This is the English version of a Turkish article. The original, with further detail and linked petition templates, is at Hakkımı Nasıl Ararım? Adım Adım Başlangıç Rehberi.
Asserting a right follows a fixed order, and the first step is always the same: establish which time limit is running. Under Turkish law many rights are subject to short and strict periods; once a period is missed, the merits are never examined. Only after the period is identified do you gather evidence, put the demand in writing and choose the correct forum.
Facing a legal problem for the first time is disorienting: where to begin, whom to approach and what is urgent are all unclear.
This guide is a summary of everything else on this site: what should you do in the first week after a legal problem arises?
Which Time Limit Is Running?
The first task is to work out how much time you have, because everything else is planned around it.
Ask yourself:
- Do I hold a document that has been formally served on me? What is the date of service?
- What objection or limitation period does that document state?
- When did the event occur, or when did I learn of it?
Some periods are very short: an objection to a payment order is 7 days, an objection to an administrative fine 15 days, an application to a mediator for reinstatement 1 month, and an appeal against a deportation decision 7 days.
If time is short, put everything else aside and first take the step that preserves the period: file the objection, apply to the mediator, or bring the action. The details can be completed afterwards.
Write the date of service on the document itself and mark it in your calendar.
| Matter | Period |
|---|---|
| Action to annul an administrative act | 60 days |
| Objection to an administrative fine (Misdemeanours Act) | 15 days |
| Objection to enforcement without judgment | 7 days |
| Objection to enforcement on a negotiable instrument | 5 days |
| Application to mediation for reinstatement | 1 month |
| Complaint in offences prosecuted upon complaint | 6 months |
| Objection to an expert report | 2 weeks |
| Appeal to the regional court (civil) | 2 weeks |
| Appeal to the regional court (criminal) | 7 days |
| Disclaimer of inheritance | 3 months |
As a rule periods run from the date of service; hearing that a decision has been announced does not start them.
How Is Evidence Gathered?
Evidence disappears over time: messages are deleted, camera footage is overwritten, vehicles are repaired and witnesses forget.
What to do in the first week:
- Back up your correspondence. Messages and e-mails, captured and exported so that the date and time are visible.
- Collect the documents. Contract, invoice, receipt, payslip, report, minutes.
- Take photographs and video. Damage, injury, the current state of things — dated.
- Request camera footage. Workplace, building and municipal cameras; recordings are erased quickly.
- Identify the witnesses. Name, contact details and what each of them saw.
- Keep a chronological note. What happened, when, and who was present. This is the most valuable and the most frequently neglected evidence.
If the situation is about to change, apply for preservation of evidence. Preservation of evidence sought from the civil court of peace is quick and relatively inexpensive; it must be done before the vehicle is repaired, the leak is fixed or the construction advances.
A warning: gather evidence lawfully. Accessing someone else's phone without permission or recording covertly may render the evidence inadmissible and may itself be an offence.
Why Must the Demand Be in Writing?
Oral discussions cannot be proved. Move your communication with the other side onto a written footing.
The advantages of sending a formal notice are that it:
- places the other party in default and fixes the date from which interest runs
- puts your demand and its date on the official record
- is mandatory for certain claims (default in rent, notice barring use in claims for occupancy compensation)
- demonstrates good faith and counts in your favour when costs are assessed
A formal notice may be sent through a notary, or by another method that leaves a record (registered electronic mail, recorded delivery post). A notarial notice is the strongest.
A formal notice should contain: the parties, a summary of the facts, your demand, a period for payment or performance, and the consequences (that proceedings will be brought).
If you have spoken to the other side, confirm it afterwards by e-mail: “In our conversation we agreed on the following; could you confirm?”
How Is the Right Forum Chosen?
Litigation is not the answer to every problem. The options are:
- Direct negotiation. The fastest and cheapest route; if agreement is reached, put it in writing.
- Mediation. In certain disputes it is a condition of the action (employment, commercial, consumer, tenancy, condominium and neighbour disputes). The settlement document may have the force of a judgment.
- Administrative application. The consumer arbitration committee, the Insurance Arbitration Commission, the Personal Data Protection Board, the presidential communications centre (CİMER) or the relevant ministry. Most are free and fast.
- Enforcement proceedings. For monetary claims these can be started without bringing an action.
- Litigation. Where the other routes fail or where the nature of the claim requires it.
- Criminal complaint. Where the conduct constitutes an offence — but this does not by itself secure your compensation; pursue the civil route separately.
If an interim injunction or a preliminary attachment is needed, these are not subject to the mediation requirement and may be sought directly from the court.
When Should a Lawyer Be Consulted?
This guide, and everything else on this site, is general information. No article can replace an assessment of your particular file.
What decides the outcome in law is not the general rule but the details of your own file: which document was served and when, where a given statement was used, and how a given piece of evidence was obtained.
Come prepared when you see a lawyer:
- Write the events out in chronological order
- Arrange all documents by date
- Note the dates of service
- Be clear about what you are asking for
- Write your questions down
If you cannot meet the cost, two routes exist and may be used together: legal aid from the court (exemption from fees and expenses) and the appointment of a lawyer through the legal aid office of the bar association in your province.
In criminal proceedings, where a suspect or accused states that they are not in a position to appoint defence counsel, counsel is assigned on request; for children and for offences carrying more than five years' imprisonment at the lower limit, counsel is assigned without any request.
When a legal problem arises, the first task is to establish the period you have. If it is short, put everything else aside and take the step that preserves it — file the objection, apply to the mediator or bring the action. The details can be completed later; a missed period cannot be recovered.