Türkiye: Legal Environment

Business Contract

General Observation: You must define precisely the rights and duties of the seller and the customer.
Law Applicable to the Contract: You must be particularly vigilant about the law applicable to contracts and the methods of conflict resolution. Turkey is a signatory to the Vienna Convention on international contracts. The Turkish legal system is complex, so it is recommended that international laws be used or an arbitration system be called on.
Advisable Incoterms: Incoterms 2010
Language of Domestic Contract: Turkish
Other Laws Which Can Be Used in Domestic Contracts: If Turkish law is not used, the law of the other contracting party must be chosen. For the sake of neutrality and equity, it is also possible, by contract, to leave the matter to an authority not of the nationality of the contracting parties.

National Organisations: Turkey is adapting its legal framework of industrial property to fit with the directives of the EU. The main advances in this domain are the creation of the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TPTO), the introduction of a regime of penal sanctions and the updating of the Law on Trademarks through a series of decrees.
Turkey continues to implement its intellectual property rights (IPR) law, the Industrial Property Code No. 6769, which entered into force in 2017.
Regional Organisations: For the protection of patents: the European Patents Office.
International Membership: Member of the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)
Signatory to the Paris Convention For the Protection of Intellectual Property
Membership to the TRIPS agreement - Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

Type of property and law	Validity	International Agreements Signed
Patent Law No. 6769 of December 22, 2016, on Industrial Property	20 years maximum	Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
Trademark Law No. 6769 of December 22, 2016, on Industrial Property	10 years	Trademark Law Treaty Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks
Design Law No. 6769 of December 22, 2016, on Industrial Property	10 years, renewable once
Copyright Law of Literary and Artistic Works No. 5846 (Law No. 5846)	During the life of the author and until 70 years after death	Berne convention For the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works Rome ConventionFor the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations WIPO Copyright Treaty WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty
Industrial Models Law No. 6769 of December 22, 2016, on Industrial Property	10 years

Equal Treatment of Nationals and Foreigners: Reforms have been introduced where necessary with a view to joining the European Union. Foreign nationals can, in principle, expect to benefit from an impartial trial in judicial matters. Corruption has been reported in certain cases; however, the Government is continually enforcing laws to fight it.
The Language of Justice: Turkish
Recourse to an Interpreter: Possible
Legal Similarities: The main source of the law is the constitution of 1982.
The country's judicial system is based on a system of civil law derived from different systems in continental Europe:
- Civil and company law close to the German model
- Law of obligations inspired by the Swiss code
- Penal law inspired by the Italian Penal Code
- Administrative Law inspired by that of France

Turkey is a member of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

Banking regulations Company Law Investment Law	Turkish Code of Commerce
Contract and property Law	Turkish Civil Code Code of Civil Procedure (CCP)
Labor Law	Labor Code
Penal Law	New Penal Code (TCK) Code of Penal Procedure (CMK)
Customs Law	Customs Code

Checking National Laws Online: Guide to Law Online: Turkey
Other Useful Resources: Ministry of Justice
Country Guides: GlobaLex, Guide to the Turkish Public Law Order and Legal Research

Constitutional Court	Verifies that laws passed by Parliament conform to the Constitution.
State Council Administrative Tribunals	Disputes with the State, the Administration and local Authorities concerning their decisions.
Magistrate's Court County Court Court of Appeal	Third party liability and insurance, civil status of persons, real estate
Court of Cassation	In charge of reviewing the decisions and judgments given by courts of justice from point of conformity to law, to ensure the unification in the legal practice and to enlighten the interpretation of provisions of codes.
Court of Assizes	Criminal liability (bankruptcy, misappropriation of funds, complicity, etc.)
Commercial Tribunals (Ticaret Mahkemesi)	Competent for commercial disputes
Labour Court (Is Mahkemesi)	Competent for disputes relative to work contracts, disputes between employers and employees
Turkish Court of Accounts (TCA)	- Audits - On the request of the Ministry of Finance, it gives advisory opinions.
Military High Court of Justice	Special Court of Justice reserved for the military.

Lawyer (Avukat): The lawyer's role is to inform his clients about their rights and obligations. He can also represent them in court and make a speech for the defense.
Clerk of the Court (Zabit katibi): All through the procedure, he will write down the exchanges, declarations and observations.
Bailiff (Icra): He is a legal officer responsible for serving legal process and for enforcing court decisions.
Judge (Hakim): He is the one who decides if the law has been broken or not, as well as the penalties which ensue.
State Prosecutor (Cumhuriyet Savcisi): He is a magistrate who represents the Prosecution in the county court.

Arbitration: This solution exists but it is not implemented.
There are no arbitration structures so conciliation generally takes place directly between lawyers. The Turkish Government is working on judiciary reforms that aims at shortening the duration of judicial proceeding and bring greater efficiency to the Turkish judiciary system through specialized courts.
Arbitration Law: International Arbitration Law n°4686 (2001)
Conformity to International Commercial Arbitration Rules: Party to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.
Appointment of Arbitrators: Agreement of both parties.
Arbitration Procedure: Both parties can decide the procedure and the rules, as long as they conform to the law.
The arbitrator must usually give his decision within one year.
Permanent Arbitration Bodies

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