35 Union of Turkish Bar Associations Review 2022 Süleyman ÖZAR abided by. Then, if a conflict is at stake, the common ground to be found must be not the ethical but the legal ground.110 Ethical principles may have a compelling effect that would require a change with respect to a statutory provision but cannot substitute itself for such a change. In that case, the application of the approach based on personal autonomy also with respect to the convicts and detainees whose lives are at risk would constitute an infringement of law. That is because the Turkish legal order introduces a clear exception to the principle of personal autonomy, which is conferred on patients, in respect of those who are held in prisons. On the other hand, the fact that medical intervention with respect to a convict is deemed legitimate after a stage when his life is at risk should not be construed to the effect that the State may be indifferent to the situation until that moment. As both the Constitutional Court and the ECHR qualifies this act as a form of the freedom of expression, the administration should henceforth incorporate this approach into its process management. In this sense, the State is expected to conduct the strike process in a transparent manner which is subject to supervision. The independent watchdog institutions and human rights agencies should be allowed to get in contact with the administration and strikers as well as to make public the justified expectations of the strikers. Likewise, the ombudsman should effectively scrutinise the complaints raised by the convict.111 In brief, it should be acknowledged that hunger strike is a means of expression for convicts and detainees. Accordingly, there may be some cases where this right is abused, confined to the circumstances where “hunger strike is embarked on by the person concerned solely for relieving himself of punishment”.112 4. Physician’s Responsibility In consideration of all elements of a medical intervention, it appears that the medical intervention with respect to a convict on hunger strike does not comprise the right to informed consent. As explained above, the gap resulting from the lack of consent of the person concerned is eliminated and filled in by the relevant Law. 110 Ekici Şahin, p. 231. 111 Levy, p. 45. 112 Sevinç, p. 162.
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