Administrative jurisdiction resolves disputes arising from the acts and actions of the administration. Under Administrative Procedure Law No. 2577 (İYUK), cases fall into three types: annulment actions, full remedy actions, and actions arising from administrative contracts. Our firm handles cases before the administrative and tax courts in Ankara and before the Council of State (Danıştay).
An annulment action is brought by those whose interests have been infringed, on the grounds that the administrative act is unlawful in respect of one of its elements: competence, form, cause, subject or purpose. If the action succeeds, the act is set aside with retroactive effect and the administration is obliged to restore the situation that existed before the act.
Those whose personal rights have been directly harmed by an administrative act or action bring a full remedy action to recover their pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage. It is the administrative-law counterpart of a compensation claim in private law. The administration's liability may be based on fault in the provision of the service or on the principles of strict (no-fault) liability. A full remedy action arising from an act may be brought together with the annulment action, after the annulment action has been decided, or after that decision has become final.
Time limits for bringing an action in administrative proceedings are forfeiture periods (hak düşürücü süre): once a time limit expires, the right to sue is lost. The court takes them into account of its own motion. The period begins on the day after written notification of the act. The periods for administrative courts and tax courts differ. An action brought after the time limit has expired is dismissed without examination of the merits; it is therefore very important to document the date of service.
A stay of execution may be ordered where both conditions are met: implementing the administrative act would cause damage that is difficult or impossible to remedy, and the act is clearly unlawful. The request must be expressly made in the statement of claim.
The refusal of applications for recognition of the equivalence of diplomas obtained abroad, or the withdrawal of a previously issued equivalence certificate, is a frequent subject of administrative litigation. In these disputes, the concept of acquired rights and the limits of the administration's power to withdraw an unlawful act are decisive.
Disciplinary penalties, appointment and removal-from-office decisions, and decisions granting or refusing permission to investigate are subject to review by the administrative courts. For healthcare professionals, the procedure for permission to investigate is governed by separate rules.
Persons concerned may ask the administration to withdraw, revoke or amend an act issued in respect of them. If the application is not answered within the period set by law, it is deemed to have been refused, and the time limit for bringing an action starts to run from that date. For damage arising from administrative actions, an application to the administration is mandatory before an action is brought.
The authority to which an objection against an administrative fine must be made depends on the law that provides for the fine. Some fines are taken to the criminal judgeship of peace (sulh ceza hâkimliği), others to the administrative court. Because applying to the wrong authority leads to loss of time, the legal remedy indicated in the served documents must be examined carefully.
The administration's taking of immovable property on public interest grounds is subject to the rules on expropriation. Annulment of the expropriation act is sought before the administrative courts, while determination of the expropriation price and registration are sought before the civil courts. Where the administration takes de facto possession of property without a lawful expropriation, a separate cause of action arises.
Annulment actions may be brought against zoning plans, plan amendments, building permit decisions and demolition orders. In actions against plans, the public display period and the objection procedure directly affect when time limits start. Fines and demolition orders issued for buildings that do not comply with their permits may each be challenged separately.
An action may be brought before the tax court against assessed taxes and imposed penalties; as a rule, bringing the action suspends collection. Instead of litigation, it is also possible to apply for settlement (uzlaşma) or correction. Since the choice between these routes affects the time limits, it should be assessed at the outset.
Decisions of the administrative and tax courts may be appealed to the Regional Administrative Court (istinaf) or to the Council of State (temyiz), depending on the monetary thresholds and subject-matter criteria set by law. In some disputes, the Council of State itself is the court of first instance. Time limits for appeals are also forfeiture periods.
