Turkish Law Blog

IntroductionThe pharmaceutical industry in Turkey has great potential and is notable for its high-tech manufacturing capability. The industry currently ranks 7th in Europe and 16th in the world, in terms of market size, according to the latest reports.1 With a dynamic structure serving human needs, the pharmaceutical industry is intensively controlled and must comply with a variety of regulatory requirements both nationally and internationally.In this article, we will reveal...

Electronic services entered our lives with technological developments, began with the phone first, continued to be provided via the internet and mobile devices, and replaced the services provided face to face in many areas in the last 20 years. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate of customers’ use of electronic services increased rapidly.The most challenging aspect of electronic services is to verify customer identity. To this end, the customer’s mother’s maiden name ...

I. Commitment MechanismCommitment mechanism has been introduced to Turkish Competition Law practice pursuant to the amendments on Law on the Protection of Competition (“Law”) with the law numbered 7246. In accordance with the Article 43 of the Law regulating commitment mechanism, Competition Authority (“Authority”) is authorized to specify the rules and procedures. Competition Authority published the Draft Communiqué on the Commitments Submitted in the Preliminary In...

According to Cambridge Dictionary, executive is someone in a high position, especially in business, who makes decisions and puts them into action. Firstly, high position means a high-powered job and with great power comes great responsibility. Secondly, decision making is the process of identifying and choosing alternative courses of action, a process quite risky and tough. Last but not least, putting the right decision into practice is even harder. Combining the inferences r...

A good construction contract means less disputes leading to successful project completion and must have following basic characteristics;suitability for intended use,clear risk allocationclarity of its language,proper mechanism for contract administrationOne of the most powerful ways to prevent and control disputes between contracting parties is to rationally allocate risks by assigning each potential risk to the party who is best able to manage, control or insure against the ...

IntroductionFor a couple of days, Turkey is talking about the changes in the user contract of the Whatsapp which has 2 billion users worldwide, and almost 50 million users in Turkey. With the warning sent to WhatsApp users by Whatsapp Inc, users were informed about that the terms of use of the application were updated to include consent to the processing and to transfer of personel data of users to suppliers, business partners, service providers and other third parties locate...

In Greek Mythology the river “Lethe” has a significant standing. Lethe was the underworld river of oblivion. A mere drop from the river can make someone begin to forget their whole identity. In today’s social media world where nearly every life is lived online, data protection legislations also enables and defines the right to be forgotten as not a myth but a real designated right to every individual.Right for privacy or private life arose in the European continent with...

I. The Concept of De Minimis“De minimis non curat lex / de minimis non curat praetor ie” which means that law / judge does not decide upon trivial issues is one of the principles in Roman law and Anglo-American law. Although this principle is not familiar to Civil Law, it has also found a place in the application of EU Competition Law since Competition Law is originated from the USA.According to the de minimis rule, undertakings that are parties to agreements, decisions o...

The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was adopted by the 28th Meeting of Parties to the Montreal Protocol on 15 October 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda and entered into force on 1 January 2019.The Kigali Amendment adds to the Montreal Protocol the phase-down of the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Under the Amendment, all countries will gradually phase down HFCs by more than 80% over the next 30 years and repla...

1. IntroductionAlthough the advent of blockchain applications date back to earlier times, the article[1] published by the author / s named Satoshi Nakamoto - whose real identity is still unknown - and his introduction of the Bitcoin electronic payment system, became a milestone in terms of the awareness and proliferation of the blockchain. While most people only envisage cryptocurrencies when discussing blockchain, its area of utilization is much more than financial systems. ...

1. Introduction The more a trademark becomes well-known or reputable, the more its functions, such as the functions of origin, quality, investment, and advertising strengthen. Therefore, specific provisions are usually applied for the protection of such trademarks with the respective functions at a higher level than those of regular trademarks.The Industrial Property Code (“Code”)[1] also provides broader protection to the respective trademarks under two provisions, i.e. ...

The photographs of the survivors who were injured from the wreckage in the Izmir earthquake that took place on the 30th of October 2020, kept the press busy for a long time. This issue is not limited to only this earthquake. The identities and photographs of the victims / perpetrators of these and similar incidents, whether they died as a result of various natural disasters and accidents, or those who were murdered, do not come down from the headlines for days. So how true is...

Founding Attorney Hatice Zümbül – Legal Intern Mehmet TurgutI. IntroductionAdequate compensation known as portfolio compensation (also known as “Goodwill Indemnity/Compensation” and “Clientele Compensation”) is a provision that the company continues to benefit circle of customers that the agent constituted with the ending of agency agreement, pays to the agent which lost its wage with the ending of agreement.In Turkish legislation, first lawful regulation regardin...

