Temyiz is the second level of appeal in Turkish civil procedure. It is brought mainly against decisions of the civil chambers of the regional courts of appeal and is decided by the Court of Cassation (Yargıtay). The petition follows the istinaf petition closely, yet Article 364(2) of the Code of Civil Procedure (HMK) adds two elements that the earlier filing lacks. A foreign party approving the petition in English, or a lawyer abroad following the file, needs to find both of them.
Nine elements in a fixed order
Article 364(2) lists: (a) the parties’ roles in the case, names, Turkish identity numbers and addresses; (b) legal representatives and counsel; (c) the civil chamber of the regional court of appeal that gave the decision, with its date and number; (ç) where relevant, the decision given after reversal or the decision of persistence; (d) the date of service on the appellant; (e) a summary of the decision; (f) the grounds and their reasoning; (g) any request for a hearing; and (ğ) the signature. The letters ç and ğ belong to the Turkish alphabet and to the list, and the English version keeps them instead of relabelling the items (a) to (i).
After reversal, or after persistence
Item (ç) exists because a temyiz can follow an earlier round. Where the Court of Cassation reversed a decision and the first-instance court then ruled in line with the reversal, or declined to follow it and maintained its earlier decision, the petition identifies that later decision by court, date and number. One petition may thus carry several Docket (Merits) and Decision numbers from different courts, and each stays beside the decision it identifies. “Decision of persistence (direnme kararı)” is a descriptive rendering of a Turkish institution; the bracketed Turkish term tells the reader that no exact counterpart exists.
The request for a hearing
Item (g) has no equivalent in the istinaf petition. In the cases listed in Article 369(2), including money claims above a monetary threshold, the Court of Cassation sets a day for a hearing if the petition asks for one; without the request, the appeal is examined on the file. The request is often a single line at the start or the end of the petition, and single lines are the easiest to lose. It is translated where it stands, in plain words such as “An oral hearing is requested.”, and not relegated to a footnote.
Service date and time limit
Item (d), the date on which the judgment was served on the appellant, anchors the time limit: temyiz is brought within two weeks of service (Article 361(1)). Day, month and year are copied without change; if the date format is adapted for an English reader, a translator’s note says so. No last day is calculated, and “two weeks” is not rewritten as a number of days.
Grounds that quote two courts
Items (e) and (f) often quote both the first-instance judgment and the regional court’s decision. The English version keeps each quotation attributed to the court it comes from, keeps quotation marks and the numbering of the grounds, and does not merge the summary and the grounds into one narrative. Article references, for instance to a provision the regional court is said to have misapplied, remain exactly as cited.
Where it is lodged, copies and signature
The petition may be lodged with the regional court chamber that gave the decision, with the first-instance court that ruled after reversal, or with a regional court chamber or first-instance court where the appellant is (Article 365(1)), and a receipt is issued free of charge (Article 365(3)). The heading reflects that choice, and every authority named in it is kept. Copies are attached for each opposing party (Article 364(1)); since they repeat the same text, one text is translated and a note records the fact. A petition that identifies the appellant, carries a signature and sufficiently identifies the decision is not rejected for other defects (Article 364(3)). A secure electronic signature has the legal effect of a handwritten one (Electronic Signature Law, Article 5), so the signature line of a petition lodged through UYAP is rendered as an electronic signature entry. Acte Tercüme translates temyiz petitions, and the decisions they challenge, between Turkish and English.