Litigation in Turkey
I was lucky enough to visit Turkey for the first time last year. Everyone enthusiastically told me how great the country is. I heard about the country’s amazing food, rich history, and blend of European and Asian cultures. But few people prepared me for how friendly the people were, how beautiful the city streets were, and how much energy people had. And, of course, not enough people talked about their commercial disputes. So I was very excited to speak with Mert Yalçın, a partner at Yalçın & Toygar Law Office in Istanbul, to learn more.
Why should you continue reading this post about litigation in Turkey?
You want to learn about Turkey’s electronic filing website UYAP and its built-in document editing tool.
You want to learn about Asian and European litigation, but only want to read one interview.
You want to see a picture of a courthouse that looks more like a stadium.
Mert Yalçın is a partner at Yalçın & Toygar Law Office in Istanbul.
Can you tell me about the kinds of disputes you handle in your legal practice?
I focus mainly on private client matters and high net worth cases for companies, especially in the international area. Moreover, I also practice in cross-border commercial disputes and provide immigration law services to foreigner clients. My firm is multi-practice so our firm’s associates are well-educated professionals practicing in different areas of law.
What type of clients do you generally represent in disputes?
I and my firm represent individuals and private companies, partnerships, large companies, branch offices, liaison offices, and joint ventures.
Besides Microsoft Office, what software do you use in your practice?
We use Teams, Zoom, and WhatsApp for internal and external communication.
We also use UYAP and its Document Editing tool, which is the national legal portal for Turkey. All documents being uploaded to this portal should be drafted with UYAP Document Editor (or at least have a head letter to attach the documents in other formats).
What books and websites do you use for legal research?
We have an office library that we try to keep up-to-date by purchasing many books in many fields. We mainly purchase books by members of the Yargıtay (the Turkish Supreme Court) and law professors.
For online legal research, our team has their own subscriptions to Kazancı (https://www.kazanci.com.tr/ ) and Lexpera ( https://www.lexpera.com.tr/ ).
Image credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_system_of_Turkey#/media/File:PalaceOfJusticeIstanbul_(1).jpg
Do you electronically file pleadings with the court? Or must you send paper copies of them to the courthouse?
With today’s technology, it is possible to file every court-related documents online through the UYAP portal. However, if we are also attaching a lot of evidence or any kind of original document that the court must see, we prefer to file these at the courthouse.
Does Turkey have specialized courts that only hear commercial cases?
The Turkish judicial system is divided into civil and criminal divisions (the courts of first instance, regional courts of justice, and the Court of Cassation), the administrative division (first instance courts, regional administrative courts and the Council of State), the constitutional division (Constitutional Court) and the conflicts jurisdiction (Court of Conflicts).
In addition, the Council of Judges and Prosecutors, the electoral jurisdiction (Supreme Electoral Council) and the accounts jurisdiction (Court of Accounts) are also included in the judicial system.
For Civil Courts, there are 2 types of general courts (Civil Courts of Peace and Civil Court of First Instance) and there are 7 types of specialized courts (Commercial Court of First Instance, Civil Court of Enforcement, Cadastral Court, Labour Court, Consumer Court, Civil Court of Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights and Family Courts).
So yes, there is a commercial court.
Who decides the facts in a commercial case? Is it a judge or a jury?
In general, Turkey does not have the jury system for any kind of courts or trials. However, the number of assigned judges may vary according to type of the claim and the court. For instance, the commercial courts usually have 1 judge and this is the normal practice. However, if the value of the claim exceeds 300.000 TRY, then a committee of judges (3 judges) handles the claim.
Generally speaking, how many pages are the complaints or initial pleadings you see in your work?
It generally depends on many factors, especially the complexity of the case. Turkey does not have any kind of forms or page limits, so the claimant is only bound by the rules of the civil procedure code and the length of the act is left to the claimant and their lawyer.
I generally prefer to describe the case “to the point” as the judges are very busy and they do not like tens of pages to read and I and my team aim to ease things for the judge. A lawsuit petition, document starting the claim, can be from 3 pages to 50 pages long and it can go up to 70 to 100 pages.
Generally speaking, how long does it take for a case to go from complaint to judgment?
There is a 3-level judicial system for Turkish courts.
The proceedings start before one of the general/specialized first instance courts and may take around 1-2 years, depending on complexity of the claim.
After that, the party who is not happy with the decision may appeal against this decision before the Regional Courts of Appeal and this appeal process may take around 1 year, depending on the complexity again.
After that, the party who is not happy with the decision may appeal against this decision before the Supreme Court and this is the final step for a decision to become final. This process may take from 6 months to 1 year.
So, we can expect 4 years for a claim to become final before Turkish courts.
What is fast track litigation? Do the courts designate certain cases as faster than others?
The two types of procedures for civil proceedings are:
Written procedure. The written procedure is the main procedure and is used for commercial disputes of TRY500,000 (about EUR 27,500) or over. Under this procedure, the usual cycle of submissions (such as claim, response, rebuttal, and rejoinder) can be filed by the parties.
Simplified procedure. In this procedure, only the claim and response petitions can be filed by the parties and no further exchange of petitions can be carried out. This is used for disputes of below TRY500,000 (about EUR27,500) and for the following types of disputes:
labor disputes; and
applications for interim measures, such as a preliminary injunction or provisional attachment; and consumer disputes.
Generally speaking, how is evidence exchanged between the parties before trial? Do you get to interview the opposing witnesses before the trial?
Turkey does not have an “interview with opposing witness before trial” practice. All evidence must be filed with the court within a certain period of time and, once the evidence is filed, all parties included in the claim are able to see and review it online or at courthouse, whichever they prefer.
One piece of evidence that must be filed is a witness list and, once these lists are filed with the court, parties know who is testifying for what party. However, they are not able to meet before the trial. But during trial, the judge allows both parties to ask questions to all witnesses, regardless of their parties or sides.
If you win, does the other side reimburse your attorneys’ fees?
Yes, the losing party has to reimburse the successful/winning party for all court-related costs incurred by the winning party and their attorneys’ fees.
Are the Turkish courts open to the public? Can ordinary people watch a commercial trial?
The main principle under Turkish procedural law is to have all hearings open to public and anyone can attend the courthouse to watch a trial.
However, parties may always make an application to court for a press ban or for confidentiality in the case and such decisions prevent irrelevant parties to attend and watch the trial.
Do you believe that Turkish courts have a particular strength for resolving commercial disputes?
Judges are generally well-prepared and decisions are well-reasoned and in line with law and practice.
How about a weakness?
I think the major weakness of Turkish courts is the length of court proceedings, although there are sometimes some exceptions.
How often do you go to the courthouse?
I usually attend court for private client or high net worth cases, but my team is always on the field and there is always (everyday) someone from our team in the courthouse.
When you are there, do you need to wear a special robe or wig?
Turkish law requires lawyers to wear a special tobard in hearings before all kind of courts.