The Draft Law on Amending the Code of Criminal Procedure, Some Laws, and Decree Law No. 659 (“Draft Law”), also known as the 8th Judicial Package, has been adopted by the General Assembly of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.
The Draft Law includes regulations on standardizing the time limits for appeals. These regulations aim to ensure a more consistent and fair functioning of legal processes.
Objection, appeal, and cassation periods are regulated to be “weeks” instead of “days” to allow for better exercise of the right to seek justice. These periods are standardized to “two weeks.”
Moreover, it is aimed to strengthen legal certainty and prevent loss of rights with acceptace of the time for appeal applications starting with notification of the reasoned decision rather than pronouncement.
These regulations will apply to decisions made after 01/06/2024.
The changes made in the relevant regulations has been examined below:
Article 19 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law No. 2004 has been amended by adding the sentence: “If the period is determined as weeks, it ends on the corresponding day of the last week it started.”
The time limits for appeals that were determined in weeks in Law No. 2004 has been provided as reason and in order to comply with this amendment, regulations were made by taking into account similar provisions in the Law of Civil Procedure No. 6100. Accordingly, if the period is determined as weeks, it will end on the corresponding day of the last week it started.
Amendment has also been made in Article 309/p of Law No. 2004. In Law No. 6100, the time limits for appeals are determined as “weeks,” and it is accepted that these periods will start from the notification of the decision. Additionally, appellate courts have been operational since July 20, 2016.
Compliance with Law No. 6100 regarding appeals to the courts has been cited as the reason for amending Law No. 2004 concerning appeals to the law path for better exercise of the right to seek justice. In this context, the necessary compliance regulation is made in Article 309/p of Law No. 2004.
Amendment is made in the second paragraph of Article 364 of Law No. 2004. In order to standardize the periods related to appeals to the law path, it is regulated that the cassation appeal period in Law No. 2004, as in Law No. 6100, will start from the notification and will be two weeks.
Amendment is made in Article 164 regulating the appeal path against final decisions given by commercial courts in the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law. The appeal period for appeal has been increased from ten days to two weeks.
The appeal period for the decision regarding the lifting of bankruptcy, regulated in Article 182 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law, has been changed from ten days to two weeks. Similarly, the period for appealing to the regional court of justice’s decision has been changed from ten days to two weeks.
In Article 254 regulating the appeal path against the decision regarding the closure of bankruptcy in the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law, the appeal period has been increased from ten days to two weeks. Likewise, the period for appealing to the regional court of justice’s decision has been changed from ten days to two weeks.
In Article 293 regulating the evaluation of the request for an absolute period, if the request for concordat is rejected due to the evaluation of the request, the appeal period for the debtor or, if any, the creditor requesting the concordat has been increased from ten days to two weeks.
With the amendment made in Article 308/a of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law regarding concordat, the appeal period for the decision on concordat and the period for appealing the decision of the regional court of justice regarding concordat have been changed from ten days to two weeks.
With the amendment made in Article 308/e of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law regarding the partial annulment of concordat, the appeal period for any creditor who has not been satisfied in accordance with the concordat project against the court approving the concordat and the period for appealing the decision of the regional court of justice have been changed from ten days to two weeks.
In Article 320 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law regulating the appeal path against the extraordinary period decision given by the Enforcement court, the appeal period has been changed from ten days to two weeks.
In Article 353 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law regulating the seven day objection period starting from the date of notification or pronouncement regarding coercion and disciplinary imprisonment given by the Enforcement court, has been changed to two weeks starting from the notification date.
In Article 363 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law regulating the appeal period against the decisions of the Enforcement court that can be appealed starting from the notification or pronouncement, which was ten days, has been changed to two weeks starting from notification.
In Law No. 4675 on the Office of the Judge of Execution, the period for appealing against decisions has been changed from seven days to two weeks.
In Article 41 of the 5271 numbered Criminal Procedure Code, the seven-day period for the restoration petition has been changed to two weeks.
In Article 73 of the 5271 numbered Criminal Procedure Code, the fifteen-day period for objection to the decision of non-prosecution by the victim of the crime has been changed to two weeks.
In Article 251 of the 5271 numbered Criminal Procedure Code, the fifteen-day period for the submission of statements and defenses by the defendant, victim, and complainant when the simple trial procedure is applied has been changed to two weeks.
In Article 268 of the 5271 numbered Criminal Procedure Code, the fifteen-day period for appealing against the judge or court decision has been changed to two weeks.
In Article 276 of the 5271 numbered Criminal Procedure Code, the seven-day period for the appellant prosecutor or parties applying for appeal to request a decision from the regional court of justice regarding the rejection decision has been changed to two weeks.
In Article 277 of the 5271 numbered Criminal Procedure Code, the seven-day period for responding to the appeal petition or statement not rejected by the court has been changed to two weeks.
In Article 296 of the 5271 numbered Criminal Procedure Code, the seven-day period for requesting a decision from the Court of Cassation following the notification of the rejection decision has been changed to two weeks.
In Article 297 of the 5271 numbered Criminal Procedure Code, the seven-day period for responding to the petition regarding the appeal request not rejected by the regional court of justice has been changed to two weeks. Similarly, the seven-day period for responding to the notification prepared by the Court of Cassation Prosecutor’s Office has been changed to two weeks in case it includes opinions that may result in consequences against the defendant or their attorney.
In Article 308 of the 5271 numbered Criminal Procedure Code, the thirty-day appeal period for the Prosecutor General’s objection to a decision of one of the Court of Cassation’s criminal chambers has been changed to one month.
In Article 308/A of the 5271 numbered Criminal Procedure Code, the thirty-day appeal period for the Prosecutor General’s objection to the definitive decisions of the regional court of justice’s criminal chambers has been changed to one month. Additionally, the response period for the involved parties has been extended from seven days to two weeks.
In Article 319 of the 5271 numbered Criminal Procedure Code, the seven-day period for the request for retrial has been changed to two weeks.
In Article 320 of the 5271 numbered Criminal Procedure Code, the seven-day period for the submission of opinions and thoughts by the prosecutor and the convicted person after the collection of evidence upon the acceptance of the retrial request has been changed to two weeks.
Article 29 of Law No. 5326, which regulates the period of seven days for objecting to the last decision of the court, has been changed to two weeks.
In Article 41/E of Law No. 5395 on Child Protection, the period for objecting to the decision resulting from the complaint to the family court against the action and decisions made by the directorate regarding the implementation of custody and establishing personal relations with the child has been changed from 15 days to two weeks.
In Law No. 6100 on Civil Procedure, an amendment has been made in Article 43 regarding appeals in cases where the appeal path is open for the main judgment, changing the application period from one week starting from the notification date or pronouncement to two weeks starting only from the notification date.
Article 337 of the Civil Procedure Law, which regulates the period for objecting by submitting a petition to the court that rendered the decision against the rejection of the request for legal aid, has been changed to two weeks starting from the notification date.
Additionally, with the amendment made in Article 346 of the Civil Procedure Law, the period for applying for appeal against the rejection of the appeal petition has been increased from one week to two weeks.
The objection period, which was one week from the notification or pronouncement of the disciplinary imprisonment decision due to non-compliance with the provisional measure order or acting contrary to the provisional measure order, has been changed to two weeks starting from the notification date.
In Law No. 6502 on Consumer Protection, Article 70 regulating decisions and objections to decisions, the period for objecting to the decisions of the consumer arbitration board starting from the notification date has been changed from 15 days to two weeks
