The Twelfth Judicial Package changes civil procedure, enforcement, criminal procedure and administrative litigation. Its practical effect depends on the provision and the relevant case dates. It does not provide a general amnesty. A procedural amendment should not be assumed to apply identically to every pending case.
1. Claims whose amount is initially uncertain
Article 19 repeals Article 107 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Under the transitional rule, that article continues to apply to actions brought before its repeal took effect. Existing cases must therefore be distinguished from later actions.
Article 20 adds paragraph 4 to Article 109: where only part of a receivable is claimed, the claim may be increased once in the same action until the evidential investigation ends, without the prohibition on expanding the claim. Limitation is also treated as interrupted from the action date for the increased portion. This does not remove the need to identify the debt, choose the proper action and comply with procedural requirements.
2. Inherited property and judicial auctions
For sale to dissolve co-ownership of property acquired by all owners through inheritance, with no ownership held by outside third parties, the first auction is restricted to the owner-heirs. This procedure is used only once. The qualifying first-auction threshold uses the full appraised value; statutory priority claims and sale and distribution costs must also be considered. It should not be described simply as an unconditional sale at exactly 100%.
The second auction follows the statutory general framework. Shareholders should examine security requirements. Failure to pay the winning bid can result in forfeiture and allocation of security under the detailed rules, together with an administrative fine of 5% of the bid. The amendments do not apply to auctions already announced before their commencement.
3. Compensation and statutory interest
The additions to Article 55 of the Code of Obligations concern loss of earning capacity and loss of support. Statutory interest on compensation for periods of known earnings runs from the tort or damaging event; interest on amounts for periods where earnings are unknown runs from judgment. Qualifying payments made for performance before the evidential investigation begins are deducted proportionately under the statutory calculation.
The event date is decisive: the transitional provision applies this change to torts or damaging events occurring after its commencement. Earlier events remain subject to the previous provisions. All pending accident claims should not automatically be recalculated under the new rule.
The amendment to Law No. 3095 separately bases statutory interest, where its conditions apply and no contractual amount has been fixed, on 80% of the Central Bank's short-term rediscount rate on 31 December of the preceding year. If the 30 June rate differs by at least five percentage points, 80% of that June rate applies for the second half. The applicable dates and rate must be checked for the particular period.
4. Hearings, remote participation and experts
- Article 147 of the Code of Civil Procedure generally limits the interval between hearings to three months. A judge may give a reasoned longer interval where necessity arises, such as extended expert work or taking evidence through another court.
- The remote-hearing amendment removes handwritten-signature requirements outside specified acts, including confession, oath, consent to withdrawal, waiver, acceptance and settlement. This amendment has a deferred commencement.
- Referring matters resolvable through professional legal knowledge to an expert becomes a ground for a warning under the judicial disciplinary framework.
- The law also changes the binding effect and appeal framework for consolidation and separation decisions. The particular decision and appeal stage must be examined.
5. Limited participation by providing account access
The new Article 158(4) of the Criminal Code provides a half reduction where participation in fraud under Articles 157 or 158 is limited to providing the necessary information or instruments enabling use of qualifying accounts or payment instruments, for the purpose of obtaining an unlawful benefit for oneself or another. Merely seeing an IBAN in a file does not establish either guilt or eligibility for this reduction. Conduct, intent and the limits of participation require evidence.
Transitional rules address qualifying cases before criminal regional appellate chambers and the Court of Cassation Chief Public Prosecutor. For qualifying enforcement-stage convictions where Article 168 has not already been applied, full repayment within six months of the court's warning can permit the specified effective-remorse treatment. The six months does not run automatically from publication. Under this transitional provision, enforcement cannot be postponed or stopped until the loss has been fully remedied. Final convictions and favourable-law assessment require individual review.
6. Deferred announcement of judgment and other criminal procedure changes
The enacted law does contain an amendment to Article 231 on deferred announcement of judgment (HAGB). It was not wholly removed from the final law. Conditions, supervision and appeal provisions are set out in the enacted text. HAGB is excluded for torture, torment and qualifying official ill-treatment within Article 17 of the Constitution.
Article 80 regulates anonymised storage and use of molecular-genetic examination results. Destruction follows the specified finality or objection conditions; other records have a twenty-year rule from final judgment. Earlier deletion may be requested when the storage purpose ceases or a justified reason exists. Access requires the statutory judicial or prosecutorial decision.
An unexamined fugitive defendant cannot be convicted or receive the specified decision that no penalty is necessary. Where a security measure is ordered, the defendant or defence counsel may request reopening to exercise defence rights. The Chief Public Prosecutor's objection power under Article 308 is also amended, with a three-month period and no time limit for objections in the accused's favour, subject to the transitional file-delivery rule.
Digital evidence: the enacted Law No. 7589 does not amend Article 134. The earlier assertion attributing new computer search and seizure rules to this package has therefore been removed.
7. Other changes
- Guardianship sales of movable and immovable property use the UYAP-integrated electronic portal; the guardianship authority's approval must be decided within ten days of the auction. Commencement and previously announced-auction rules matter.
- Single-judge administrative jurisdiction is expanded for specified monetary and non-monetary categories. The law states TRY 486,000 for the relevant monetary category; the applicable current threshold and exclusions must be checked.
- Administrative appellate remittal and further-appeal rules change, with specified exceptions. Civil further appeals also depend on statutory monetary tests and the difference between decisions; not every regional appellate judgment becomes appealable.
- The law provides electronic transmission of requested certified notarial records, forensic-office appointment and term rules, judicial-assistant training provisions and a Council of State transitional extension to 23 July 2030.
8. Commencement and file review
Under Article 26, Articles 11, 12 and 22 commence three months after publication; as of 27 October 2026 that period has not yet elapsed. Article 3 operates from 23 July 2026 with commencement on publication. Other articles commence on publication. Temporary Article 1 separately determines which auctions, actions, events, judgments and delivered files are covered.
- Record the event, action, announcement, judgment and file-delivery dates.
- Identify the exact amended provision and its transitional rule.
- Recheck the proposed calculation, procedural step and available remedy.
- Do not assume automatic release, debt cancellation or reopening.
Official sources
Parliament's adoption and publication record · Enacted Law No. 7589.
General information about Turkish law. This is not a substitute for reviewing the file and current Turkish statutory texts, which govern.