In 2020 corruption is still a huge global problem. According to the World Economic Forum: “across the EMEA region (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) and India almost half of all workers think bribery and corruption are acceptable if there is an economic downturn. Corruption, bribery, theft and tax evasion, and other illicit financial flows cost developing countries $1.26 trillion per year”.  Corruption takes many forms, it is a legal term that includes bribery and o...

I. Legal Standing of Distributorship AgreementsDistributorship agreements do not have a clear definition under Turkish law and are therefore a complex and unique type of agreement. They can be generally defined as agreements allowing for the distribution of produced goods to customers and end users, where the manufacturer of a specific good agrees with a third party to distribute the said products/goods in a specific region. However, a distribution agreement differs from a s...

As a rule, receivables based upon a legal relationship (foundation) existing between two persons, and which, despite not yet accrued, are likely to accrue in the future, are called future receivables. In order to talk about a future (expected) receivable, it is sufficient for a legal relationship (foundation) to exist and for the type and obligor of the receivable to accrue from this legal relationship is identified (or identifiable).  Whether or not the amount of receivable...

What is Contact Tracing?Contact tracing is a widespread tool that has been used over the history in order to slow down the spread of many diseases such as tuberculosis, measles, HIV and Ebola. It is the act of tracing the steps of a diagnosed patient to discover who they have been in contact with. To date, contact tracing included a great deal of footwork, visits and calls to the patients and everyone they have been in contact with. The goal is to trace everyone and create a ...

1. IntroductionWith the decision of the Constitutional Court [“the Court”] dated 17.07.2020, published in the Official Gazette dated 9 October 2020 and numbered 31269[1], in line with the cancellation of some of the provisions of the Road Traffic Law dated 13.10.1983 and numbered 2918, which have been the subject of discussion for a while, insurance companies remained in uncertainty at the point of loss and compensation calculations.The issues discussed within the scope o...

1. IntroductionA professional athlete is a sportsman who has made a written contract with a sports club and is paid more by the club than his expenses for his/her sports activities. Although there is a controversial situation in the doctrine for years regarding the unpaid wages derived from the contract concluded between professional athletes and sports clubs; this issue is solved by the Labor Courts Law No. 7036, which entered into force on 25.10.2017 and by the decision num...

I. IntroductionThe withholding tax clauses in international franchise agreements and international license agreements are quite common and need to be reviewed by legal counsels since its interpretation and application are matter of local law and bilateral treaties. As franchise agreements and IT contracts have been prepared by franchisors, these clauses are mostly in favour of franchisors or service providers whereby franchisee or customers pays an additional tax to the relev...

Dividend distribution, a form of cash flow to the shareholder, is a matter of utmost importance, as it is not only a principal shareholder right but also a constitutional right deemed as a property right that reflects the strongest bond between company and shareholder. In fact, equity companies, the lifeblood of current system, have been established with the aim of profiting and distributing dividends to their shareholders. A great deal of provisions regarding dividend distri...

The Questionnaire Covering All Aspects of Legislation and Practices in Dispute Resolution Cases in Turkey.LITIGATIONCourt systemWhat is the structure of the civil court system?Disputes arising from relations governed by private law are resolved by civil courts. At the first instance these courts include the civil courts of peace, civil court of first instance, family courts, civil courts of intellectual and industrial property rights, civil courts of enforcement, labour cour...

1. Introduction"Guidelines on Examination of Digital Data in On-Site Inspection" [“the Guideline”][1] is published by the Competition Authority [“Authority”] on 09.10.2020 to identify the general principles regarding to Article 15 of the Law on the Protection of Competition numbered 4050 [“the Law”] [2] which was amended with the law numbered 7246 and dated 16.06.2020 [“the Amendment”][3].The Amendment is related to the on-site inspections of all inf...

Initially used to describe a behaviour pattern in birds, it was not until the 1980s that the term mobbing was first applied to workplace situations. Mobbing falls under the wider category of psychological violence at work, which is defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO) as the “intentional use of power, including threat of physical force, against another person or group that can result in harm to physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. [It]...

I. IntroductionFor a long time, the place, and limits of social media in the legal order have been the subject of discussion in many countries. As a matter of fact, Germany, which is one of the leading countries in this regard, has seriously addressed the issue, and the German Network Enforcement Act (Netzdurchsetzunggesetz, NetzDG)[1] has entered into force since January 2018. Similarly, studies on parallel issues are carried out in England, Italy, France, and the Netherland...

