The legal system of Turkey
A civil-law system built by deliberate wholesale reception rather than gradual evolution. In the 1920s the young republic adopted the Swiss Civil Code and Code of Obligations, the Italian Penal Code and the German Commercial Code in translation, displacing Ottoman Islamic law and the Mecelle almost entirely. Those foundations were replaced by modern Turkish recodifications — a new Civil Code in 2001, a new Penal Code in 2004 and a new Commercial Code in 2011 — but the Swiss and German methodological inheritance is still visible in doctrine and drafting. Turkey is a party to the European Convention on Human Rights and individual application to the Constitutional Court has been available since 2012.
Legal tradition
Turkey belongs to the civil law tradition. A civil-law system built by deliberate wholesale reception rather than gradual evolution. In the 1920s the young republic adopted the Swiss Civil Code and Code of Obligations, the Italian Penal Code and the German Commercial Code in translation, displacing Ottoman Islamic law and the Mecelle almost entirely. Those foundations were replaced by modern Turkish recodifications — a new Civil Code in 2001, a new Penal Code in 2004 and a new Commercial Code in 2011 — but the Swiss and German methodological inheritance is still visible in doctrine and drafting. Turkey is a party to the European Convention on Human Rights and individual application to the Constitutional Court has been available since 2012.
How power is divided
Unitary. 81 provinces administered by centrally appointed governors, alongside elected metropolitan and district municipalities with their own mayors and councils. Local government has genuine budgetary weight in the large cities but no legislative competence.
Where law comes from
- The 1982 Constitution
- Articles 1–3 are unamendable; international human rights treaties prevail over conflicting statutes under Article 90.
- Statutes of the Grand National Assembly
- The primary legislative instrument.
- Presidential decrees
- Introduced in 2018; void where the subject is reserved to statute or already regulated by law.
- The Civil Code 2001, Penal Code 2004, Commercial Code 2011
- The core recodifications.
- Court of Cassation unification-of-precedent decisions
- Binding on lower courts to resolve conflicting case law.
The legal profession
A single profession of avukat, admitted after a four-year law faculty degree and a one-year traineeship, with compulsory membership of a provincial bar association under the Union of Turkish Bar Associations. Representation by counsel is mandatory for companies in most litigation. Judges and prosecutors form a separate career entered by examination and the Justice Academy, and notaries hold a licensed monopoly over authenticated instruments — property transfers require both notarial and land registry formality.
Law by topic in Turkey
- Criminal LawThe 2004 Penal Code drawn on the German modelThe Turkish Penal Code No. 5237 of 2004 replaced the 1926 code, which had itself been adapted from the Italian Zanardelli code. The Code of Criminal Procedure No. 5271 governs investigation and trial. The death penalty was fully abolished in 2004.
- Business & CorporateThe Commercial Code No. 6102 with joint stock and limited companiesThe Turkish Commercial Code of 2011, in force from July 2012, governs companies, commercial transactions and negotiable instruments. The limited liability company and the joint stock company are the principal forms, registered with the trade registry through MERSIS.
- Immigration & NationalityLaw No. 6458 on Foreigners and International ProtectionLaw No. 6458 of 2013 consolidated Turkish immigration and asylum law and created the Directorate General of Migration Management. It provides for short-term, family, student and long-term residence permits, and establishes the temporary protection regime under which Syrians are registered.
- Employment & LabourLabour Law No. 4857 with severance pay and job security provisionsLabour Law No. 4857 of 2003 governs most employment. Employees with at least six months' service in workplaces with 30 or more employees have job security protection requiring valid cause for dismissal, and severance pay accrues at 30 days' wages per year of service.
- Constitutional LawAn executive presidency since the 2017 referendumThe 1982 Constitution, adopted after the 1980 coup, was amended by referendum in April 2017 to abolish the office of Prime Minister and create an executive presidency. The changes took effect with the 2018 elections. The Constitutional Court hears individual applications alleging violations of fundamental rights.
- Civil ProcedureFirst instance courts, regional appeal courts and the Court of CassationCivil claims are heard by civil courts of first instance or peace courts depending on subject matter, appealed to the regional courts of justice created in 2016, and may reach the Court of Cassation on points of law. Mediation is compulsory before commercial and employment claims.
- Family LawSwiss-derived civil marriage with no religious jurisdictionThe Civil Code No. 4721 of 2001 governs marriage, divorce and succession. Turkey recognises only civil marriage registered before a state official; religious ceremonies have no legal effect on their own. Family courts hear matrimonial disputes.
- Property & LandTitle through the Land Registry with reciprocity limits for foreignersThe Civil Code governs ownership and the Land Registry Law provides for registration, which is constitutive of title. Foreign nationals may acquire real estate subject to reciprocity, area limits and military zone restrictions, and property acquisition above a threshold supports citizenship.
- Tax LawCorporate tax at 25 percent with VAT and a general anti-avoidance approachCorporate income tax is levied under Law No. 5520 at 25 percent, raised from 20 percent in 2023, with a higher rate for financial institutions. Personal income tax is progressive and VAT under Law No. 3065 has a standard rate of 20 percent.
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