Service of documents (tebligat)

Scope

The general framework of service is found in Law No. 7201 on Notification (the “Notification Law”). Service by judicial authorities, public administrations, bar associations and notaries, including service by electronic means, is carried out under this Law through the PTT or an official (Art. 1). As a rule, service is made at the addressee’s last known address; if that address is not suitable or service cannot be made there, it is made at the residence address in the address registration system (Art. 10). If neither the addressee nor any person to whom service may be made is present at the stated address, or if the person refuses to accept the document, the document is delivered to the neighborhood head (muhtar) or to law enforcement, a notice is posted on the door, and the date of posting is deemed the date of service (Art. 21/1). In the practice of the Court of Cassation (Yargıtay), this route requires that the addressee’s temporary absence from the address be investigated and recorded in a report; if the addressee has permanently left the address, the same consequence arises only for service made at the address in the address registration system (Art. 21/2). Electronic service is mandatory for public administrations, private-law legal entities, notaries, attorneys, and registered mediators and court-appointed experts (Art. 7/a).

Practical significance

Time limits generally begin to run from the date of service and, in the cases provided by law, from the date of pronouncement of the judgment (tefhim) (Code of Civil Procedure (HMK) Art. 91). For example, the period for an appeal to the regional court of appeal (istinaf) begins with the proper service of the decision (HMK Art. 345); the date of service therefore determines whether most objections or applications to a legal remedy have been made in time. A person to whom service has been properly made who changes address is obliged to notify the new address to the authority that requested the service; if the person does not do so and no residence address can be determined from the address registration system either, the document is posted on the door of the building at the former address, the date of posting is deemed the date of service, and subsequent service is deemed to have been made at the former address. For legal entities, the address in the official records is taken as the basis even if no service has previously been made (Notification Law Art. 35). Improper service is deemed valid if the addressee has become aware of the service, and the date declared by the addressee is the date of service (Notification Law Art. 32).

Concepts often confused

Service is confused with pronouncement (tefhim): tefhim is the communication of the judgment by reading it to those present at the hearing (HMK Art. 294), whereas service is the delivery of the document to the addressee by the procedure prescribed by law. Service also frequently arises in calculating the statute of limitations and preclusive periods; however, it is not itself a period but an act that can determine when a period begins.