Introduction White-collar crime is still a common and global problem that negatively affects corporations by damaging trust, profitability, business continuity, reputation, sustainability, and organizational justice. In addition to the risk of losses, companies face huge legal problems and loss of stakeholder support through white-collar crime. In this article white-collar crime is defined, and reactive and proactive measures are discussed through the perspective of risk man...

With the implementation of the Law on the Protection of Personal Data No. 6698 (LPPD) and its secondary regulations, the Data Protection Authority (DPA), tasked with monitoring violations of LPPD obligations, have started to impose administrative fines to persons and/or companies violating their obligations set forth at the LPPD. Although Article 18 of the LPPD does state the monetary fines applicable to such violations, it did so by determining a lower and upper limit ...

IntroductionData privacy is such a hot topic these days considering all those punishments with seven digits, permissions for the usage of data, postpones of VERBİS (Turkish Data Register), and large compliance projects every single company has been dealing with.It almost became like a buzzword like every company is ready to Industry 4.0, using Artificial Intelligence for their decisions, now they are, and their products are compliant with KVKK. (Turkish Data Protection Law[1...

As a result of technological innovation and the exponential increase in online content marketing, commercial electronic messages (CEMs) are being used by a majority of individuals and companies for marketing their brands, products and or service. In an effort to regulate these activities, Turkey introduced the Law Regulating the Electronic Commerce No. 6563 (the Law) implementing new rules and procedures regarding the use of commercial electronic messages. The Regulation o...

1. IntroductionThe Amendment to Act No. 4054 on Protection of Competition (“Act no. 4054”) (“Amendment”) entered into force as of the date 24.06.2020 after being published in the Official Gazette of Turkey dated 24.06.2020, numbered 31165.Turkish Competition ACT - Act No. 4054 on Protection of Competition- entered into force in Turkey on 13 December 1994 with the published Official Gazette numbered 22140. In 1998 Turkish Competition Authority (hereafter TCA)  had sta...

Data Protection Board recently issued a new decision and fined Amazon Turkey 1.100.000 TRL for violations of data protection and e-commerce legislation, and for unlawful cross-border data transfers especially for data transfers to its overseas affiliates. Moving forward, the decision will have serious ramifications regarding data transfers in Turkey, and in order to better understand these consequences, we need to first understand the background that lead to such decis...

A. Introduction The Law No. 7222 Amending the Banking Law and Certain Other Laws (the “Amending Law”) has been published in the Official Gazette dated 25 February 2020 and numbered 31050 and entered into force on the same day. Among others, the Amending Law has introduced substantial novelties to the Capital Markets Law No. 6362 which was published in the Official Gazette dated 30 December 2012 and numbered 28513 (the “CML”). This Monthly Updates aims to highlight the...

Drug Crimes in TurkeyUnlike some EU countries, Turkey has a rather strict drug policy, where even illegal drug possession, including cannabis/marijuana, is considered as a punishable offense. In Turkey, almost all drugs are considered illegal and there is no legislation that allows the medical use of any non-pharmaceutical drugs. The main legislation and the provisions concerning illegal drugs are set forth at the Turkish Penal Code No. 5237 (TPC), and although the law do...

1 PrefaceChanges / additions are inevitable for construction contracts due to intrinsic feature of business. Contractor becomes mostly happy about getting change orders / variation requests because this will most probably extend the time for completion of project and have contractor earn additional money / profit. For employer’s side, issuing additional works to contractor is easier choice rather than contracting those to another contractor because of the reasons such as th...

A new body with regards to debt instruments namely, the Debt Instruments Holders Board (the “DIB”), has been introduced to the Capital Markets Law numbered 6362 (the “CML”) with the Law No. 7222 Amending the Banking Law and Certain Laws which was published in the Official Gazette dated 25 February 2020 and numbered 31050 (the “Omnibus Law”). Within the scope of such amendments, the Capital Markets Board (the “Board”) has been authorized to determine the proced...

The economic difficulties brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has influenced the whole world since the beginning of 2020, keep check payments and associated issues on the agenda. The post-dated check is among these issues.What is a Post-dated Check?A check is a means of payment, is payable at sight, and does not have a maturity date (Article 795(1) of the Turkish Commercial Code (the “TCC”)). Entries on a check stating a maturity date are considered not written (Artic...

Contracts are among the legal instruments most frequently used by individuals and institutions to meet their needs and to perform all kinds of businesses, transactions, and actions. Contracts, which are arranged in detail by legal norms, are established by the mutual will of the parties. Although their establishment and operation depend on mutual agreement, contracts always need an intermediary to be a fully effective instrument. Because there is always the risk that the acti...

