TURKISH LEGAL SYSTEM IN THE MONISM-DUALISM CONUNDRUM: THE REASONS OF THE DOCTRINAL DISAGREEMENT ON THE VIEWPOINT ON INTERNATIONAL LAW AND A REVIEW IN THE LIGHT OF EU LAW

Uluslararası hukuk ve ulusal hukuk ilişkisini ulusal hukuk perspektifinden açıklayan klasik teorik görüşler, bu iki hukukun tek bir hukuk sisteminin parçaları olduğunu savunan monist görüş ile bu iki hukukun birbirinden tamamen ayrı düzlemlerde var olan iki farklı hukuk düzenini temsil ettiğini savunan düalist görüştür. Türk Anayasal sisteminin bu görüşlerden hangisini kabul ettiği meselesi günümüze kadar pek çok hukukçu ya da akademisyen tarafından tartışılmış olmakla beraber, üzerinde henüz bir fikir birliğine varılamamıştır. Literatüre bakıldığında konuyla ilgili birbirinden oldukça farklı görüşlerin, çok çeşitli kurgularla savunulduğu görülmektedir. Türkiye’nin en ileri gelen anayasa hukukçuları ve uluslararası hukukçuları dahi konuyu irdelerken kimi zaman birbirine tamamen zıt değerlendirmeler yapmış ve sonuçlara varmışlardır. Bu çalışma, aynı kabul noktasından hareket edip, aynı donelerin incelenmesiyle bu denli farklı yargılara varılmasının sebeplerini ortaya koymak ve bunlardan yola çıkarak, yeni bir bakış açısıyla aynı konuyu bir kez daha inceleyerek literatüre bir katkı yapmayı hedeflemektedir. İncelemeler esnasında Avrupa Birliği hukukuna özgü bir takım kavramlara başvurulmasının kavramsal karmaşaya neden olan bazı mefhumların açıklığa kavuşturulmasında fayda sağlayacağı düşünülmektedir. Konunun yeniden analizi sonucunda Türk hukuk sisteminin monist bir yapının özelliklerini sergilediği vargısı, temel gerekçeleri ve tartışmalarıyla birlikte ortaya konacaktır.The theoretical views, which explain international law - internal law relationship from a national law perspective are: the monist view that accepts those two laws as parts of a single body of law; and the dualist view that accepts the two laws as representing two separate and different sets of laws, which exist in completely different planes. The_x000D_ question on which of the two approaches has the Turkish Constitutional system adopted has been the focus of many debates by the legal scholars; yet, as of today, no consensus upon the subject could be reached. Scanning the literature, it is observed that dissimilar opinions that vary immensely have been argued with differing illustrations. Even Turkey’s most notable constitutional law scholars and international law scholars have, from time to time, come up with completely opposite assessments and ended up with opposite conclusions. This paper aims to reveal the reasons for drawing such different conclusions from the same data, and in the light of those findings re-examine the subject with a fresh perspective, hence, contribute to the literature. It is conceived that referring to some of the concepts peculiar to the European Union law might be beneficial to elucidate some notions that are the source of conceptual complexity. Consequently, the conclusion that the Turkish legal system represents the peculiarities of a monist structure will be drawn with its rationales as a result of the re-analysis of the subject

Intra-community cross-border e-commerce: a consumer confidence enhancing package

The aim of this thesis is to explore the barriers posed by the special characteristics of e-commerce that undermine consumer confidence in intra-Community crossborder e-commerce and to introduce possible substantive legal solutions to eliminate those barriers. This thesis is based upon the argument that the answer to increasing consumer confidence vis-à-vis intra-Community cross-border ecommerce lies in empowering individual consumers with effective remedies for goods with quality defects. Empirical evidence confirms that accessing rights and remedies is the principle disincentive to consumer confidence. This thesis suggests that there are two possible ways to remedy the situation; reducing the disincentive and increasing the incentive. Pinpointing key areas with reference to empirical evidence, a ‘consumer confidence enhancing package’ is introduced that contains substantive legal solutions that may have a comprehensive impact. Implementing this package, ‘accessibility of the counterparty’ and ‘localisation of disputes’ are identified as critical for improvement. Focusing on these formulas, ‘manufacturer liability’ and ‘credit card company liability’ are introduced as legal mechanisms that have the potential to reduce the disincentive of the consumers by means of facilitating accessibility of rights and remedies. The other part of the package involves the introduction of ‘punitive damages’ as a potent individual private enforcement tool for increasing the ‘incentive’ for consumers to go to courts for pursuing remedies, while fostering compliance by the businesses. It is of particular significance for the EU, to create confident consumers who engage in Intra-Community cross-border e-commerce as cross-border e-commerce is a vital motor of integration. Therefore this thesis is an attempt to develop legal mechanisms that may address the existing problems of consumer confidence in the EU, particularly in such a critical time that calls for stronger measures. The more confident consumers are, the more Internal Market is likely to flourish

Prevalence of Anosmia in 10.157 Pediatric COVID-19 Cases: Multicenter Study from Turkey.

Introduction: COVID-19-related anosmia is a remarkable and disease-specific finding. With this multicenter cohort study, we aimed to determine the prevalence of anosmia in pediatric cases with COVID-19 from Turkey and make an objective assessment with a smell awareness questionnaire. Material and Methods: This multicenter prospective cohort study was conducted with pediatric infection clinics in 37 centers in 19 different cities of Turkey between October 2020 and March 2021. The symptoms of 10.157 COVID-19 cases 10-18 years old were examined. Age, gender, other accompanying symptoms, and clinical severity of the disease of cases with anosmia and ageusia included in the study were recorded. The cases were interviewed for the smell awareness questionnaire at admission and one month after the illness. Results: Anosmia was present in 12.5% (1.266/10.157) of COVID-19 cases 10-18 years of age. The complete records of 1053 patients followed during the study period were analyzed. The most common symptoms accompanying symptoms with anosmia were ageusia in 885 (84%) cases, fatigue in 534 cases (50.7%), and cough in 466 cases (44.3%). Anosmia was recorded as the only symptom in 84 (8%) of the cases. One month later, it was determined that anosmia persisted in 88 (8.4%) cases. In the smell awareness questionnaire, the score at admission was higher than the score one month later (P < 0.001). Discussion: With this study, we have provided the examination of a large case series across Turkey. Anosmia and ageusia are specific symptoms seen in cases of COVID-19. With the detection of these symptoms, it should be aimed to isolate COVID-19 cases in the early period and reduce the spread of the infection. Such studies are important because the course of COVID-19 in children differs from adults and there is limited data on the prevalence of anosmia