A prosecutor in Brussels who needs bank records held in İstanbul, or an investigating judge in Geneva who has to summon an accused person living in Ankara, sends a request for mutual legal assistance. Between Türkiye and most European States the instrument is the 1959 European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (ETS 030), together with its Second Additional Protocol (ETS 182). The Convention starts from the position that no translation is needed, and only a declaration by the requested State changes that.
Article 16: the default is no translation
The Convention entered into force for Türkiye on 22 September 1969. Article 16(1) provides that, subject to paragraph 2, translations of requests and annexed documents shall not be required. Article 16(2) allows a Party, by a declaration made on signature or on depositing its instrument, to have requests and annexes sent with a translation into its own language or into one of the official languages of the Council of Europe, and the other Parties may apply reciprocity. Article 16(3) preserves translation clauses in agreements between Parties, and Article 17 excludes any form of authentication for evidence or documents transmitted under the Convention.
No Article 16 declaration by Türkiye
It is sometimes said that Türkiye requires Turkish under Article 16. The Council of Europe’s records show two entries for Türkiye, and neither concerns language: a reservation under Article 5, which makes letters rogatory for search or seizure subject to the conditions in Article 5(1), and a declaration under Article 7. At the level of the Convention, Türkiye has set no translation requirement for the requests it receives. What a Turkish authority executing a request expects beyond that record is not stated in the Convention, and the requesting authority can confirm it through its own central authority.
A summons for an accused person in Türkiye
Türkiye’s declaration under Article 7 provides that service of a summons on an accused person in Turkish territory is effected by transmission to the proper Turkish authorities at least 40 days before the date set for appearance. The period is counted back from the hearing and has to absorb everything that happens before transmission, translation included. A summons that reaches the Turkish authorities 30 days before the hearing does not meet the declaration.
The Second Additional Protocol: summary and translation
ETS 182 entered into force for Türkiye on 1 November 2016. Under Article 15(2) of the Protocol, procedural documents and judicial decisions are in all cases transmitted in the language or languages in which they were issued. Where the issuing authority knows, or has reason to believe, that the addressee understands only another language, the papers, or at least their most important passages, are accompanied by a translation into that language (Article 15(3)). Under Article 15(4) they are also accompanied, for the benefit of the requested Party’s authorities, by a short summary of their contents translated into that Party’s language. Both rules apply notwithstanding Article 16 of the Convention, so a summons for a person in Türkiye carries a Turkish summary even though Türkiye made no Article 16 declaration.
No posting into Türkiye, no coercive warnings
Through its reservation to Article 16 of the Protocol, Türkiye rules out foreign authorities posting judicial decisions and other documents straight to people on its territory. It did not accept Article 17 on cross-border observation, and it designated its courts and chief public prosecutor’s offices as judicial authorities for Article 6. Domestic law adds a rule on content: under Law No. 6706 on international judicial cooperation in criminal matters, a request for service does not include a warning of restrictive or coercive measures, and a foreign request that includes one is refused (Articles 7(1)(b) and 8(1)(d)). A translator renders such a warning if it stands in the source; taking it out is for the authority that drafts the request.
Requests sent from Türkiye
For requests leaving Türkiye, the requested State’s declaration decides. Switzerland asks for a translation into French, German or Italian for every request except the service of summonses; Luxembourg asks for French, German or English; Germany for German or an official language of the Council of Europe. France and Belgium made no Article 16 declaration. The Ministry of Justice’s guide on judicial cooperation in criminal matters (November 2014) nevertheless asks Turkish authorities to translate the whole request and its annexes. For a long indictment, the part concerning the person addressed may be translated if the request explains this, and papers for a multilingual country go into the language the addressee knows or the official language of the region where the addressee lives.
The translation work
Acte Tercüme translates requests for assistance, summonses, indictments and decisions between Turkish, English and French, and translates the short summary that Article 15(4) of the Protocol calls for when the issuing authority provides it. The content of the request remains a matter for the judicial authority that issues it.