The Reflections of the 1921 Constitution on Turkey's Fiscal Law Order

Abstract

This study examines the identity of the fiscal law order shaped by constitutional rules during the period of the 1921 Constitution. The main source for the study is the minutes of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA), where financial rules are enacted and financial problems discussed. The time period that is the subject of the research is the period of the 1921 Constitution: between April 23, 1920, when the TGNA was convened, and April 24, 1924, when the 1924 Constitution and the first regular budget were enacted. Although the 1921 Constitution does not directly contain a regulation on the fiscal legal order, the change in this order was influenced by the rules of national sovereignty and the supremacy of the assembly. The study is divided into two chapters, one focusing on the issue of legality and the other on budgetary power, which are different reflections of these constitutional rules in financial law. In the first part, the application of legality is examined in terms of how its features differentiate it from the previous period, its functions in this period, and its legacy in the subsequent constitutional period. The second part analyzes how the TGNA reacted to the problem, and extraordinary role, of budget-making and control, which has been ongoing since the period of the Ottoman Parliament (Mebusan Meclisi). Thus, it was possible to reveal how the period of the 1921 Constitution differed from the previous and subsequent periods in terms of its effect on fiscal law. The outputs obtained from the study show the emergence of an identity of the Assembly that did not previously exist.