The Vulnerability of the judiciary and the fragility of the rule of law: a socio-legal interpretation of Emin Alper’s Burning Days

After several decades in which judicial power expanded significantly across the globe, we are now witnessing a reversal of this trend. In both consolidated and transitional democracies, the administration of justice faces growing pressures from populist leaders, dominant political majorities, powerful economic interests, and politically aligned news media. The chapter offers a socio-legal reading of Emin Alper’s Burning Days (Kurak Günler, 2022), situating the film within contemporary debates on democratic backsliding and the erosion of the rule of law. Focusing on the young public prosecutor Emre Gündüz, the analysis examines how his initial embodiment of the judiciary as a “guardian of the Constitution” is progressively undermined by the erosion of his independence and impartiality. By contrast, Judge Zeynep’s character emerges as a more ambivalent figure, embodying a judiciary compelled to navigate persistent political and social pressures. The chapter argues that Burning Days renders the erosion of judicial legitimacy with a vividness that much academic literature struggles to achieve, while raising broader questions about the tension between substantive justice and procedural safeguards, as well as the role of civil society in defending judicial independence.