Analysis of the position, performance and decisions of the Road Safety Commission from the perspective of the rule of law principle

In the last ten years, we have had about one hundred and seventy thousand dead and more than three million injured in traffic accidents. The complexity and numerous factors involved in the traffic accidents have caused the government to make effort to control the factors affecting traffic accidents by creating regulatory institutions. One of the most substantial institutions which was established is the Road Safety Commission of the country. Despite the existence of significant goals and tasks in the regulations set for the Road Safety Commission, the desired performance results for this institution have not been achieved so far. Therefore, questioning about how these institutions were established, how they operate and also their enactments and decisions from the rule of law perspective can represent a key question in explaining the current situation. In present article, according to the indicators of the rule of law, the way of establishment and legal status of the Road Safety Commission are investigated, as well as the degree of compliance with the indicators of the rule of law in the performance and decisions determined in the Commission. The present study demonstrates that despite the emphasis on the rule of law, none of the formal and substantive principles of the rule of law are properly observed in the establishment and ongoing processes of the Road Safety Commission. Therefore, part of the problem of traffic accidents can be found in the improper functioning of regulatory institutions from the perspective of the rule of law.