Due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic in Turkey, the time limits in legal proceedings were suspended with Law No. 7226, published in the Official Gazette dated 26.03.2020 and numbered 31080, to prevent further spread of the epidemic disease and loss of rights.
According to the provisional article 1 of the said law:
1- All the time limits related to the origination, exercise and termination of any right, including filing lawsuits, commencing enforcement proceedings, applications, complaints, objections, warnings, submissions, periods of prescription, the statute of limitations and deadline of mandatory adminis-trative application periods suspended from 13/03/2020 (including this date) until 30/04/2020 (includ-ing this date).
2- The time limits determined in the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law and other laws related to the enforcement proceedings, and the time limits determined by judges or enforcement and bankrupt-cy offices (excluding the enforcement proceedings related to the child maintenance payments), all pending enforcement and bankruptcy proceedings, party proceedings, all requests for new en-forcement and bankruptcy proceedings and all interim attachment proceedings are suspended from March 22, 2020, until April 30, 2020.
Processing of Times after the Suspended Period Ends
These suspended time limits will start to run from the day following the end of the suspension. As of the start date of the suspended period, the time limits that expire in 15 days or less are deemed to be extended by 15 days from the starting day following the end of the suspension period.
Excluded Times
Under that law, the limitation periods set out in the law for crime and punishment, misdemeanor and administrative sanction, and disciplinary arrest and preventive detention; time limits regarding the precautionary measures under the Law of Criminal Procedure (CPL) and time limits regarding the transactions that complement the precautionary measure regulated in Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) are excluded from the scope of this article.
Additional Regulations
Moreover, several measures have been taken under the Law on Enforcement and Bankruptcy No.2004 and other laws related to enforcement law.
If the sales dates declared by the enforcement and bankruptcy offices regarding the assets or rights remain within the suspension period, a new sale date will be assigned by the enforcement and bankruptcy offices for these assets or rights without seeking a new request and sale announcement will be made only in the electronic platform and no fee will charged for the announcement.
The voluntary payments will be accepted during the suspension period, and one of the parties may request that the transactions in favor of the other party to be made.
The results of the concordat term in terms of creditors and debtors will continue throughout the sus-pension.
Other measures will be taken to ensure that the enforcement and bankruptcy services are not inter-rupted, has been stated.
In Case the Epidemic Continues
The law also includes regulations on how times will proceed after the suspension period has ex-pired. Accordingly, if the outbreak continues, the President will be able to extend the period once, but this period may not exceed six months.
Postponing the Hearings
Council Board for the Court of Cassation and Council of State; the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors for first instance courts and regional courts of appeal; and the Ministry of Justice for justice services will determine the all other measures to be taken, including the postponement of hearings and negotiations, and regarding principles and procedures.
President's Decision on Stopping Enforcement and Bankruptcy Proceedings
From the date of March 22, 2020 (including this date), which the President's Decree on the Sus-pension of Enforcement and Bankruptcy Proceedings issued on based on article 330 of the En-forcement and Bankruptcy Law and dated March 21, 2020; code no 2279, to April 30, 2020 (includ-ing this date), except for enforcement proceedings related to the child maintenance payments, all enforcement and bankruptcy proceedings carried out throughout the country has suspended, and no procedural actions of the parties will be processed, new requests for enforcement or bankruptcy is not allowed, and the precautionary assessment decisions will not be enforced.
Article 330 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law
"In case of epidemic disease, a common misfortune or war, the enforcement proceedings can be suspended for a certain period in some part of the country or favor of some economic zones with the Presidential Decree "
Conclusion
The COVID-19 outbreak is spreading rapidly in Turkey. To prevent coronavirus epidemics and loss of rights, several time limits in the jurisdiction have been suspended until 30/04/2020 (including this date), with exceptions. The start date of the deadlines will be 01/05/2020. It is important to note that if the epidemic continues, this period can be extended by the President once, but this period cannot exceed six months. Also, periods that are 15 days or less to the end of the suspension period will be deemed to be extended 15 days starting from the day following the end of the suspension period, and this date will be 15/05/2020 with these regulations.
Lawyer Dilara Demirtaş
Tuba Kızılkaya assisted.
Güneş & Güneş Law Firm
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