Article 13: Access to Justice There are various barriers for access to justice for persons with disabilities both arising from the domestic legislation as well as its incorrect implementation. Access to Information: There are limited opportunities persons with disabilities to access information regarding rights. The level of awareness of persons with disabilities regarding administrative and legal complaints mechanisms for protection of their rights is very low; further the relevant authorities do not conduct sufficient awareness raising activities. In addition, the difficulty of the legal language, the lack of legal information and consultancy mechanisms also constitutes a barrier to access to justice. There is no legal arrangement for the provision of legal advice to persons with disabilities. In particular, the lack of any provision in the Attorneyship Law (No: 1136) for providing pro bono legal services, adversely affects access to justice for all disadvantaged groups. Some bar associations, provide legal support under their own initiatives. UYAP and BELGENET systems lack the infrastructure for the persons with visual disabilities. Similarly, almost all of the bar associations' websites, informative materials, or service buildings are not accessible. Ombudsman Institution and Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey (TİHEK) are the two non-judicial complaint mechanisms in Turkey that disabled persons may apply. Based on the statute of TİHEK, CSOs cannot apply to the institution on behalf of disabled persons and the decisions of Ombudsman Institution are not binding but advisory decisions. The decisions of the institution are not always followed and respected by the state institutions. To give an example, AMER lodged a complaint on behalf of a Syrian prisoner, who demanded to move to an open prison five year before the end of his prison sentence, as this is the condition for Turkish citizens. According to Article 6 of this regulation on the transfer to open prisons, foreign national inmates can only transfer to an open prison three years before their sentence ends. Therefore, foreign national inmates have to wait 2 more years as compared to Turkish citizens. In the decision of Ombudsman Institution, this legal provision was found to be against the principle of equality before the law, also as protected by the Constitution. Subsequently, the Ministry of Justice was asked to revise the article. However, The Ombudsman decision taken on 24th August 2017 has not been implemented so far.8 Accessibility of Judicial Units: Ensuring physical accessibility of all courthouses, police stations, prosecution units, prisons and other relevant buildings which provide services within the justice system, is a legal obligation. Currently, very few of these are physically accessible. Most importantly, there are no regulations regarding the measures to be taken for persons with disabilities who are in pursuit of an 8 Decision Number: 36311982-101.07.04-E.10091 12