Turkey's top court upholds law on married women's civil registry records

Turkey's Constitutional Court has upheld a law that moves married women's civil registry records to their husband's family file, rejecting claims that it violates constitutional principles. The ruling, published in the Official Gazette, stems from a challenge brought by an Istanbul court.

The Istanbul court argued that the law, which states a married woman's record moves to her husband's file and remains there unless she remarries, infringes upon equality and constitutes gender-based discrimination. It asserted that a woman's record should not be tied to her husband's and that the practice lacks a legitimate aim.

However, the Constitutional Court, in a majority decision, determined that civil registry records are merely technical administrative entries. It found that transferring a woman's record to her husband's file does not directly or decisively affect her legal status or concrete interests. The court concluded the law does not contravene constitutional provisions on the rule of law, equality, the right to protect and develop one's material and moral existence, or the protection of the family.

Despite the majority ruling, five judges dissented. Their dissenting opinions argued that the regulation is unconstitutional. They contended that tying a woman's record to her husband's family file transforms her into a dependent element, incompatible with the human dignity and equality principles of a state governed by law. The dissenting judges also stated that the rule creates unjustified differential treatment between men and women in the same legal situation within marriage, undermining the constitutional concept of family based on spousal equality and conflicting with international human rights standards on gender equality.