Legal Bulletin
Questions answered by the appellate courts. Party details omitted; summaries are not legal advice.
Case law summaries
Updated 20 Oct 2026
- Lease · Yargıtay 3. Hukuk Dairesi
When can a landlord evict a tenant for personal need?
A personal-need eviction requires proof that the need is genuine, sincere and compelling. A temporary, future or remote need does not qualify, and the need must exist when the claim is filed and continue throughout the trial.
- Employment · Yargıtay 9. Hukuk Dairesi
Can an employee resign and still claim severance if overtime is unpaid?
Termination by an employee whose overtime pay was withheld was held to be for just cause, and the severance award was upheld. The equitable reduction applied where overtime was proven by witnesses was approved.
- Family and inheritance · Yargıtay 2. Hukuk Dairesi
How is post-divorce maintenance calculated?
Maintenance is set by reference to the parties’ social and economic circumstances, the nature of maintenance, current economic conditions and equity. An amount found too low against these criteria led to reversal.
- Family and inheritance · Yargıtay Hukuk Genel Kurulu
Can a sham sale of land to one heir be set aside?
To set aside a transfer as a sham, it must be shown that the deceased’s real aim was to deprive the other heirs. Without that aim, the 1974 unifying decision does not apply.
- Enforcement · Yargıtay İçtihatları Birleştirme BGK
Can a bank freeze a pension to recover a consumer loan?
A unifying decision held that a bank may directly block a pension on the basis of lien, set-off and similar consents given for a consumer loan. Adopted by majority; binding.
- Family and inheritance · Ankara BAM 26. Hukuk Dairesi
Can a person claim maintenance from a sibling?
Siblings owe no general duty of support. Under Art. 364 of the Civil Code, a sibling may claim maintenance only by proving that they would fall into need without help and that the other sibling is prosperous.
- Employment · Yargıtay 9. Hukuk Dairesi
How long must one work to qualify for severance pay?
Not every termination gives rise to severance pay. The employee must have worked at least one year for the same employer, and the contract must end in one of the ways listed in the law.
- Employment · Yargıtay 9. Hukuk Dairesi
Are separate periods with the same employer added together?
Separate periods of service with the same employer are combined for severance purposes, including for the one-year threshold, provided each termination was of a kind that entitles the employee to severance. No such aggregation applies to notice pay.
- Employment · Yargıtay 9. Hukuk Dairesi
How is overtime pay calculated?
Each hour above 45 hours a week is paid at the normal hourly rate plus 50%. Where the contract sets a shorter week, hours between that limit and 45 are extra hours paid at plus 25%.
- Employment · Yargıtay 9. Hukuk Dairesi
How soon must a dismissed employee seek reinstatement?
An employee contesting dismissal must apply to a mediator within one month of being served notice of termination. If no settlement is reached, the claim may be filed in the labour court within two weeks of the final record.
- Employment · Yargıtay 10. Hukuk Dairesi
Within how many days must a workplace accident be reported?
The employer must report a workplace accident to the police immediately and to the Social Security Institution within three working days. If it occurred outside the employer’s control, time runs from when it became known.
- Lease · Yargıtay 3. Hukuk Dairesi
When is an eviction claim filed and how does it proceed?
An eviction claim based on notice given after the ten-year extension period may be filed until the end of the following lease year. Mediation is a prerequisite in every case.
- Lease · Yargıtay 3. Hukuk Dairesi
When should the landlord apply to mediation?
In personal-need evictions, the mandatory mediation application must be made once the right to sue has arisen, within the filing period. An application made earlier does not satisfy the prerequisite.
- Lease · Yargıtay 3. Hukuk Dairesi
How is the legal rent increase determined?
For the four renewal years after the first, increases may not exceed the 12-month average change in the consumer price index. After five years the judge sets a fair rent based on the property and comparable rents.
- Lease · Yargıtay 3. Hukuk Dairesi
When can a landlord end a lease without giving a reason?
A landlord of residential or covered business premises cannot end the lease merely because its term has expired. After the ten-year extension period, the landlord may terminate without cause by giving at least three months’ notice before the end of any extension year.
- Family and inheritance · Yargıtay 7. Hukuk Dairesi
How long is the period for disclaiming an inheritance?
An inheritance may be disclaimed within three months, running for statutory heirs from when they learned of the death and for appointed heirs from official notice of the will. The declaration is made to the civil court of peace.
- Family and inheritance · Yargıtay 7. Hukuk Dairesi
How can heirs avoid the deceased’s debts?
If the deceased’s debts exceeded the assets at death, the inheritance is deemed disclaimed. Courts must establish assets and liabilities by enquiring with banks, land, vehicle and tax registries; a certificate of insolvency is conclusive.
- Family and inheritance · Yargıtay 7. Hukuk Dairesi
Can an heir’s creditors set aside a disclaimer?
Where an insolvent heir disclaims to defeat creditors, the creditors may sue to set the disclaimer aside. The six-month time limit runs from registration of the disclaimer in the special register.
- Consumer · Yargıtay 3. Hukuk Dairesi
What is the consumer’s right of withdrawal?
Consumers may withdraw from distance and timeshare-type contracts within fourteen days without reason or penalty. No payment may be taken during the withdrawal period, and any sum taken must be refunded at once.
- Consumer · Yargıtay 3. Hukuk Dairesi
What rights does a consumer have for a defective product?
For defective goods the consumer may choose rescission with a refund, replacement, a price reduction or free repair. Against a producer or importer only repair or replacement is available.
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