[JURIST] The European Union [official website] will fund a program to establish appellate courts within the existing Turkish juridical system, EU officials announced Tuesday. At an estimated cost to the EU of 1.4 million euros, Turkish Ministry of Justice [official website] officials working with experts from the Council for the Judiciary in the Netherlands and the Swedish National Courts Administration will reintroduce intermediate courts of appeal that lie between first instance courts and Turkey's highest court, the Court of Cassation [official website]. The new courts are expected to relieve the Court of Cassation from its excessive workload and allow it to concentrate on clarifying Turkish case law, which has been criticized as being unpredictable. The judicial renovation is part of an extensive reform plan that Turkey must complete [JURIST report] within two years to be eligible for EU membership. The Anatolian Times has more. The EU press release is available here.