The Proposed Turkish Amendment In Turkey, the proposed Amendment to Law No. 5651 would oblige social network providers to store the data related to Turkey within Turkey. As pointed out (Data Localization Law in the time of Corona: Proposed Amendment to the Law No. 5651) by Secil Bilgic, servers may be searched, and the government will have access to people’s posts. As a result, companies may refuse to build servers in Turkey because of the added obligations. In some way, a...

The world is experiencing extra-ordinary days due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The construction sector is highly globalized with the involvement of many vendors, contractors, subcontractors, designers, etc. from different regions of the world and this means continuous mobilization of engineers, supervisors, technicians, specialists, workers, equipment, materials, machinery, etc. Almost all of the construction projects are affected by the restrictions brought by the countries due...

Founding Attorney Hatice Zümbül – Legal Intern Mehmet TurgutI. IntroductionThe Information Technologies and Communication Authority in Turkey published the Draft Regulation on the Processing of Personal Data and Protection of Confidentiality in the Electronic Communication Sector (“Draft Regulation”) on 23.03.2020, on its website by the decision of the Information Technologies and Communication Board (“Board”). Accordingly, essential changes on electronic communic...

Recently, the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms have become one of the most debated issues among international lawyers. Numerous calls have arisen for “ISDS reform,” which have paved the way for the intergovernmental efforts to tackle so-called major problems and deficiencies of the current ISDS system. The most prominent initiative in this sense is United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group III (WGIII) which has been w...

As a result of the access of computers to households other than commercial life, it was soon to understood that these devices could be used not only for commercial purposes but also for individual entertainment after 80’s in the world. The integration of the Internet to these devices should be regarded as the beginning of a new era for computers and users. With the help of the internet, computer games are able to be played in multiple from different places, and it should be...

According to Article 8 of the Turkish Labor Law No. 4857 (the “Labor Law”), an employment contract “is an agreement whereby one party (the employee) undertakes to perform work in subordination to the other party (the employer) who undertakes to pay him remuneration.” Article 393 (General Service Agreement) of the Turkish Code of Obligations numbered 6098 (“TCO”) defines the employment contract as “an agreement in which the employee is obliged to perform a work f...

1. What is the Biometric Signature?A biometric signature basically is defined as a method for the signing of electronic documents based on the handwritten signature using a tablet, computer screen, or similar electronic devices. Following handwriting, the signature transforms to a simple PDF document and your biometric signature is ready! Besides, it is possible to add any evidence of signing such as biometric signature data, timestamp, location, IP information, photo, ID pic...

I. OverviewThe novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and the Covid-19 disease it is causing are having an unprecedented impact on business and commercial activities all around the world. The pandemic has also reached Turkey and effectively paralyzed the industry and nearly all commercial activities, except for a few select businesses. To help companies and employees navigate the complex structure of new legislations and mechanisms introduced during this period, we have prepared this...

AbstractPatent holders may file lawsuits in order to claim the damages that occurred due to infringement of their patents. However, the calculation method of the pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages may differ in accordance with the request of the Patent Holder. Besides, since patents are very valuable assets which contain technical characteristic, the strategy of the lawsuit should be carefully analyzed, and Patent Holder should secure the documents which prove the patent inf...

1. IntroductionWe are going through an extraordinary period. While the world keeps fighting with the COVID-19 pandemic, we witness serious effects of the epidemic on health, and also impact on political developments, economy, trade, education, production and tourism sectors. As a result of globalization, it is an indisputable fact that how great and serious results this period has and will have.In Turkey, many measures are taken within the scope of combating the epidemic; one...

The Fining Policy was[1] published on 14 October 2019 by the German Data Protection Authority (Datenschutzbehörde). The authority agreed with this policy a new way of calculating administrative fines imposed on data breaches in accordance with GDPR[2].The penalties to be paid when data breaches occur are determined under this policy. The enterprise making the data breach is obliged to pay the fine determined according to the annual turnover and the quality of the data breach...

Founding Attorney Hatice Zümbül – Legal Intern Mehmet Turgut 1. IntroductionThe Turkish Data Protection Authority (“Authority”) published an announcement on 10.04.2020, and introduced “Binding Corporate Rules” (“BCRs”) that is enabled to be used for the transfer of personal data outside of Turkey by companies.  Indeed, according to article 9 of the Law on Personal Data Protection no 6698 (“KVKK”), in the case of inadequate safeguards in the country to wh...

Governments all around the world are announcing, initiating, and adopting numerous legal, economic, and financial measures to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. Since mid-March 2020, Turkey has also been taking similar measures by adopting various new laws and regulations. While some of these legislative efforts adopted in Turkey are predictable and expectable (such as rules regarding the extra shifts of the health workers or suspension of judicial proceedings due...

