The 12th Judicial Package: Bill on the Effective and Efficient Functioning of the Judiciary

At Pehlivan & Güven Law Firm, we have reviewed the "Bill Amending Certain Laws for the Effective and Efficient Functioning of the Judiciary" (the 12th Judicial Package), which has been submitted to the Speaker's Office of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye and which provides for fundamental changes to our judicial system.

1. Speed and Efficiency in Civil Proceedings: The 3-Month Rule

The key amendment to Article 147 of the Code of Civil Procedure (HMK) (Bill Art. 22) aims to eliminate the uncertainty over the intervals between hearings in the written procedure. Under the new rule, the period between hearings may not, as a rule, exceed 3 months.

Although the judge has the power to exceed this period in unavoidable cases, such as a prolonged expert examination or taking evidence by letters rogatory (istinabe), the Bill now requires this to be explained in the hearing record with concrete reasons based on the facts of the case.

2. Actions for Unquantified Claims Are Being Abolished

The "Action for an Unquantified Claim" (belirsiz alacak davası, HMK Art. 107), which in practice has led to serious losses of rights and the risk of the case being dismissed, is being abolished entirely. Instead, through improvements made to the "Partial Action" (Art. 109), our clients' "freedom to seek justice" has been optimised in terms of cost and risk.

• Filing the Action: Suing for part of the claim (Partial Action).
• Protection Against Limitation: For the part not claimed at the start of the case, the limitation period is deemed interrupted as of the date the case is filed.
• Increasing the Claim: Until the evidence-gathering stage (tahkikat) ends, the remaining part of the claim may be requested once, without the need for an amendment of pleadings (ıslah).

3. Digital Transformation in the Sale of Property Under Guardianship

With the amendment to the Turkish Civil Code (Arts. 440 and 444), the sale of movable and immovable property belonging to persons under guardianship will now be carried out through the UYAP e-sale portal.

4. Criminal Procedure and the Protection of Personal Data

In line with the annulment decisions of the Constitutional Court, the procedures for storing and destroying digital and genetic data have been placed under statutory rules (CMK Arts. 14 and 15).

Analysis: Where the purpose of data retention no longer exists, the persons concerned have been granted the right to request deletion of the data.

5. Deferral of the Announcement of the Verdict (HAGB) and Public Officials

The deferral of the announcement of the verdict (HAGB) (CMK Art. 16) will no longer apply to the offences of torture, torment and ill-treatment (Article 17 of the Constitution) committed by public officials in connection with their duties.

6. New Procedures and Monetary Thresholds in Administrative Justice

The threshold for cases to be decided by a single judge in administrative courts has been raised to TL 486,000 for 2026.

Regional Administrative Court (BİM) Decision Tree and Strategic Impact: The new powers of the Regional Administrative Court are designed to prevent the case file from constantly going back and forth between the lower and higher courts:

• Dismissal with Corrected Reasoning: If the outcome of the decision is lawful but the reasoning is wrong, the Regional Administrative Court amends the reasoning and dismisses the appeal. (This is the most important strategic advantage in shortening the process.)
• Remitting the File: This is possible only in limited cases, such as where final procedural decisions are wrong, the case was conducted against the wrong defendant, or the judgment is incomplete.
• Requirement of Procedural Economy: The lack of an on-site inspection, expert examination or hearing is no longer a reason for remitting the case; the Regional Administrative Court is obliged to remedy these deficiencies itself.

7. Changes to Interest and Compensation Calculations

The amendments made under Law No. 3095 and the Turkish Code of Obligations are set out below.

• Statutory Interest and the 5-Point Rule: The statutory interest rate has been indexed to 80% of the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (TCMB) rediscount rate.
• Significance: If the rediscount rate on 30 June differs by 5 points or more from the rate of 31 December of the previous year, this new rate will apply in the second half of the year. This "interim update" protects the creditor in a high-inflation environment while increasing the debtor's financial predictability.
• Start of Interest in Compensation Calculations: In compensation for loss of support and loss of earning capacity, the start date of interest for the "unknown period" for which the calculation is made will no longer be the date of the incident but the "date of the decision". This provision aims to ease the burden of excessively accumulated interest on the debtor.

Conclusion and Assessment

We have summarised the "Bill Amending Certain Laws for the Effective and Efficient Functioning of the Judiciary", which has been submitted to the Speaker's Office of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye and has been reported in the press as the 12th Judicial Package. We would remind readers that it has not yet become law, that it may be enacted with some changes, and that at this stage it is only a bill.