The recognition of foreign judgments in Turkey, particularly in family law, is a major legal challenge. This is particularly true in cases where spouses have been legally divorced abroad and at least one of the parties has Turkish nationality. In such cases, it is necessary to recognise the divorce decree issued abroad in Turkey in order to ensure its legal effect in the Turkish legal system.
The recognition process is carried out through a special procedure governed by the provisions of the Turkish Private International Law. According to Article 58 a recognition order can be obtained in certain cases and under simplified conditions. Specifically, under Article 58(1), the requirement of reciprocity and compliance with certain procedural requirements of the foreign court, as set out in Article 54(1a), may be waived. The purpose of these simplifications is to ensure that the recognition procedure is accelerated and bureaucratically simplified, making the procedures faster and less burdensome for the parties concerned.
However, the enforcement of other foreign judgments that have become final and enforceable in Turkey requires a more extensive procedure. In these cases, the foreign judgment must first be recognised by an enforcement order issued by the competent Turkish court, as provided for in Article 54. Only with this enforcement order can the judgment be effectively enforced in Turkey.
There are several steps to be taken in order to have a foreign judgment recognised in Turkey. First of all, the judgment must be provided with a legal validity endorsement, which confirms that the judgment is legally valid and therefore has legal effect. In addition, an apostille must be affixed to the judgment. The apostille is an international certification that confirms the authenticity of the judgment and is used in international legal relations between states. The apostille can be requested from the family court that issued the judgment.
Once the judgment has been apostilled, it must be translated into Turkish by a sworn translator and notarised. We offer to have these translations done in-house by our sworn translators so that you do not have to worry about the translation process yourself.
Another important step is the preparation of a power of attorney, which is required for the recognition and enforcement procedure. This can be obtained from the relevant consulate. It is important that the power of attorney explicitly refers to the recognition and enforcement procedure and is notarised at the consulate.
Please note that the Turkish consulate is only responsible for Turkish citizens. For persons of other nationalities, it is necessary to obtain a power of attorney from Turkey and have it notarised and apostilled. This is the only way the procedure can be properly initiated and carried out.
In summary, the following documents are required to initiate the recognition procedure:
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