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Legal Glossary

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Four legal terms with explanations and sources.

Burden of proof

Obligations, Compensation, Consumer and Dispute Resolution

The burden of proof is the rule that determines which party must bear the adverse consequence when a disputed fact remains uncertain. Unless the law provides otherwise, the party who derives a right in its favor from the legal consequence attached to the fact it asserts is obliged to prove that fact.

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Force Majeure

Obligations, Compensation, Consumer and Dispute Resolution

Force majeure is an extraordinary event that develops outside the debtor’s sphere of activity and operations and that could not be foreseen or prevented by reasonable measures. Not every difficulty counts as force majeure. How the event affects the contractual obligation is examined separately in terms of impossibility, adaptation, default and the allocation of risk in the contract.

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Simulation (muvazaa)

Obligations, Compensation, Consumer and Dispute Resolution

Simulation (muvazaa) is where the parties, in order to mislead third persons, enter into an apparent transaction that does not correspond to their real intention. In absolute simulation (mutlak muvazaa) there is no other transaction behind the apparent transaction; in relative simulation (nisbî muvazaa), however, behind the apparent transaction there is a hidden transaction that the parties really want.

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Mediation (arabuluculuk)

Obligations, Compensation, Consumer and Dispute Resolution

Mediation is a dispute resolution method in which the parties to a dispute try to reach their own solution through negotiations led by an impartial and independent third person who has received specialized training. The mediator does not issue a binding decision; the mediator facilitates communication between the parties and, under Law No. 6325, may also make a proposal if the parties cannot reach a solution. It is, as a rule, voluntary; however, in certain employment, commercial, consumer and lease disputes, recourse to a mediator before filing a lawsuit is a procedural prerequisite.

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Appeal to the regional court of appeal (istinaf) / Appeal to the Court of Cassation (temyiz)Compare the explanations

Appeal to the regional court of appeal (istinaf)

Obligations, Compensation, Consumer and Dispute Resolution

Istinaf, the appeal to the regional court of appeal (bölge adliye mahkemesi), is the ordinary legal remedy through which decisions of first-instance civil courts are reviewed by that court as to the facts, the evidence and the law. The period for applying is, as a rule, two weeks from the proper notification of the decision; the type of decision and the monetary thresholds in the law must also be checked separately.

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Appeal to the Court of Cassation (temyiz)

Obligations, Compensation, Consumer and Dispute Resolution

In civil proceedings, temyiz, the appeal to the Court of Cassation (Yargıtay), is the ordinary legal remedy through which decisions of the regional court of appeal that are open to appeal are reviewed on points of law by the Court of Cassation. The application period is, as a rule, two weeks from the proper notification of the decision. Whether a decision can be appealed is determined by taking into account the type of decision and the thresholds applicable for the relevant year.

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Procedural capacity (dava ehliyeti) / Capacity to be a party (taraf ehliyeti)Compare the explanations

Procedural capacity (dava ehliyeti)

Obligations, Compensation, Consumer and Dispute Resolution

Procedural capacity is a person’s ability to conduct a civil action on their own behalf and to perform procedural acts validly. It is connected with capacity to act under civil law. Persons who lack procedural capacity act in the action through their legal representatives.

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Capacity to be a party (taraf ehliyeti)

Obligations, Compensation, Consumer and Dispute Resolution

Capacity to be a party (taraf ehliyeti) is a person’s ability to be a claimant or respondent in a civil action. It is the procedural-law counterpart of the capacity to hold rights under civil law. Natural persons and legal entities recognized by law have capacity to be a party; special provisions may allow certain communities to be a party to a limited extent.

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Algorithm

An algorithm is a set of rules that defines, in sequence, the steps to be followed to reach a particular result; in law it mostly describes the logic by which software processes data to rank, recommend, score or produce decisions. There is no general statutory definition of an algorithm in Turkish legislation. The concept is, for example, made subject to transparency obligations, without being defined, in additional Article 4 of Law No. 5651 concerning social network providers.

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Arbitration (tahkim)

Arbitration is the binding resolution of a dispute by an arbitrator or an arbitral tribunal instead of a state court; it is mostly a route chosen by the parties through an arbitration agreement, while in some special fields the Constitution or a statute makes arbitration mandatory. The Code of Civil Procedure applies to disputes with Türkiye as the seat of arbitration where there is no foreign element, and Law No. 4686 on International Arbitration applies where there is one; Law No. 4686 also applies when chosen by the parties or the arbitrators. Only an action to set aside can be brought against arbitral awards subject to these two statutes.

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Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is a general concept describing computer systems that produce outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations or decisions by making inferences from the data they receive and that can operate with a degree of autonomy. There is no general statutory definition of artificial intelligence in Turkish legislation. The official definition most often referred to is the definition of an AI system in Article 3/1 of the European Union Artificial Intelligence Regulation (EU) 2024/1689; this Regulation is not binding in Türkiye of its own force.

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Sources, currency and use of the glossary

The explanations are for general information. The meaning of a term may vary depending on the area of law in which it is used and the period of the source. You can review the source and version information on the term page. Specific disputes must be assessed separately.

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