawyers network members have written a report for the PEN Norway Turkey Indictment Project. The report analyses the indictment brought against Turkish lawyer Ümit Büyükdağ, assessing its compatibility with international standards. It highlights how prosecuting lawyers for statements made in the course of legal defense undermines freedom of expression, the right to defense, and the proper functioning of the rule of law.
Authored by Maxwell Goddard and Ryan Bestford on behalf of Lawyers for Lawyers, the report examines criminal proceedings initiated after Büyükdağ criticised prosecutorial conduct while acting in her professional capacity as defence counsel in a terrorism-related case. Although she was acquitted in March 2025, the case remains pending on appeal, maintaining the relevance of the analysis.
The report, published by PEN Norway, demonstrates that the indictment improperly attributes statements made in the course of legal defence to criminal conduct and seeks to equate the lawyer’s professional actions with the alleged acts of her client.
About Ümit Büyükdağ
Ümit Büyükdağ is a practising lawyer based in Adana since 1993 and a member of the Adana Bar Association. From 2010 to 2012, she served on the Internship Committee and the Women’s Rights Committee, and from 2012 to 2014, she was a member of the Bar Association’s Board of Directors. Since 2010, she has also been actively involved with the Lawyers’ Rights Center. Ms Büyükdağ is affiliated with the Progressive Lawyers Association (Çağdaş Hukukçular Derneği, ÇHD). She served on the Association’s Executive Board from 2020 to 2024 and is currently a member of its International Relations Committee and the Adana branch board. She has also served as the association’s Secretary General and Deputy President. Political and associative engagement by lawyers is consistent with Article 12 of Turkey’s Attorneyship Law. Nonetheless, many members of ÇHD – including its honorary president, Selçuk Kozağaçlı – are currently imprisoned in Turkey.
These details illustrate Ms Büyükdağ’s prominent and longstanding involvement in Turkey’s legal community.
Analysis and findings of the report
The report identifies serious legal and procedural shortcomings in the indictment against Ümit Büyükdağ. It finds that the indictment fails to clearly explain how Ms Büyükdağ’s statement constitutes a criminal offence and does not assess intent, context, or good faith. Instead, it improperly refers to allegations against her client, conflating the lawyer with the accused.
The report notes that the indictment ignores domestic legal safeguards, including the immunity provided to lawyers for statements made in judicial defence, and fails to demonstrate that the impugned statement fell outside protected legal advocacy.
It further concludes that the prosecution violated international standards, including the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers and Articles 6 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. By criminalising statements made in the course of legal defence, the proceedings undermine the independence of the legal profession and create a chilling effect on the right to defence.
The report concludes that the indictment does not comply with Turkey’s domestic or international obligations and sets out a number of concrete recommendations, including ensuring immunity for lawyers acting in good faith, ending retaliatory prosecutions, and prioritising the application of international human rights law.
About the PEN Norway Turkey Indictment Project
PEN Norway’s Turkey Indictment Project began in January 2020 and, with the publication of four reports in 2025, it will have produced detailed legal analyses of 37 indictments. These indictments have been examined by an international team of lawyers, academics and judges from across Europe, with a focus on scrutinising criminal proceedings that constitute interferences with freedom of expression in Turkey.
Since January 2020, PEN Norway has worked with an international team of judges, lawyers, and scholars to analyze indictments in major media and civil society cases, including the Cumhuriyet, Büyükada, and Gezi Park trials. Each report examines a single indictment.
Read the full report here
