Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law

Enforcement and bankruptcy law governs the compulsory collection of receivables by the state from debtors who do not pay voluntarily. For creditors, initiating enforcement through the correct procedure and with complete documentation is decisive; for debtors, it is essential not to miss the short objection and complaint periods.

Enforcement procedures

• Enforcement without a court judgment (general attachment procedure)
• Enforcement based on court judgments and documents having the force of a judgment
• Attachment procedure based on negotiable instruments (cheques, promissory notes, bills of exchange)
• Enforcement by realisation of pledges and mortgages
• Enforcement for the eviction of leased immovables
• Enforcement through bankruptcy

Key time limits for debtors

• In enforcement without a judgment, the period to object to the payment order is seven days from service (Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law Art. 62). If no objection is made, the enforcement becomes final.
• In enforcement based on negotiable instruments, objections to the debt or the signature, and complaints that the document is not a negotiable instrument, must be filed with the enforcement court within five days (Art. 168).
• A debtor may file a negative declaratory action before or during enforcement to prove that no debt exists; a person forced to pay a sum not owed may file an action for restitution within one year of payment (Art. 72).

Key time limits for creditors

• If the debtor objects, the creditor may file an action for the annulment of the objection before the civil courts within one year of service of the objection (Art. 67).
• If the claim is based on documents listed in the law, the creditor may request the enforcement court to remove the objection within six months of service of the objection (Art. 68).
• For commercial claims for a sum of money, compensation, annulment of objection, negative declaratory and restitution actions, applying to a mediator before filing suit is a precondition (Turkish Commercial Code Art. 5/A).

Attachment, precautionary attachment and sale

This covers searching for and attaching the debtor's movable and immovable property, bank accounts, vehicles and receivables held by third parties; obtaining precautionary attachment orders where the debt is not yet due or the claim is at risk; the sale of attached assets, ranking lists and third-party ownership claims. Debtors may also file complaints with the enforcement court regarding exempt assets and irregular procedures.

Concordat and bankruptcy

A debtor who cannot pay debts as they fall due, or is at risk of being unable to do so, may request a concordat in order to pay debts through deferral or reduction or to avoid possible bankruptcy (Art. 285). We provide legal support to both debtors and creditors in concordat and bankruptcy proceedings.

Our firm provides advisory and legal services to companies, institutions and individuals in enforcement proceedings and related litigation, debt collection, attachment and precautionary attachment, pledge and mortgage transactions, creditors' meetings, and concordat and bankruptcy proceedings.

The information on this page is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.