Saadet Yüksel (7 December 1983, Istanbul) is a Turkish judge at the European Court of Human Rights

Education

Yüksel entered the faculty of Law of the Istanbul University in September 2000, where she obtained a Bachelor of Laws in 2004 and a Master of European Laws in 2006. Yüksel is a member of the

Istanbul Bar Association The Istanbul Bar Association ( tr, İstanbul Barosu) is a voluntary bar association based in Istanbul, Turkey. At 60,000 members it is one of the most crowded bar associations in the world.Istanbul Bar AssociatioShort History of the İstanbul Bar ...

and worked in Turkey from 2005 onwards as a lawyer, including on human rights issues. In 2011, Yüksel obtained an additional Master of Laws from the

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

. She then returned to Turkey where she obtained a Ph.D at the Istanbul University in 2012.

Professional career

Following she worked as a lecturer at Istanbul University, where she became associate professor of constitutional law in 2016. In 2017 she took over a chair for constitutional law. During her career she has been a visiting lecturer at Harvard, the Koç University and the

Hamad Bin Khalifa University Hamad Bin Khalifa University, ( ar, جامعة حمد بن خليفة) is a public university located within Education City in Doha, the capital city of Qatar. Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), a member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Scienc ...

in Qatar. In April 2019, Yüksel was elected judge at the European Court of Human Rights by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) after having been put forward as one of the three candidates by the Turkish Government, replacing Ayşe Işıl Karakaş. Her tenure as a judge of the ECtHR, which is expected to last until 2028 began in July 2019.

Controversies

She accompanied

Róbert Ragnar Spanó Róbert Ragnar Spanó (born 27 August 1972) is an Icelandic jurist, Judge and former President of the European Court of Human Rights. He started his tenure on 18 May 2020, succeeding Judge Sicilianos from Greece. Before beginning his service o ...

on his trip to Turkey in September 2020. During his stay in Turkey, Spano received an honorary doctorate by the Istanbul University, which drew criticism by Turkish academics like Mehmet Altan and politicians of the Peoples' Democratic Party. Following Yüksel’s appointment, human rights observers expressed concern over her impartiality given the close relations between Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the judge. Not only was her brother Cüneyt Yüksel a former AKP lawmaker and deputy chairman, but Yüksel herself was affiliated with conservative foundations supported by the Erdoğan government. She was also an assistant to and student of the late Prof. Dr. Burhan Kuzu, an advisor to President Erdoğan.

Personal life

Her brother is Cüneyt Yüksel, a former member of parliament of the

Justice and Development Party Justice and Development Party may refer to several political parties, the best-known ones being: * Justice and Development Party (Morocco) * Justice and Development Party (Turkey) Justice and Development Party may also refer to: * Justice and Dev ...

and a professor at the Istanbul University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yuksel, Saadet Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni Lawyers from Istanbul 1983 births Women legal scholars Harvard Law School alumni Judges of the European Court of Human Rights Living people