As of 8 April 2020, nearly 1.5 million people have contracted COVID-19, equity markets across the globe have shed trillions of dollars of gains, and unemployment has shattered previous highs.  As a result, businesses are struggling to fulfill their contractual obligations and looking for ways to mitigate their damage.  Can they not perform and be excused? It depends. Importantly, most U.S. jurisdictions recognize that such unforeseen pandemics may excuse businesses from per...

As recognized and declared to be a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020; as of March 25, 2020, COVID-19 (“the virus”) has caused around 435,000 confirmed cases with up to 112,000 recoveries, and around 19,700 deaths globally. While the mortality of the virus continues to affect human beings by spreading around the countries exponentially, its negative economic impact is also widening around the world crucially.Although it is obvious that all industr...

In today’s world, the impact of automated decision making could be observed in practices of many industries and governments across the globe. Indeed, automated decision making is used in fraud detection systems, managing limited sources by municipalities, ranking performances of employers, calculating credit scores or by Amazon, Airbnb, or Uber for dynamic product pricing. [1] Private entities and governments using data-driven algorithms could reach decisions that might vit...

IntroductionThe Regulation on Short time Work and Short time Work Allowance (in Turkish “Kısa Çalışma ve Kısa Çalışma Ödeneği Hakkında Yönetmelik” hereinafter referred to as “Regulation”) has been published in the Official Gazette dated April 30, 2011 and numbered 27920.In Turkish Law, according to the Regulation, public authorities are able to influence the adjustment of the labor input between changes in employment levels and changes in the average hours...

Privacy concerns in China has gone hand in hand with the integration to global economy since 1980’s. Increased penetration of global brands into the economy and the WTO membership of China have resulted a shift towards nurturing privacy regulations. As WTO declared its membership, China started adapting deeper regulations on privacy (Yao-Huai, 2005). Although privacy issue has started finding a place in Chinese legal system in 1980’s, main aims of the laws has been reputa...

We are living in an ever more digital era, yet many of the practical realities of international arbitration has remained unchanged. Arbitrators, lawyers, and parties have been resistant to adopt technology in the same way that other large professions have. That is to say, lawyers and arbitrators still typically attend hearings in person, and paper documents are still often incorporated in the proceedings. But, with the outbreak of COVID-19, arbitration is arguably witnessing ...

1. General Requirements for Processing Special Categories of Personal DataPursuant to Article 6 of the Law on Protection of Personal Data No. 6698 ("KVKK"), the race, ethnic origin, political thought, philosophical belief, religion, sect or other beliefs, appearance and dressing, association, foundation or union membership, health, her personal data is about her sexual life, criminal conviction and security measures, and her biometric and genetic data are considered...

IntroductionShared revenue-building contract is a contract type rapidly spreading in use in recent years in the construction sector in Turkey. Acceleration capture public housing construction in recent years in Turkey, it revealed a significant financial resource requirement. The shared revenue-building contract has found the field of application as a type of contract aiming to meet this need.Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKİ) has an important role in the im...

IntroductionDigital technology creates significant benefits for the economy and improves peoples life quality. According to advancements in networked processing, computing power, and cloud-based systems, consumers are enjoying new types of products and services in various sectors. Blockchain is one of the promising technologies. Proponents of blockchain technology acknowledge it as an instrument to enhance individual freedoms and user autonomy.[1] Some believe that blockchain...

Founding Attorney Hatice Zümbül – Legal Intern Mehmet TurgutPublic Health V. Data PrivacyCoronavirus named “COVID-19” which has appeared for the first time in the 1960s has occurred in December 2019, the region of Wuhan, China.  The virus has spread so fast and now, the 118 countries are struggling with this epidemic. In the world, the number of people who died because of the virus has exceeded 4.500 and the number of confirmed cases has been more than 125,288. The w...

The world, as we know it, is going through a major change. It is in turmoil. Countries are completely “shutting up”. Businesses are in distress. In the coming days, traditional legal mechanisms may also start to fail. Already, some countries have temporarily suspended some court activities. Perhaps, the time has come to give priority to mediation in resolving matters related to international commercial transactions.Unlike arbitrators in the arbitration proceedings, mediat...

In Turkish Economy (which considered as a developing country) huge investments are the sharp milestones in the pathway of economic development such as “Energy Investments” and “Substructure Investments”. As a crossroads between major energy consumers and suppliers, Turkey occupies a strategic location that serves as a regional energy hub. The existing and planned oil/gas pipelines, the critical Turkish straits, and promising finds of hydrocarbon reserves around Turkey...

