1. Application to Mediation will be a Must.

With the Law, “mediation as a cause action” is introduced to our law first time; And, before filing a case related to disputes concerning the Law before the courts, application to mediation become necessary. Application to mediation will be sought for the cases based on the Law, individual and collective employment contracts, employer and employee receivables and compensation, re-employment. Under the Law, mediation will also be a pre-condition regarding the compensation cases on defamation and slander arisen from employment relationship and damages of the workplace and/or the goods placed in the workplace.

Plaintiff will need to attach the original or the copy certified by the mediator of final mediation minute which proves no settlement achieved from the mediation to their lawsuit petition. In case the plaintiff does not attach such document, 1 (one) week duration will provided to the plaintiff to submit the document and the lawsuit will be rejected if they cannot provide it in time. Mediation will not be applied to occupational workplace accidents and occupational diseases.

Mediation as a cause action will not be applied to the cases on material and immaterial compensation and related recourse cases. If one of the parties does not attend to the first mediation meeting without submitting any excuse document and if the mediation concludes, the party not attending to the meeting will be charged for mediation expenses even though they get partially of wholly affirmative result. And, if the both parties do not attend to the first mediation meeting without submitting any excuse document, both parties will bear their own expenses. In case amicable settlement is reached as a result of the mediation, mediation payments will be shared by the parties on equal basis.

2. Time Period for Appeal to the Court Decisions is Changed with the Law

Under the article 8 of the Previous Law, time period for appeal was 8 (eight) days starting from the announcement or delivery of the court decision. With this change, time for appeal will start with the delivery of the court decision and the duration for submission of appeal petition is 2 (two) weeks as of the delivery date of the court decision. Under temporary 1 article of the Law, the decisions taken before October 25, 2017 are subject to Previous Law.

3. Re-Employment Lawsuits will not be Appealed to Supreme Courts

Article 20 of the Law provides significant changes. Under such article, cases on invalidity of the termination and re-employment can only be appealed to divisional courts, decisions of divisional courts cannot be appealed and such decisions will be final. However, for decisions made before October 25, 2017, appeal process to Supreme Courts will be available.

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Calculating the Duration of Stay in Turkey for Legal Entities and Enterprises 

Previously, the number of employees at a company and their duration of stay in Turkey were taken into account when calculating the company’s duration of stay in Turkey. The Communiqué clarifies that the number of days employees spent in Turkey will become the only basis for calculating the company’s duration of stay. The company’s number of employees will no longer be considered.

Under the new approach, if a legal person or enterprise which is resident in another country performs 20 days of independent professional service activities in Turkey with ten employees, the duration of stay will be calculated as 20 days. Previously, the duration of stay would have been calculated as 200 days.

Certificate of Residence 

To benefit from Double Taxation Treaties, foreign residents must now apply for a Certificate of Residence, obtained from the competent authorities in their country. The original of the Certificate of Residence must be submitted to Turkish tax authorities, alongside with a certified Turkish translation. Failure to submit a Certificate of Residence will mean local legislation will apply, instead of the relevant Double Taxation Treaty.

The certificate for each calendar year must be valid until the fourth month of the following year. An original, notarized or certified Turkish translation of the certificate must be presented to the relevant tax office or tax accountants.

The post TURKEY UPDATES RULES ON DOUBLE TAXATION PREVENTION TREATIES FOR INDEPENDENT PROFESSIONAL SERVICES appeared first on The Turkish Law Firm in the UK.

While they were flying back to their home to Southwick, West Sussex, the Turkish officers at the Bodrum airport suspected of 12 coins he had in his bag. After examined the coins, they accused him of ‘finding Turkish artefacts without notifying authorities’ and detained him.

The coins are approximately 25 shipwrecks dating as far back as the fourth century and Mr Robyns did not realise that. He was completely unaware of committing an offence by taking the historical treasures out of the country without consent.

He was sentenced 13 years jail time by the court and spent six weeks in prison after being detained at Bodrum Airport on August 19.

During this time, LLI Team worked hard on arguing the Turkish Court to give a verdict of innocence.

Our lawyer Murat Yilmaz successfully argued in the last hearing of Mr Robyns ‘lacked criminal intent’ in taking the coins. Consequently, a release decision was obtained which was very good news for him and his family.

After a terrifying six-week ordeal, Mr Robyns flew back to UK on 3rd October, he is finally home safe and sound with his family.

For more details of the story please click the below link

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4814582/British-father-five-52-locked-Turkish-jail.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-41529849

The post LONDON LEGAL INTERNATIONAL GETS THE BRITISH FATHER OF 5 FREED FROM TURKISH JAIL!! appeared first on The Turkish Law Firm in the UK.

