A request for service under the 1965 Hague Service Convention has two layers: the model form completed by the forwarding authority, and the documents to be served. It is tempting to treat them as a single language question. The Convention gives each layer its own rule, and for a request to Türkiye the difference decides whether the addressee can refuse the papers.
Article 7: printed terms and entries
Article 7 sets two rules for the form. The standard terms of the model annexed to the Convention are in all cases written in French or in English; they may also be written in the official language, or one of the official languages, of the State in which the documents originate. The corresponding blanks are completed either in the language of the State addressed or in French or English. A form sent to Türkiye can therefore carry printed terms in English and entries in Turkish, English or French, and each combination is within Article 7.
The summary is served with the document
Under Article 5(4), the part of the request that contains the summary of the document is served together with the document. The summary therefore reaches the addressee along with the claim itself. If the entries are made in English, a defendant in İzmir receives an English summary with a Turkish translation of the claim. Completing the summary in Turkish is one of the options Article 7 allows, and it gives the addressee the summary in the same language as the translated documents.
The documents follow Article 5
The language of the documents is a separate matter, governed by Article 5 and not by Article 7. Article 5(3) lets a Central Authority require documents served under Article 5(1) to be written in, or translated into, its official language. For Türkiye, Turkish text in the documents is what opens service under Article 5(1) against an unwilling addressee; without it, only voluntary acceptance under Article 5(2) remains (HCCH Practical Information for Türkiye; Circular 63/3 para. 49). A form completed in faultless English does not change that. Two sets of everything are needed (Article 3), translations included.
Forms leaving Türkiye
For service from Türkiye, the Ministry of Justice circular on international service in civil matters turns these articles into instructions for Turkish courts. The request and all documents to be served are prepared in two sets (Circular 63/3 para. 11-a); the relevant parts of the form are completed in the language of the destination State or in English or French (para. 11-b); and the Turkish documents to be served carry translations into that State’s language (para. 11-c). Under the 1965 Convention the Turkish court sends the request directly to the foreign Central Authority, without passing it through the Ministry (para. 15). The forwarding authorities listed on Türkiye’s Practical Information page are chief public prosecutor’s offices, the Court of Cassation, the Council of State, courts, bailiffs and notaries, so any of them may appear at the top of a form arriving from Türkiye.
Form 184 in Turkish practice
In Turkish court practice the model request is known as form 184. For France, the Directorate General for Foreign Relations and EU Affairs of the Ministry of Justice (DİABGM), Ankara, asks for form 184 and the documents to be served to be prepared in two copies each, in Turkish and in French. A French lawyer who receives such a bundle therefore finds the Turkish papers and their French translation side by side, under a form whose entries may be in French.
When two States agree otherwise
Article 20(b) allows two or more Contracting States to agree to dispense with the language requirements of Article 5(3) and Article 7. Such an agreement changes the rules only between the States that made it. Since 1 July 2024 the Hague Conference has had three official languages, English, French and Spanish; the text of Article 7 still names French and English for the standard terms. Acte Tercüme translates the summary entries of the model form and the documents to be served into Turkish for requests to Türkiye, and into English or French for requests from Türkiye; which method of service to request is decided by the lawyer or court sending the file.