The world may be on the verge of a major global crisis. All individuals across the world are talking about the COVID-19 or, in other words, the coronavirus. It has affected the education system, the welfare system, the stock markets; it has burdened the health care systems, and countries are starting to close their borders. Unavoidably, global businesses and trade will see its fair share soon, that is- if it has not yet seen it.A major challenge that businesses will face in t...

According to Gartner’s definition lead generation is the process of collecting a set of contacts from prospective buyers with a goal to nurture and qualify them as sales opportunities to grow the business.[1]Nowadays, lead generation is one of the most preferred methods of marketing strategies of many companies. The main goal of this method is to bring potential customers and companies together. A lead can be any consumer who has directly or indirectly interested in buying ...

The world has never been as globalized and as integrated as it is today. The integration has and is still forcing systems on all levels of society to go through change.  The legal systems and laws across the globe have had their fair share in keeping “up to date” in this new era of integration, which has resulted in the necessity to draft uniform laws. Within this framework, the United Nations has been engaged with the unification of laws for a few decades now. A success...

Within the scope of 20th clause, second paragraph, article (b) of the regulation on the Application of Turkish Citizenship Law, foreigners can acquire Turkish citizenship:“Real estate worth at least 250,000.00 US dollars, or equivalent foreign currency or Turkish lira, has been purchased with an annotation in the land registration indicating that it can’t be sold for 3 years; or property of established commonhold or construction servitude worth at least 250,000.00 US doll...

Founding Attorney Hatice Zümbül – Legal Intern Mehmet Turgut1. IntroductionThe events such as Panama and Paradise Papers, Middle East migration crisis and Human trafficking, occurred during the period from the date of the 4th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive to now, have revealed the necessity for new measures to counter money laundering and the financing of terrorism.Recent terrorist attacks have brought to light emerging new trends, in particular regarding the way ter...

Under the current Turkish Legal System, the employer has certain general obligations arising from the labor contract. These general obligations stipulated in the Labor Law numbered 4857 (“The Law”)[1] can be summarized as establishing occupational health and safety in the workplace and conducting supervision and observance related to this. However, as the number of employees of a workplace increases, a number of additional obligations arise along with the general obligati...

Cloud computing, as an emerging technology, brings about new aspects to business models especially in terms of preservation and protection of funds and resources. On that sense, cloud computing is one of the main tools to re-form commerce and commercial entities in this globalizing world.[1] Hence, it is very important to comprehend the legal infrastructure of this emerging technology. In this post, we aim to provide some basic information about cloud computing and the legal ...

AbstractEmployee Stock Option Plan (“ESOP”) have attracted tremendous attention during last decade and became one of the most controversial compensation methods, throughout USA and Europe. Corporations and especially startups, have been using the ESOP for managerial and non-managerial level of employees even tough ESOP originally were designed for top tier Employees. Since ESOP practices are dramatically increasing, ESOP is subjected to strict regulations in USA through I...

1. OverviewThere are two separate systems provided in the Turkish Labor Law (the Law) for the termination of employment contracts. The first system is noted as the ‘freedom of termination’ (Art. 17), which essentially means that the employer is free to terminate employment contracts as it deems fit, provided that a contract is an employment contract for an indefinite duration. In this system, the employer is not required to provide any justification for the termination an...

Abstract: In this article, how a good manager should be in line with our experience and the legal validity of the irresponsibility clauses in the manager-client contracts and authorized courts for disputes may arise from these contracts were examined.The French word “Manager” is defined in TDK(Turkish Language Institution) as “The person who regulates and manages the professional work of an athlete or an artist.”Nowadays, managers are also involved in the daily lives ...

Turkey introduced Digital Services Tax (the DST), together with Accommodation Tax, Luxury Residence Tax and some other important tax amendments under the Law No. 7194 (the Law) which was published on the Official Gazette dated December 7, 2019. These changes will be applicable in FY2020. In this article, we provide details of upcoming tax changes for FY2020 in Turkey.1. Digital Services TaxThe DST is applicable to companies providing digital services and the Law defines thres...

SecurityThere are three basic types of security that can be created under English law:Pledge.Charge.Mortgage.What is a Charge?For practical reasons, most lenders will not want to take possession of a debtor's assets and a debtor will not want to lose control of its assets, especially if they are used in the day-to-day running of its business. Accordingly, a lender will want to take security by obtaining rights over, but not necessarily possession of, specific assets of the de...

When providing financing, the credit & finance institutions, i.e. banks, require the party, seeking the utilization of loans, to provide themselves with several securities. In such financial transactions, the banks require the individuals or corporations, who/which request an amount of loan from the bank, to sign guaranty, mortgage, assignment, insurance agreements as securities, along with the loan/credit facility agreements. In case the party to receive the loan is ...

