The Dawn of 5th Day in the Ottoman Empire: Nineteenth-Century Constitutional Regulations

One of the indispensable elements of a modern rule of law is the implementation of the principle of separation of powers. However in empires governed by absolute monarchy, the forces were concentrated in a single power. In other words, the legislative-executive-judicial powers, which represent the concept of separation of powers in the modern sense, are exercised by the sultan, king or sultan. The Ottoman Empire was one of the states that could be evaluated in this context until the 19th century. In 1808, with the “Charter of Alliance” published during the reign of Sultan Mahmut II, the powers of the sultan were limited in favor of the notables for the first time in Ottoman history. With the “Rescript of Gülhane” published in 1839 during the reign of Sultan Abdülmecid, the principles of the right to property for all subjects, the principle of equality, the legality of crimes and punishments, the publicity of the trial, and the protection of the life, property and chastity of the people were guaranteed with a legal text. The Rescript of Gülhane, unlike the Charter of Alliance, is considered the first step in the transition to the rule of law as it grants rights to all subjects. The “Edict of Reform”, published in 1856 during the reign of Sultan Abdülmecid, provided the opportunity for non-Muslims to become civil servants and soldiers, thus ensuring legal equality between Muslims and non-Muslims in the Ottoman Empire for the first time. Finally, in 1876, with the first Ottoman Constitution created during the reign of Sultan Abdulhamid II, the Ottoman Empire switched to the constitutional monarchy system on paper, although it gave the sultan broad powers that would not be possible in a standard constitutional monarchy. Constitutional developments in any state do not only have consequences in the field of law. It creates effects on all other areas of social life. In this context, with the constitutional documents regulated in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century and the first constitution created; not only were there changes in the government system of the Ottoman Empire, but also the citizen-state relationship was rearranged. This study aims to investigate the social effects of the constitutional regulations that occurred in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century. The contributions of the established regulations to the principle of the rule of law and their reflections on the institutional capacity of the state are stated within the scope of the study. An attempt was made to make a historical analysis using a comparative method.