TÜRKIYE Law and Practice Contributed by: Tansu Akin, Akin Legal
The Consumer Protection Law establishes a two-year limitation period for consumer rights related to prod - uct defects. The Product Safety Law provides a three-year time limit for seeking reimbursement for damages suffered due to unsafe products. However, jurisprudence is evolving towards an under - standing that the statute of limitations does not apply to hidden defects, thereby extending the general period to a ten-year limit in accordance with general principles. 2.4 Jurisdictional Requirements for Product Liability Claims Under civil procedural law, the courts of first instance within the defendant’s domicile have jurisdiction. The TCO, however, allows the claimant to choose the competent court either at the defendant’s domicile or the place where the tortious act occurred. Furthermore, if the claimant is a consumer, they may elect to file their claim in the court of their own domi - cile. 2.5 Pre-Action Procedures and Requirements for Product Liability Claims For all consumer and commercial disputes, a media - tion process is compulsory. The mediation period is limited to three weeks for con - sumer matters and six weeks for commercial matters. The parties may mutually extend this period by one- third. While the defendant is not obligated to participate in the mediation process, failure to do so may result in them being liable for the mediation costs incurred if the dispute proceeds to litigation. 2.6 Rules for Preservation of Evidence in Product Liability Claims The Product Safety Law does not provide for any particular rules for preservation of evidence (save for market surveillance activities of the regulators).
The Turkish system also does not have pre-trial depo - sition. The preliminary objections, as well as the evi - dence, are tried during the suit proceedings. However, the CPL, which outlines general civil litiga - tion procedures, does provide a specific mechanism for “determination of evidence”. If circumstances sug - gest that evidence may be lost or destroyed before it can be collected during regular litigation proceedings, the relevant party can apply to the nearest compe - tent court to secure the evidence, with or without the opposing party’s presence. The court will then decide whether there is sufficient time to notify the opposing party and obtain their state - ments, or if necessary, secure the evidence immedi - ately and inform the opposing party afterwards. However, the Court of Appeals expects the lower courts to collect additional evidence that supports the findings of this “determination of evidence” process if such evidence is collected in the absence of the opposing party. 2.7 Rules for Disclosure of Documents in Product Liability Cases Under general principles of civil judgment in Turkey, the burden of proof lies with the claimant (Article 7 of the Civil Code), and each party is responsible for presenting the evidence they rely on. Courts do not automatically collect evidence without the parties’ ini - tiative in civil proceedings. If a party asserts that the evidence supporting their claims or defences is in the possession of the other party or a third party, they can request a court order compelling them to produce the evidence. If the opposing party withholds such evidence, despite a court order requiring disclosure, the burden of proof may shift following the court’s order. In the case of a third-party custodian, they must present the evi - dence to the court (upon compensation for any losses incurred) by court order. In recent years, there has been a judicial trend towards expanding the application of Article 31 of the Civil Pro - cedural Law, which mandates judges to clarify cases. This article requires judges to order parties to address
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