I. OverviewIn the previous parts of the corporate law and share transfer series, we reviewed the general rules and procedures relating to share transfers in joint stock companies (JSC) and the role of company share ledgers in such transfers. The third part of the series will focus more on the possible restrictions that may be imposed upon share transfers that will also be binding in terms of the Turkish Commercial Code.II. The Meaning of Restrictions on Share TransfersAs thor...

A. Fundamental Principle: Freedom of ContractAccording to the principle of freedom of contract applicable under Turkish Law, as a rule, parties have the freedom to make contracts with any content. Thereby, parties are not obliged to draw up contracts that are considered reasonable by everyone or that are in line with the ordinary course of living. It is possible to depart from this ordinary course and conclude contracts that third parties may find vacuous or unaccustomed. For...

1. IntroductionPrincipal duties and obligations of board of directors of joint stock companies (“BoD”) are constituted under Turkish Commercial Code [1] (“TCC”).Turkish Criminal Code [2], Social Security and General Health Insurance Law (“Social Security Law”) [3], Tax Procedural Law [4], Public Receivables Law [5] and Execution and Bankruptcy Law [6] stipulates penalties and liabilities of BoD in breach of such duties and obligations.2. Duties and Obligatio...

A. An Introduction to the World of Intermediaries and Their LiabilitiesAn intermediary can be defined broadly as an entity that provides the information flow from one party to another on internet.[1] Since they serve as a bridge for any communication between the parties, the intermediaries are able to reach any data formed by the users as well as personal information regarding them.[2] Hence, intermediaries play a tremendous role in assisting and protecting the free speech ri...

I. Introduction and Development of Smart Contract Technology Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) is a prominent element of today’s disruptive innovation age, and it is a fierce discussion topic especially ever since a pseudonymous person called Satoshi Nakamoto released his renowned paper and introduced a new peer to peer (P2P) electronic cash system called “Bitcoin”[1].  Nakamoto’s main idea was to create a decentralized transparent environment which eliminates any ...

Founding Attorney Hatice Zümbül – Legal Intern Mehmet Turgut1. IntroductionThe Regulation on the Amendment to the Regulation on Commercial Communication and Commercial Electronic Messages has been put into force with effect from 1 September 2020 (the articles – 1,2,3,7,9,11,12,13,15,17 and 18- will be applied as of 1 September 2020).  The Regulation brings about changes regarding natural or legal person who wishes to send commercial electronic message in context of t...

It has been three years since the framework law on protection of personal data (Turkish Data Protection Law – “TDPL”) was introduced to Turkey. In this 3-year introduction process, high interest, in particular, of practitioners and academicians in the subject contributes to the creation of bilateral awareness. In one hand, while data controllers embark on compliance process, data subjects begin to have knowledge through, in particular, activities of media and Turkish Pe...

I. IntroductionAutomated and autonomous driving will play an important role in future mobility. Today's vehicles can relieve the driver in many situations and technical progress is developing rapidly. Nevertheless, questions are still unanswered on the way to autonomous driving - including questions about the legal framework.Automated or autonomous driving distinguishes two development stages in self-driving cars. Today's assistance and semi-automated systems support the driv...

People have the right to freedom of movement freely. States manage their borders in a manner that respect national sovereignty while preventing irregular migration. Regular migration is a type of migration that occurs in compliance with the laws of the country of origin, transit and destination. According to border statistics of Turkish Republic Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Turkey entertained 39.488.401 foreign visitors in 2018. It is seen from statistics that citizens of...

On December 2, 2019, the Turkish Directorate General of Migration Management announced that as of 01.01.2020, the requests of the foreigners who have been granted a one-year or longer short-term residence permit in total or at once for touristic purposes, for extending their short-term residence permits will be disapproved, in case of absence of a justifying reason other than tourism.[1]Fundamentally, the abovementioned administrative decision has merit because of the fact th...

The Law on the Protection of Personal Data is one of the most discussed and debated issues recently. This issue is so much popular that, it is as if this law is the only regulation that companies should comply with! However, that is not the case.Companies are obliged to comply with all relevant laws, regulations and internal rules. This is simply the obligation to act in accordance with the law.In a wider interpretation of the compliance obligation, in addition to compliance ...

Founding Attorney Hatice Zümbül – Legal Intern Mehmet TurgutI. Introduction The Turkish Competition Authority (The TCA) carried out an investigation on 09.02.2017 in order to determine whether the contracts issued between Google and producers of the device and the Google Economic Integration’s practices breach the fair competition or not.At the end of investigation, the TCA had held the final decision regarding whether the economic integration occurred by Google LLC, Go...

