In its decision dated August 13, 2024 and numbered 2024/4120, the Advertisement Board (“Board”), which operates under the Ministry of Trade, imposed sanctions on Yeni Bahar Yönetim ve Danışmanlık Ltd. Şti. (“Consultancy Firm”) for advertisements and promotions regarding the works that only lawyers can do. The Board imposed an administrative fine of TL 550,059 on the Consultancy Firm and suspended the advertisements due to the advertisements and promotions on the firm’s website and Instagram account regarding the works reserved for the legal profession.
When the content of the mentioned advertisements were examined, it was seen that Consultancy Firm promised that any compensation rights that may arise as a result of an accident would be delivered to the right holders as soon as possible. In addition, the website and social media account of the Consultancy Firm included promotions stating that the Consultancy Firm carried out activities reserved for lawyers registered at the bar association, such as giving opinions, filing and defending lawsuits, following judicial proceedings, The Decision is important in terms of preventing unauthorized persons from carrying out activities reserved for lawyers and is a measure taken against the activities of such persons aimed at misleading consumers. It is stated that the relevant misleading and deceptive promotions victimizes the consumers and they are abusive.
The Board stated that the aforementioned issues are in violation of Articles 35/1, 48/1, 63/1, 63/2 and 63/3 of the Attorneyship Law No. 1136; Articles 7/1, 7/2, 7/3, 7/4, 7/5, 9/1, 9/5, 11/1 and 32/1 of the Regulation on Commercial Advertisement and Unfair Commercial Practices; and Article 61 of the Law on Consumer Protection No. 6502 and decided to impose an administrative fine of TL 550,059 and to suspend the advertisements in accordance with Articles 63 and 77/12 of the Law on Consumer Protection No. 6502.
The decision of the Advertisement Board feliticiously draws attention to the relationship between the misleading and deceptive nature of the penalized activity and the activities that are specific to lawyers, and emphasizes the criminal aspect of the incident. The importance of supervision and sanctions on such entities, which have become quite widespread under the names of damage consultancy, compensation consultancy, etc., and which reach consumers and other interested parties by violating the Privacy of Personal Data and persistently harassing them, is increasing day by day.
