Court in Izmir, Turkey - Monty Python Movie Moment

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Before the story, I want to explain that I took a short break from posting because of my irritation with a major donor. Consultants should unionize so that they are at least compensated for the results stemming from the sometimes incapable and inneffective bureaucracy of donors who keep them hanging around and expect them to jump at a moments notice. If anyone is interested in stopping donors from jerking around consultants, let me know.

OK. That's my gripe. Now, for a Monty Python moment.

A court in Izmir (ancient Smyrna), the second largest port in Turkey, was the victim of the common "drunk judge" syndrom, a world-wide problem during June. OK, maybe not world-wide. And maybe not June. Fine...I made up the whole world-wide June problem. So you don't have to follow this link, the story was reported in Hurriyet Daily News as follows:

İZMİR- Six lawyers in the Aegean town of İzmir have filed a complaint against a judge, arguing that he was drunk at a court session Monday evening and mistakenly ordered the arrest of all six defendants and the victim.

The lawyers filed a complaint, with two other lawyers noted as witnesses, both at the local bar association and the judicial board, accusing the judge of conducting a trial while intoxicated. The Justice Ministry is also investigating the matter, it said. After the complaint was lodged, the said judge went on holiday, reported Doğan news agency. According to reports, several individuals detained Monday were taken to court with their lawyers.

A few too many

One female lawyer, who did not want to be named, said: "On Monday, my client was among the six people detained and sent to court for his arrest. Just before we appeared in court, I heard someone laughing and telling another that the judge had taken a few too many and could not walk straight. I did not want to believe it but once we were in the courtroom, it became apparent that they were right." She said the judge asked questions to the accused totally unrelated to the case and recorded in court minutes statements that the accused had not made. "He then started to ask the female lawyers where he knew them from. He asked questions like, ’Which university did you graduate from?’ Then he would start giggling. Just when we were counting the minutes until the session was over, he ordered the arrest of both the accused and the victim," she said. The lawyer then explained that it had taken them three days to overturn the arrest of the victim.

There are no reports on where the judge took his vacation or what disciplinary proceedings were brought.