The conventional shareholder value maximization-oriented corporate governance discussions are very likely to undermine long-term success of companies at their post-IPO stages. It is a matter of fact that, investors are likely to prioritize protecting their investments instead of contributing to the long-term development of the companies they have invested in. In this regard, for instance, investors mostly demand protection rights such as liquidating rights, control, and votin...

I. Article 5/3 of the Law on Industrial Property The Law on Industrial Property numbered 6769[1], which came into force on 10.01.2017, introduced several new regulations related to industrial property rights. One of the significant new regulations is the consent letter of trademark holder defined within the scope of Article 5/3 of the Law on Industrial Property. Under Turkish law, now, it is possible to register the same/identical trademark, which has already registered by an...

Assignment of receivable is a legal institution that has stemmed from the needs of life[1] and is a method frequently resorted to by both international and national businesses. It is mostly used when the assignor is in financial difficulty and as a result of the sale of the receivable below its real value.[2] This institution has been regulated in Articles 183 through 194 of the Turkish Code of Obligations No 6098 (“Code”). While it is not specifically defined in the Code...

IntroductionInternational trade is an indivisible part of businesses in this century. One of the risks of the cross-border trade is that a creditor must still pay the relevant amount of Value Added Tax (hereafter ‘VAT’) to the tax office even if the debtor did not pay the sum to the creditor. In international trade, usually, the volume of a business transaction can be higher than the value of a domestic transaction. Therefore, payable tax amounts are relatively higher tha...

Hülya Oruç, LL.M. & Mehmet KayaPreambleGermany is experiencing an unprecedented shortage of skilled workers. Many positions cannot be filled. The high average age of Germans is gradually causing problems for the German economy. Old people cannot work and there is nobody to take care of them. This so-called demographic change is supposed to cause big economic problems in Germany, which is one of the most successful economies of the world.  Another problem is that ma...

I. IntroductionThe term “originality”, as a requirement for the existence of a work all around the globe, constitutes the very core of the term of copyright and so of the intellectual property law. That’s to say, it is agreed in the domestic laws of many states and in the relevant international agreements that to name something as a “work” for the purpose of copyright, it should meet the criterion of “originality” alongside with other criteria sought in the rele...

1. IntroductionTrademarks, as a source of visibility and reputation, become a strategic asset to companies competing on the basis of product differentiation and customer loyalty (1). While patents and copyrights can be described as governmental grants which give their inventor the right to exclusively use, make, or sell a product for a pre-determined time period, trademarks were merely perceived as indicators of the commercial origin of goods (2). The primary economic functio...

I. IntroductionTrademark infringement cases are generally based on the use of a trademark; thus, the concept of the use is always focused. While both European Union Trademark Directive[1] (hereinafter EUTM Directive) and Regulation[2] (hereinafter EUTM Regulation) besides the Turkish Industrial Property Code[3] bind the infringement of a trademark to the condition of the use of that trademark; the French Intellectual Property Code[4], on the other hand, exceptionally but expr...

Part I: A general overview in the form of questions and answersIn principle, there are no obligations arising out of an employment relation between a potential employee and a potential or prospective employer unless an employment agreement is concluded. Similarly, all obligations between an employee and an employer arising out of an employment relation end upon the termination of the employment agreement. Nevertheless, some obligations referred to as pre pactum and post pactu...

Bring Your Own Device: Privacy vs SecurityA. Introduction: Bring Your Own DeviceAs we all know, BYOD is a working model which employees can use their own devices for work. Recently, we have come across a significant research paper[1] about the ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) model, its challenges and privacy. The researchers try to find out answers to these two questions:“(1) How do companies deal with employees’ privacy concerns regarding the introduction of BYOD?”�...

What is a contract? A contract can be defined as an agreement entered into between two or more parties (individuals, or entities) that creates obligations and rights and these obligations and rights are legally binding for parties. Depending on the type of contract, in some legal systems, the contract has to be written and signed for being legally binding while under some others even a verbal agreement can be held as conclusion of legally binding contract.For a contract, ther...

I. OverviewIn Part-I of the corporate law and share transfer series, we reviewed the general rules and procedures relating to share transfers in joint-stock companies (JSC) in Turkey. Although the general procedures were reviewed in detail for all types of share transfers, the limitations on share transfers and restricting provisions set forth at the law were not included in that article. Therefore, the second part of the series will focus more on the role of shareholders led...

The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sales of Goods (CISG) is a multilateral treaty developed by the United Nations Commission on International Trade (UNCITRAL) and it establishes a uniform approach to international sales of goods. It has been adopted by many countries all over the globe. As of date, over 90 countries have ratified, approved, acceded to, or succeeded to the CISG. Lao People’s Democratic Republic is the most recent member: Lao Peo...