The Bill on Amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure and Certain Laws, prepared within the scope of the Judicial Reform Strategy Document, was accepted by the General Assembly of the Turkish Grand National Assembly and became law.
According to the law, a regulation is being made after the Constitutional Court annulled the initiation of the 2-week limitation period before the final decision of the first instance court was notified to the parties, finding it contrary to the freedom to seek justice. Accordingly, if the decision of lack of jurisdiction or jurisdiction is final, the 2-week period for notifying the decision to the parties and sending the file to the competent court will start from the date of notification.
If the necessary application is not made to send the file to the responsible or competent court within the stipulated time, the case will be deemed not to have been opened in accordance with the law. This issue will be decided ex officio by the court that ruled on lack of jurisdiction or lack of jurisdiction.
With the regulation, the cases where “the persons involved in the trial have a superior interest worth protecting” will be added to the cases where some or all of the hearings are held in secret. In this case, some or all of the hearings will be held in secret.
Having previously acted as a mediator or conciliator in the same dispute will be added to the reasons for the judge’s rejection.
The decision regarding the request for rejection of the judge can also be made by reviewing the file. Even if the reason for rejection is not known, the authority may accept the rejection request if it deems this likely. An oath cannot be offered regarding the reasons for rejection.
Legal appeal can be taken
The law also aims to prevent unnecessary prolongation of cases and to eliminate contradictions. An immediate appeal can be filed against the decisions of the authority regarding the rejection of the judge, depending on the amount and value of the subject of the case.
The judge may decide that the appointed period is final. In this case, the judge will explain the transaction subject to the specific time period he has determined, without any hesitation, and will warn about the legal consequences of not complying with the time, clearly recording it in the minutes. The party who has spent the period that is not specified as definitive may request new time, the second period granted in this way will be final and no new period will be granted.
The law also includes regulations regarding the problems encountered in practice regarding uncertain debt cases. If, as a result of the information or investigation provided by the other party, the amount or value of the receivable can be determined fully and precisely, the plaintiff will be able to determine his claim fully and precisely within the 2-week period given by the judge before the end of the investigation, without being subject to the prohibition of expanding the claim. Otherwise, the case will be heard and decided on the amount or value specified as a result of the request.
The provision “In cases where a partial performance action can be filed, a declaratory action can also be filed, and in this case it is accepted that there is legal interest” is being removed from the legislation.
It will not be mandatory to deposit the evidence advance to the court cashier when filing a lawsuit.
The transferor and the transferee will be responsible for the litigation expenses.
The plaintiff will be able to withdraw his case only with the express consent of the defendant until the verdict is finalized. In this case, it will be decided that the case will be deemed not to have been opened.
After the lawsuit is filed, if the defendant transfers the subject of the lawsuit to a third party, the plaintiff, if he wishes, will give up his lawsuit against the transferring party and continue the lawsuit against the person who took over the subject of the lawsuit.
If the case is concluded in favor of the plaintiff, the transferor and the transferee of the case will be jointly responsible for the litigation expenses. If he wishes, he can turn his case into a compensation case against the transferring party. After the lawsuit is filed, if the subject of the lawsuit is transferred by the plaintiff, the transferee will replace the plaintiff in the case and the case will continue from where it left off. If the case is concluded against the plaintiff, the transferor and the transferee of the subject matter will be jointly responsible for the litigation expenses.
The judge will encourage the parties
The regulation also clarifies the moment from which the additional response period will begin. Accordingly, the additional period will start to run after the end of the 2-week response period.
After the mutual submission of the petitions and completion of the examination, the court will fix a hearing date for the preliminary examination and notify the parties.
In the invitation to be issued; Other issues regarding the hearing invitation and its results will warn the parties to make the necessary preparations for settlement. If only one of the parties attends the hearing and wishes to continue the trial, the proceedings carried out in the absence of the party who does not attend cannot be objected to. Within a certain period of 2 weeks from the notification of the invitation, the parties will be asked to submit to the court the documents they have shown in their petitions but have not yet submitted, or to make the necessary explanation in order to bring the documents to be brought from elsewhere. It will be stated that if these issues are not fulfilled within the given time, it will be decided that they will be deemed to have given up relying on that evidence.