The new regulation also indicates the following issues:

Health institutions and intermediary institutions must establish an International Tourism Health Unit in order to accept, register, diagnose, treat, bill, discharge, translate and coordinate related operations.

A doctor should meet certain criteria to be appointed as manager of each International Tourism Health Unit.

Each of the International Tourism Health Unit should have at least two employees who are able to speak English.

Only authorized health or intermediary institutions can advertise and offer information about these mentioned services.

The Regulation on International Health Tourism and Tourist’s Health was entered into force on 13 July 2017.

The post Turkey has been regulating rules for Medical Tourism Sector appeared first on The Turkish Law Firm in the UK.

Major alterations presented by The Zoning Regulation on Planned Areas are the following:

– The maximum permitted footprint for foundations of new buildings increases from 40% to 60% of the land parcel’s total area.

– Apartments should be at least 28.5 m2 which contain one living room and one bedroom minimum. It will not be possible to build studio apartments from now on.

– Municipalities now have the discretion to determine the design of the building.

– Specific heat insulation applications and solar energy systems will not necessitate permission.

– The maximum storey height for buildings and workplaces increases from 3.60 m to 4.00 m.

– Areas owned by the Gendarmerie General Command and Coast Guard Command will no longer be deemed military areas. The Treasury will now be deemed to own these areas.

In relation to these construction permits granted by 1 October 2017, the applicant may choose whether the new or prior rules will apply.

The post Turkey Amends Its Rules regarding Construction Permit appeared first on The Turkish Law Firm in the UK.

Prior to the new legislation, stamp duty tax applicable to the property transfers was 4% of the purchase price.

The title deed fees rate applicable to transfers of residential or business real estate properties (including those with construction servitude) is reduced from 4% to 3% until 30 September 2017.

The effect of the reduced stamp duty tax on property market, in our opinion, presents a unique opportunity to purchase or sale property in Turkey.  Accordingly, Turkish Statistical Institute stated that there was a 10% increase in property transfers in March 2017 compared to March 2016.

If you are considering to purchase or sell a property in Turkey, you could benefit from the reduced stamp duty tax. For further details on this, please contact our team.

The post Turkey Reduces Stamp Duty Tax for Property Transfers appeared first on The Turkish Law Firm in the UK.

The Minister says that if a foreign person or entity (company etc.) purchases a property from Turkish contraction companies VAT exemption will be applied hence foreigners will not be required to pay VAT. The Minister further stated that the VAT exemption will be applicable to Turkish citizens who are resident in foreign countries as well.

With the change of relevant legislation, the Minister expects the exemption to provide growth in construction sector and economy.

If you are going to purchase a property in Turkey, please contact our team to find out how you could benefit from VAT exemption.

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The IP Act was prepared in accordance with EU laws & regulations and it introduces significant changes some of which are listed below;

• The IP Act provides some protection for unregistered designs as well as parts of join products.
• Turkish Patent Institute is re-named as the Turkish Patent and Trademark Institute.
• Bad faith is recognised as a cancellation ground.
• Designs made by university staff and students will be regarded as university’s design. The designer, on the other hand, will be able to request a price from the university.
• Certain incentives for inventors are established with the IP Act.

In conclusion we believe that as a long awaited legislation, the IP Act will resolve some major issues.

The post Turkey introduces the new Industrial Property Act appeared first on The Turkish Law Firm in the UK.

Based on the above, in the context of protection of consumer and effective as of 1 January 2017, the relevant legislation “Protection of the Consumer Act” is imposing higher fines for certain violations.

Particularly, companies which use unfair terms in consumer agreements; fail to comply with laws of direct sales agreements and make misleading representation and/or advertising will be subject to a higher fine per violation/per agreement.

In this regard, companies are recommended to comply with current legislation in order to avoid facing financial sanctions. If you require assistance in Turkish company law to determine whether your company is in compliance with Turkish laws, please contact our team.

The post Turkey Sets Higher Fines for Consumer Law Violations appeared first on The Turkish Law Firm in the UK.

The Act sets outs the principles for experts’ training, proficiency, selection and supervision.

The Act states that expert reports shall only address issued which require technical knowledge, in other words, expert reports cannot address issues that are not within the technical knowledge of the expert.

The Act introduces Expert Consultation Committee as an advisory body which will act under the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice. Furthermore, Regional Committees will be established to ensure expert services are carried out in accordance with the relevant legislation, issue experts list, register experts on the experts list and supervise and inspect experts.

We think that the Act will be a step forward in better expert service to be provided to the courts hence will have a positive effect on Turkish legal system.

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