How Civil Proceedings Work: A Stage-by-Stage Map

This is the English version of a Turkish article. The original, with further detail and linked petition templates, is at Dava Süreci Nasıl İşler? Baştan Sona Yol Haritası.

What determines how long a civil case takes is not its subject matter but how many times the procedural steps have to be repeated. The preliminary examination cannot take place until the pleadings are complete; where evidence is filed incompletely, the investigation stage drags on. The table below shows how long each stage takes in practice; the figures vary with the workload of the courthouse.

For most people bringing a case for the first time the process is a black box: what happens when, and what has to be done at each stage, are unclear.

This article follows a civil case from beginning to end, and sets out what needs to be done at each stage.

What Happens Before the Action Is Brought?

The action is not the first step. Before it:

1. Check the limitation and forfeiture periods. Some claims are subject to very short periods.
2. Gather your evidence. Collecting it later is often impossible.
3. Send a formal notice. It places the other party in default, fixes the date from which interest runs, and shows good faith.
4. Check whether mediation is a condition of the action. Mediation before proceedings is compulsory in employment, commercial, consumer, tenancy, condominium and neighbour disputes.
5. Apply for preservation of evidence if needed — before the position changes.
6. Identify the court with jurisdiction and the correct venue. An action brought in the wrong court leads to delay through a decision declining jurisdiction.

An interim injunction or a preliminary attachment may also be sought before the action, and neither is subject to the mediation requirement.

How Long Does the Exchange of Pleadings Take?

Articles 126 and following of the Code of Civil Procedure govern the exchange of pleadings. There are four:

1. The statement of claim, filed by the claimant.
2. The defence, filed by the defendant within two weeks of service of the statement of claim. Where preparing the defence is very difficult in the circumstances, one further period not exceeding one month may be granted, once only.
3. The reply, filed by the claimant within two weeks of service of the defence.
4. The rejoinder, filed by the defendant within two weeks.

Why this stage is critical: under Articles 129 and 194 the parties must set out the facts they rely on and their evidence in these pleadings.

Article 141: the parties may extend or alter their claims and defences freely in the reply and the rejoinder, and thereafter, at the preliminary examination stage, only with the express consent of the other party.

Once the preliminary examination is complete, claims and defences may not be extended except by amendment of the pleadings or with the express consent of the other party.

In short: set out your facts and your evidence in full at this stage. Adding to them later becomes very difficult.

When Does the Preliminary Examination Take Place?

Articles 137 and following. Once the pleadings are complete the court holds a preliminary examination.

At this stage the court:

• examines the conditions of the action and any preliminary objections (jurisdiction, venue, mediation, legal interest, capacity)
• identifies precisely the matters in dispute
• takes the preparatory steps needed for the parties to file their evidence and for it to be collected
• encourages the parties towards settlement or mediation

At the preliminary examination hearing the court records, point by point, the matters on which the parties agree and disagree.

Peremptory periods: the court sets the parties a final period for filing and collecting evidence. Evidence not filed within it is treated as abandoned.

For that reason attend the preliminary examination hearing and put every final period the court sets into your calendar.

How Long Does the Investigation Stage Take?

This is where the merits are examined, and it is the longest stage.

What happens here:

• Collection of documents, by requests sent to institutions.
• Hearing of witnesses.
• Site inspection and expert examination.
• Objection to the expert report, within two weeks of service.
• Increase of the claim. In a partial action, once only and until the investigation ends (Article 109/4).
• Amendment of pleadings. Once only and until the investigation ends (Article 177).

The main causes of delay are: problems with service, witnesses who do not attend, late expert reports, waiting for replies from institutions, and applications to adjourn.

To shorten it: give current addresses, keep the witness list short and to the point, and pay the expense advance on time.

Judgment and Appeals

Oral proceedings and judgment. When the investigation ends the court fixes a date for oral proceedings and pronounces the judgment.

The reasoned judgment. Under Article 294 the judgment is pronounced by reading its operative part in open court; the reasoned judgment is written afterwards and served on the parties.

Appeal to the regional court of appeal. Under Article 345 the period is two weeks from service of the judgment.

Judgments in cases whose value does not exceed the statutory threshold are final and cannot be appealed.

Appeal on a point of law. The period for appealing against a decision of the regional court of appeal is two weeks from service. Certain decisions listed in the Code cannot be appealed.

Finality and enforcement. Once final, the judgment is enforced through enforcement proceedings on a judgment. Some judgments (concerning civil status or the ownership of immovable property) cannot be enforced before they become final.

Individual application. Once the ordinary routes of appeal are exhausted, an individual application alleging a breach of a fundamental right may be made to the Constitutional Court within thirty days.