At the judge’s preliminary examination hearing, the case conditions and first objections
If it deems it necessary to decide on the matter, it will listen to the parties, and then it will determine one by one the issues on which the parties agree and disagree within the framework of their claims and defenses.
After determining the issues of dispute, the judge will enlighten the parties about the principles, process and legal consequences of conciliation and mediation and encourage them to reach conciliation or mediation. If he is of the opinion that a result will be obtained on this issue, he will appoint a new hearing date for once only.
It will be decided that the party who does not submit the documents they show in their petition despite the warning or does not make the necessary explanation for the documents to be brought will be deemed to have given up relying on this evidence.
The parties may freely expand or change their claims or defenses through response and second response petitions. These cannot be done after the petitions are mutually submitted.
The consent of the parties will be required to hear the witness, expert or expert from their location via audio and video transmission.
According to the Law on Amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure and Certain Laws prepared within the scope of the Judicial Reform Strategy Document, the parties will be invited to the hearing for investigation and oral trial after the completion of the preliminary examination phase.
In the invitation sent to the parties, they will be informed that if they do not appear in court without a valid excuse on the date and time specified, the hearing will continue in their absence and they will not be able to object to the actions taken. It will be stated that at the hearing where the investigation ends, as a rule, oral trial will begin, but if the hearing is postponed for oral trial, no invitation will be sent to the parties. The invitation letter will also warn that if the parties do not attend the hearing scheduled for oral hearing, the verdict will be given in their absence.
The procedure for holding hearings via audio or video transmission will be rearranged. Upon the request of one of the parties, the court may decide that the requesting party or his/her representative can attend the hearing and carry out procedural procedures from where they are by simultaneous audio and video transmission.
The court, with the consent of the parties; the witness, expert or expert; In cases and matters over which the parties cannot freely dispose, the relevant parties may decide to be heard from wherever they are, by means of simultaneous audio and video transmission.
The court may decide to hold the hearing elsewhere within the provincial borders due to actual obstacle or security, by obtaining the approval of the justice commission of the regional court of justice within whose jurisdiction it is located.
With the change made regarding the time and form of correction, correction can be made until the end of the investigation. When the file is sent to the first instance court after the Supreme Court’s reversal decision or the regional court of justice’s annulment decision, if the first instance court takes action regarding the investigation, corrections can be made until the investigation ends. However, the legal situation arising from complying with the reversal decision cannot be eliminated.
In the new regulation titled “Investigation in Collective Courts”, all trial stages will be carried out by the committee in cases and affairs that fall within the jurisdiction of the collective court, including the determination of evidence requested before or after the lawsuit is filed, provisional legal protection measures such as provisional seizure and preliminary injunction. will be decided.
Without prejudice to the provisions of other laws, the committee may decide that the investigation will be carried out by a member appointed as an investigation judge, depending on the nature of the case or case.
In cases or cases where the investigation is carried out by the committee, the president of the court may appoint one of the members as the regent judge to carry out certain investigation procedures. The president of the court will ensure that the court operates in a harmonious, efficient and orderly manner and will take the measures he deems appropriate in this regard.
Oral trial phase
After the court declares that the investigation is over, it will move on to the oral hearing phase at the same hearing. In this case, the hearing will be postponed for not less than two weeks upon the request of one of the parties. No separate invitation will be sent to the parties for oral hearing, whether present or not.
If the conditions are met in the oral trial, the article of the Code of Civil Procedure titled “failure of the parties to appear at the hearing, its consequences and the case being deemed not opened” will be applied, taking into account the principle of party disposition.
The ability of documents containing legal transactions to be carried out by those who cannot sign because they are illiterate, using a seal or a tool or fingerprint, to be considered as a promissory note will depend on their being prepared by notaries.
Documents containing legal transactions to be carried out by those who can read and write but cannot sign by using a seal, a tool or a fingerprint will be subject to their being approved or issued by notaries.
The ordinary promissory note must be presented to the notary or authorized officer.
