TRT's disciplinary regime is governed in four articles added by Law No. 7176 of 30/5/2019. Those articles are unique in Turkish legislation in listing acts specific to broadcasting one by one.
Why Were They Added in 2019?
Scope - Art. 56/A
The disciplinary penalties in this Law are given, according to the character and degree of gravity of the situation, in respect of civil servants and contracted personnel against an established post who do not perform at home or abroad the duties prescribed by the Law, the presidential decree and the regulations, who do not comply with the matters the legislation requires, or who do the things it prohibits. The disciplinary superiors are determined by a regulation to be issued by the Corporation.
Five Penalties - Art. 56/B
| Penalty | Definition |
|---|---|
| 1) Warning | Notification in writing that they must be more careful in their duty and conduct |
| 2) Reprimand | Notification in writing that they have been at fault in their duty and conduct |
| 3) Deduction from salary | A deduction of between 1/30 and 1/8 of the gross salary or contract fee |
| 4) Suspension of advancement | Suspension of advancement in their step for 1-3 years |
| 5) Dismissal | Severance from the Corporation, never again to be employed in any status at the Corporation or as a civil servant in other public institutions and organisations |
For each penalty the acts and situations in Art. 125 of Law No. 657 apply first; then the acts specific to TRT are added.
Acts Specific to Broadcasting
Requiring a reprimand:
- Arriving late for, leaving early from or abandoning the place of duty connected with production and broadcasting without an excuse or permission
- Not uploading material that must be archived to the digital archive system within its period, not delivering non-digitised programmes to the unit concerned, acting negligently in preserving archive content
Requiring a deduction from salary:
- Causing the disruption of a broadcast by not performing the requirements of their duty, or by their acts and conduct although not on duty
- Causing the loss of equipment containing broadcast content belonging to the Corporation, such as tape, film, records, CDs, DVDs and portable memory, and of programme and news texts
- Preparing a programme contrary to a text that has passed supervision, or broadcasting the programme without correcting the matters notified for correction as a result of supervision
- Broadcasting a programme, news item or news programme without its supervision having been carried out, or causing them to be broadcast
- Deleting, causing to be deleted or destroying visual and audio content and the like that must be kept under this Law and under Law No. 6112, before the end of the retention period
Requiring suspension of advancement:
- Causing a broadcast to stop or not to be made by their acts and conduct
- Causing something to be broadcast contrary to the general broadcasting principles or the broadcasting service principles by not carrying out the supervision of a programme, news item or news programme in accordance with its legislation
- Broadcasting, permitting the broadcast of or causing the broadcast of content that the Corporation's supervisory levels have decided shall not be broadcast, or whose broadcast has been prohibited by judicial authorities or administrative organs, or for which the owner of the work or of the right has not given permission
- Causing rare or uncopied broadcast archive material to become unusable or to be lost
- Acting contrary to the prohibition on other work and service determined by the Corporation
Requiring dismissal:
- Causing a broadcast to be disrupted, to stop or not to be made by deliberately not performing the requirements of their duty with the aim of disrupting or stopping the service
- Deliberately making, or causing to be made, a broadcast contrary to the general broadcasting principles or the broadcasting service principles
- Making, or causing to be made, using the Corporation's broadcasting media, a broadcast of a nature that will disturb the internal or external security of the State or public order
Who Gives Them? - Art. 56/C
| Penalty | The authority giving it |
|---|---|
| Warning, reprimand, deduction from salary | The disciplinary superiors |
| Suspension of advancement | The Director General, after the decision of the Disciplinary Board is taken |
| Dismissal | The High Disciplinary Board, at the request of the Director General |
Where the disciplinary boards give a decision of refusal, the Director General may give a different disciplinary penalty within fifteen days.
The Other Rules - Art. 56/C
- Where there is no provision in this Law, the "Discipline" section of Law No. 657 applies; the arrangements on "removal from the civil service" apply in respect of the penalty of "dismissal".
- For more than one act in the same event, the heaviest of the penalties matching the act is given.
- Those who receive the penalty of a deduction from salary may not be appointed for five years, and those who receive the penalty of suspension of advancement for ten years, to managerial posts at the level of manager and the equivalent additional indicator within the Corporation.
- The same kind of disciplinary penalties are given to those who commit acts similar in character and gravity to the acts and situations listed in Art. 125 of Law No. 657.
Suspension from Duty - Art. 56/D
Suspension from duty is a precautionary measure applied in respect of personnel whose remaining at their post is considered objectionable in cases required by the Corporation's services. Those empowered: the Director General and the Corporation's inspectors. The procedures are carried out under the "Suspension from Duty" section of Law No. 657.
Summary
The disciplinary regime at TRT was added to the Law in 2019 by Law No. 7176, following the Constitutional Court's annulment decision of 2016. Five penalties are provided: warning, reprimand, deduction from salary (1/30-1/8), suspension of advancement (1-3 years) and dismissal. The Law lists one by one the acts specific to broadcasting - unsupervised broadcast, loss of archive material, deletion before the retention period expires, and a deliberate broadcast contrary to the broadcasting principles. The penalty of a deduction from salary creates a five-year, and suspension of advancement a ten-year, bar to appointment to a managerial post.