With Article 5/A added to the Turkish Commercial Code in 2018, mediation has become a condition of litigation before filing a lawsuit for receivables and compensation claims, the subject of which is the payment of a certain amount of money.
Scope
- Credit involving money
- Compensation involving money
- Commercial disputes
Exceptions
- Enforcement proceedings
- Interim injunction
- Precautionary seizure
- Non-contentious judicial proceedings
- Consumer disputes (subject to its own legislation)
Process
- The mediator is appointed from the list of the Mediation Department of the Ministry of Justice
- The first meeting is within 3 weeks
- The process takes a maximum of 6 weeks + 2 weeks extension
- Agreement → document in the form of a judgment
- Non-agreement → a lawsuit can be taken (the final report is required)
Supreme Court 11th HD Approach
The 11th Supreme Court of Appeals emphasizes that cases filed without complying with the commercial mediation requirement will be rejected due to "lack of a lawsuit requirement" and that the final report must be attached to the lawsuit petition.
Commercial and mediation lawyer support is recommended.