Early Promotion Process As a result of Wonderwork in Turkish Armed Forces and Its Judicial Inspection

Abstract The rank obtained as a result of an administrative procedure called as promotion plays a key role in the formation of the hierarchy within the military forces, establishment of the command chain, provision and maintenance of the discipline, and thus fulfillment of the duty. The military person, who meet the required qualifications of the legislation and rank waiting duration can promote the upper rank one year earlier. Also exceptionally; if the military staff is selected by the Chief of Army Commander, he/she can be promoted one year before his/her peers. In the Turkish Military Forces Personnel Law No. 926, this promotion is defined as “the seniority of superiority success”, however, it commonly referred as early promotion in the daily language. Early promotion is a matter of widespread use of discretion by the administration and thereby it is frequently subject to jurisdiction as a matter of dispute. The Administration has a wide margin of discretion in determining the justifications for the early promotion of the military staff. In the selection stage, a different selection criterion can be applied for each branch or rank by the administration. The justification for the promotion is not disclosed to public. Moreover, early promotions which are not compatible with the essence of the law are made and errors are made in the calculation of the service duration. In this study, the early promotion system is discussed in the light of the principles and rules of administrative law and judicial decisions. In addition, a number of recommendations have been presented to make the existing system more predictable