This is the English version of a Turkish article. The original, with further detail and linked petition templates, is at 13. Yargı Paketi: Son Durum ve Konuşulan Maddeler.
“Maintenance is being abolished”, “there is going to be an amnesty”, “the sentencing rules are changing”. These sentences circulate whenever a judicial reform package reaches the agenda, and they are almost always repeated with far more certainty than the facts allow.
The purpose of this article is to separate what is in force from what is not. First the plain statement: the thirteenth package was not law at the date this article was prepared. The provisions being discussed are proposals; none of them creates any right or obligation.
What Is in Force: The Twelfth Package
What should not be confused is that the twelfth package is already in force. Act no. 7589 was published in the Official Gazette of 31 July 2026 and has been applied since.
One of its most important changes is the abolition of the claim for an indeterminate sum (Article 107 of the Code of Civil Procedure was repealed). In its place, a fourth paragraph added to Article 109 allows the amount claimed in a partial claim to be increased once, until the investigation stage ends — and for the part added, limitation is treated as interrupted at the date of the claim.
The package also covers changes to the calculation of statutory interest, provisions on remote hearings, and the digitalisation of notarial transactions.
The transitional rule matters: claims for an indeterminate sum brought before 31 July 2026 continue to be governed by the former provisions.
What Is Being Discussed in the Thirteenth
The subjects under public discussion are these. None has become law, and their content can change during the legislative process or be dropped from the package altogether.
- A time limit on spousal maintenance. Replacing open-ended maintenance with a limited period, set by reference to the length of the marriage and the parties' means.
- Splitting divorce proceedings into stages. Deciding the divorce itself first, with maintenance, the division of property and custody heard as separate claims.
- Changes to the execution of sentences. Alterations to conditional release and probation periods.
- A general amnesty. Frequently raised, but never turned into a formal legislative text.
Each of these touches a different area of law and each is the subject of its own debate. Being on the agenda does not mean becoming law.
When Does a Provision Become Binding?
The process runs through these stages, and the content can change at each one:
- a legislative proposal is submitted to the Speaker's office
- in committee, provisions are amended, added or removed
- the plenary votes on the provisions one by one
- the text adopted is published in the Official Gazette
- it begins to apply on the date of entry into force stated in it
A provision has legal effect only at the fifth stage. Even a text that has reached the fourth does not apply yet if its entry into force was set for a later day.
The transitional provisions are decisive too: does the new rule apply to pending cases, or only to those brought afterwards? That distinction determines which regime your own file falls under.
Do Not Lose a Right by Waiting
The practical danger in all this is waiting. People delay bringing a claim, or fail to object in time, because “the law is about to change”.
Time limits run under the law in force, not under the law that may come. A period missed while waiting for a proposal is not restored when the proposal fails — or when it passes.
So act on the rules as they stand, and treat any change as something to be applied when, and if, it arrives.
The twelfth package (Act no. 7589, in force from 31 July 2026) changed civil procedure in real ways. The thirteenth is a set of proposals, and creates no rights. Never let a deadline pass because a change is expected: periods run under the law in force.
Frequently Asked Questions
Has the thirteenth package become law?
No. At the date this article was prepared it had not been enacted. The provisions discussed are proposals and create no rights or obligations.
What did the twelfth package actually change?
Most significantly it repealed the claim for an indeterminate sum and replaced it with a single increase in the amount claimed in a partial claim, with limitation interrupted at the date of the claim.
Is spousal maintenance now time-limited?
No. A time limit is among the subjects being discussed, but nothing has been enacted; the rule in force remains maintenance without a fixed end date.
When does a new rule start to apply?
On the date of entry into force stated in the published text — not when it is proposed, passed or published, if a later date is set.
Should I wait for a change before bringing my claim?
No. Time limits run under the law in force, and a period missed while waiting is not restored whether the proposal passes or fails.