TÜRKIYE Law and Practice Contributed by: Tansu Akin, Akin Legal
2.11 Appeal Mechanisms for Product Liability Claims First-instance court decisions in Turkey can be chal - lenged before the Court of Cassation. This can involve either objecting to preliminary injunction orders or seeking cassation (annulment) of the verdict. The Court of Cassation has the authority to either retry the case from the beginning or simply remand it back to the court of first instance for reconsideration. The Court of Cassation decisions may be appealed before the Supreme Court (Court of Appeals) if the value of the dispute is above certain thresholds. Due to high inflation in Turkey, the monetary thresholds should be reviewed annually for each calendar year. As a general principle, the time limit for filing a demand for cassation or appeal is two weeks. This is a statu - tory period beginning once the written award with the legal grounds is served upon the relevant party. 2.12 Defences to Product Liability Claims Under the general provisions of the TCO, a seller is not liable for defects that were readily apparent to the buyer at the time of contract formation. This principle also applies if the buyer fails to inspect the product or notify the seller of the defect, unless the defect is latent or hidden. In tort law cases, the defendant may argue that they were not at fault or that there is no causal link between the alleged defect and the damage. In contract law disputes, the defendant may contend that they did not breach their contractual obligations. A common defence strategy is to argue that the prod - uct conforms to the technical standards that were in effect at the time of marketing of the product. The manufacturer/seller may argue and attempt to prove that the defect was not discoverable given the state of scientific and technical knowledge at the time of the delivery. However, this defence is often rejected in Court of Appeals jurisprudence, as it requires the manufacturer/seller to prove that the defect was not only undiscoverable but also unavoidable.
Defendants can assert a third party’s fault and issue a third-party notice under the CPL. Third parties have the option to participate in the proceedings and sup - port the defendant. If the third party ignores the notice, they cannot then object to the findings in the noticed case file. If they do participate, their defence is limited to the designated defendant’s defences. Due to the limited intervention rights of third parties, the verdict does not have a binding effect on them. Therefore, if the defendant loses the case, they must seek recourse against the relevant third party for reim - bursement of the costs incurred due to the judgment. There is no specific time limit for such recourse; the general statute of limitations applies. Since a sound judgment requires determining causal - ity, the impact of the claimant’s actions will be consid - ered. If the claimant’s actions caused or contributed to the damage, the court may reduce or even eliminate the manufacturer’s liability. It is important to note that special regulations for phar - maceutical products, food, or dangerous goods may have additional or specific provisions that should be analysed separately. 2.13 The Impact of Regulatory Compliance on Product Liability Claims Compliance with regulatory and/or statutory require - ments relating to the development, manufacture, licensing, marketing and supply of a product is the initial burden that the manufacturer must satisfy. How - ever, case law also imposes an additional burden on the manufacturer to take further measures to resolve any non-compliance if it was foreseeable and prevent - able. 2.14 Rules for Payment of Costs in Product Liability Claims The successful party can recover all court fees, includ - ing court levies and charges, court-appointed expert costs, etc, to be compensated by the losing party. The costs of proceedings are determined in accord - ance with the Civil Procedural Law, Attorneys’ Law and Levies’ Law, and are dependent on the value in dispute, with no apparent excess costs.
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