Turkey enacts law on mandatory mediation for consumer disputes

On 28 July 2020, Turkey enacted the Law Amending the Civil Procedure Law and Certain Laws, which introduces Article 73/A on "Mediation as a precondition for lawsuit" to the Consumer Protection Law (No.6502).

As of 28 July, parties to consumer disputes with a dispute value exceeding TRY 10,390 must seek mediation before filing a lawsuit. Disputes falling within the scope of the consumer arbitration committee's duties (i.e. disputes with a value of less than TRY 10,390) will continue to be resolved directly by consumer arbitration committees, without any obligation to seek mediation first. In addition, appeals against consumer arbitration committee decisions are not subject to mandatory mediation.

The Law also provides for exceptions to mandatory mediation for the following disputes:

• Lawsuits and preliminary injunction requests initiated by consumer organizations to prevent violations of the Consumer Law;
• Lawsuits for the suspension of production, sale of products or compulsory product recalls;
• Consumer disputes related to rights in rem in immovable property.

The new law represents a further step towards introducing mediation in Turkey as an obligatory dispute resolution mechanism before resorting to the courts. The Turkish Parliament has already introduced amendments to other relevant laws requiring mediation prior to filing of claims for certain types of labour disputes (as a result of a law amended in 2017) and for commercial disputes relating to receivables and compensation claims for damages (resulting from a 2018 amendment).

For more information about this new law and mediation in Turkey, contact your regular CMS advisor or local CMS experts: Dr. Döne Yalçın and Umut Korkmaz.