Questions

Pages in this section

• Can a Turkish judgment be translated before it is final? It can, but it cannot serve a file which asks for proof of finality: the record is added to the ilam afterwards and carries its own date.
• Can I upload the document to a free machine translator? The decision on your own document is yours. The office principle is firm: court documents are never uploaded to such services.
• Does a Turkish court document always need a notary? There is no general rule. Whether notary certification is looked for follows from the file the document enters, not from the kind of document.
• Is a sworn translation the same as a notarised one? No. Sworn describes the translator and the oath record kept at one notary’s office; notarisation is a separate act performed on the finished text.
• Is extradition the same as the return of a child? No. Extradition of a person rests on Law No. 6706 and the criminal courts; the return of a child rests on Law No. 5717 and the family court.
• May the translator correct an error in a Turkish document? No. Names, dates and numbers stay as the source writes them; correcting an error in a judgment is the court’s task, and the difference goes in a note.
• Must a foreign document be translated for a Turkish court? Yes: the party relying on a document written in a foreign language has to file a translation too, and the court may ask in addition for an official one.
• Which copy is translated: original, copy or print-out? Turkish law names three texts: the ilam given to the parties, a copy certified by the registry, and an electronic print-out. Their added lines differ.
• Which documents are translated in a child-return case? Under Law No. 5717 each stage of a child-return case adds its own papers: application, conciliation, interim measure, judgment, enforcement, costs.
• Which documents go into a Turkish exequatur file? MÖHUK Article 53 lists two attachments, each with an approved translation: the judgment and the proof of finality. The rest of the file is not listed.
• Who pays to translate documents served in Türkiye? The applicant abroad: formal service in Türkiye is performed on papers already carrying a Turkish translation, and service itself carries no fee.
• Will a translation made in Türkiye be accepted abroad? Not automatically: the rule of acceptance belongs to the receiving authority, and some ask for a translator from their own sworn list.