Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Turkey

Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Turkey

Foreign court judgments must undergo recognition or enforcement procedures in Turkey in order to be enforceable or considered as final judgments within the Turkish legal system. For example, if a debt claim is finalized abroad and collection is sought through enforcement proceedings in Turkey, the foreign judgment must first be enforced. In this article, we briefly address these types of cases.

Clarification of Terms

To eliminate common confusion that leads to improper practice, it is essential to clarify the concepts of recognition and enforcement:

• Enforcement (Tenfiz): Granting a foreign court decision enforceability in Turkey, allowing it to be executed by Turkish enforcement authorities, as if it were a domestic judgment.
• Recognition (Tanıma): Acceptance of the finality and legal validity of a foreign judgment in Turkey, without making it directly enforceable.

I. Enforcement Actions

If a foreign court judgment involves an obligation or if any enforcement is sought within Turkey based on such a judgment, an enforcement lawsuit must be filed.

Requirements for Enforcement

According to Article 51 of the Turkish International Private and Procedural Law (“MÖHUK”), enforcement cases are heard by civil courts of first instance. The foreign court decision must be final and binding. At the time of filing, the original judgment and its certified Turkish translation (including finality and apostille annotations, if any) must be submitted to the competent court.

Additional conditions considered by Turkish courts before granting enforcement are:

• Existence of a bilateral or reciprocal agreement between Turkey and the country where the judgment was issued,
• The matter not falling within the exclusive jurisdiction of Turkish courts,
• The judgment not being clearly contrary to Turkish public order,
• The defendant having been properly summoned or represented in the foreign proceedings (no violation of the right to defense).

If the above conditions are satisfied, the court will grant enforcement, and the foreign judgment will be treated like a Turkish court decision. The enforcement order must become final before execution proceedings can begin. If appealed, provisional attachment or interim injunctions may be requested during the appeal process.

II. Recognition Actions

Foreign court judgments subject to recognition must also be final and translated into Turkish. The original and the translated versions must be submitted to the court.

Unlike enforcement, recognition does not require a reciprocity agreement between Turkey and the issuing country (Article 58, MÖHUK).

Recognition lawsuits are typically filed to use the foreign decision as conclusive evidence or to obtain a legally binding determination. Examples include:

• Recognition of foreign divorce decrees,
• Negative declaratory judgments (e.g., a person owes no debt),
• Evidence that alimony obligations do not exist due to the prior dissolution of marriage.

According to Article 59 of MÖHUK, recognized foreign judgments produce conclusive effects from the moment they become final in the country of origin.

III. Conclusion

Careful examination of the foreign judgment's content is crucial when deciding whether to initiate a recognition or enforcement lawsuit. Filing the wrong type of case may lead to loss of rights or ineffective legal remedies.

Av. Anıl Coşkun, LL.M. (Mainz)

info@anil-coskun.com

www.anil-coskun.com

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