TÜRKIYE Law and Practice Contributed by: Faruk Aktay, Ayşe Müge Aktay and İrina Gül Coşkun, Aktay Law Firm
2.7 Time Limit for Obtaining Third-Party Funding Turkish law does not impose any time limit within which a party must obtain third-party funding. Fund- ing may, in principle, be secured at any stage of the proceedings. In practice, however, funders prefer to become involved at an early phase of the dispute so that legal and financial risks can be assessed com- prehensively and case strategy can be shaped from the outset. Turkish law does not impose a general pre-action pro- tocol, but certain requirements must be met before initiating proceedings. Sending a prior notice to the prospective defendant is optional, although com- monly used to seek an amicable resolution. In several areas – most notably labour disputes, commercial monetary claims and consumer disputes – mandatory mediation constitutes a condition of action. A lawsuit filed without first applying to a mediator is dismissed on procedural grounds. 3. Initiating a Lawsuit 3.1 Rules on Pre-Action Conduct Before filing a claim, the plaintiff must also pay the court fees and deposit the advance on costs required under Article 120 of the CPC. If this advance is miss- ing, the court grants a definite period of two weeks to complete payment, failing which the case is proce- durally dismissed. By contrast, advances for specific items of evidence are generally not treated as condi- tions of action unless otherwise provided by law. Parties must also consider applicable statutes of limitation. The defendant’s failure to submit a timely response carries no formal penalty but may be treated as admission of uncontroverted allegations under the CPC. 3.2 Statutes of Limitations Under Article 146 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, civil claims are subject to a general limitation period of ten years, unless a shorter period is specifically prescribed by law. This limitation period applies not only to obligations governed by the Code of Obliga-
tions but also to claims under other statutes that do not provide a special limitation rule. Certain claims are subject to shorter periods. For example, tort claims become time-barred two years after the injured party becomes aware of the damage and identity of the liable person, and in any event, ten years after the wrongful act (CO Article 72). Oth- er claims – such as periodic payments, commercial agency, or brokerage – are subject to various shorter limitation periods expressly set out in the Code. Limitation begins when the claim becomes due or, in tort matters, when the claimant learns of the harm and the identity of the responsible party. The statute of limitations does not operate automatically; it must be raised by the defendant as a procedural defence. 3.3 Jurisdictional Requirements for a Defendant Turkish law provides both general and special juris- diction rules. Under Article 6 of the CPC, the general rule is that the defendant is sued in the court of their domicile. In addition, the CPC recognises several spe- cial jurisdictions: for contractual claims, the court of the place of performance is competent (Article 10); for tort claims, the court where the wrongful act occurred or where the damage was suffered is competent (Arti- cle 16). Labour and social-insurance disputes may be brought where the work is performed or the insurance relationship arose, and consumer actions may be filed in the consumer’s domicile. Parties may enter into a written jurisdiction agreement for commercial matters, provided the agreement des- ignates a Turkish court and does not contravene pub- lic order or mandatory rules. Where there are multiple defendants, the action may be filed in the domicile of any one of them. For foreign defendants, jurisdiction is determined under the Private International Law and Procedural Law Act (“MÖHUK”), which confers jurisdiction where the dispute has sufficient connection to Türkiye – for example, if the harmful act or contract occurred in Türkiye, or if the defendant holds assets within Tür- kiye.
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