active trial. For example, the provision of induction loop system for hearing aid users, the establishment of the necessary technological infrastructure for the persons with visual disabilities are lacking, or nonexistent. Further, the presence of a court official who can describe the scene for persons with visual disabilities (especially during crime scene investigation), employment of sign language interpreters in the prosecutor’s office or providing services to ensure persons with disabilities can attend trials are all lacking. Failure to ensure reasonable accommodation in prisons, the lack of equipment for persons with disabilities to maintain their lives, and the unavailability of alternative methods for ensuring equal access to rights of all prisoners lead to rights violations. For example; detainees or convicts with hearing disabilities and/or their relatives with hearing disabilities cannot benefit from their right to speak on the phone. The relevant legislation contains a provision entitled “Informing the Convicts and Their Relatives” relating to prison rules. According to this provision, persons with hearing and speech disabilities are informed through sign language interpretation. For persons with visual disabilities, a booklet written in Braille format should be given. However, in reality, there are situations where information cannot be provided due to lack of qualified staff to provide this information. The accessibility of information technologies used within legal system is also a problem. In recent years, instead of small courthouses in cities, construction of larger courthouses have started, far away from the city center. As the vast majority of public transport vehicles were not accessible, this has made access to court buildings, prosecutors office and courts even more difficult. Currently, the courts in many provinces are not accessible; ramps for wheelchair users, braille for persons with visual disabilities or sign language interpreters are lacking and inadequate. Especially the lack of different regulations for persons with disabilities in the strict security measures taken at the entrance of the courthouses in big cities such as Istanbul, makes it a torment for persons with disabilities to enter into the courthouse. Legal Aid: Concerning legal aid, issues such as allocation of legal aid services, its scope and its procedure are left to the discretion of the bar associations. The Bar Associations prepare their own implementation guidelines for legal aid. The framework of the criteria of “lacking economic means” to be able to benefit from legal aid service, is also drawn by each bar association. Therefore, each bar has developed their own practice, which means that this system is not harmonized and there is not a standard practice. In the bar associations in bigger cities, there are special committees which specialize in areas such as the rights of persons with disabilities, women, refugees and children, which also have specialized lawyers who can provide assistance. However, this is not an option in other bar associations 13