Administrative law

Rules common to administrative cases

Annulment and full-remedy actions against administrative acts and conduct go to the administrative courts (Law 2576 art. 5; Administrative Procedure Law, İdari Yargılama Usulü Kanunu, İYUK, art. 2). Proceedings are written and decided on the file (art. 1(2)). The court reviews lawfulness, not appropriateness (art. 2(2)). The Constitution keeps review open against every act and action of the administration and starts the time limit from written notification (art. 125).

1. Count the deadline. Unless a special law says otherwise it is 60 days (İYUK art. 7(1)), from the day after written notification (art. 7(2)(a), 8(1)). A last day on a holiday moves to the end of the next working day; a deadline ending in the recess of 20 July to 31 August gains seven days (art. 8(2)–(3), 61). Some courts do not take the recess (art. 61(1)), so the extra seven days should not be relied on.
2. Apply to the authority if needed. A request to withdraw, revoke or change the act may be made to the superior authority (or the one that made it) within the claim period; it stops time. No reply in 30 days is a refusal, and time resumes, counting the days already used (art. 11). A request that the authority act is also refused after 30 days’ silence; waiting for a non-final reply cannot exceed four months (art. 10(2)).
3. File the petition. Signed and addressed to the administrative court, it gives the parties and ID number, the subject, grounds and evidence, the date of written notification and, in a full-remedy action, the amount; originals or copies of the act and documents are attached (art. 3). Each act is sued separately, but linked acts may share one petition (art. 5(1)). Unpaid fees or postage must be made up within 30 days or the claim is treated as not filed (art. 6(4)).
4. Ask for a stay. Filing does not stop the act (art. 27(1)). The court may stay it, after the defence, if damage hard or impossible to repair would follow and the act is clearly unlawful. Acts whose effect would be exhausted by their application may be stayed before the defence, but appointments, transfers, changes of duty or title and assignments of civil servants are not treated as such acts (art. 27(2)).
5. Defence and evidence. Each side has 30 days to reply to what is served (art. 16(3)). The court may call for the file and information (art. 16(5), 20(1)). For reasons of state security the President, a vice-president or the minister may withhold documents with reasons, but a decision cannot rest on a defence that relies on withheld documents (art. 20(3)).

After judgment. The authority must comply with judgments on the merits and on stays without delay, and within 30 days of service at the latest (art. 28(1)); if it does not, a claim for material and moral damages lies against it (art. 28(3)). Since 11 July 2026 the last sentence of art. 28(1) (Law 7588 art. 7) delays carrying out orders that result in reinstatement until the final judgment is final. It covers personnel, candidates and students of the Ministry of National Defence, the gendarmerie, the coast guard and the police, and personnel of the National Intelligence Organisation. The cases concern people refused public service or removed from it on grounds of links with terrorist organisations, acts under Decree-Law 375 provisional art. 35, and negative security vetting. The text itself sets the scope.

Appeal. Judgments of the administrative court may be appealed (istinaf) to the regional administrative court (bölge idare mahkemesi) within 30 days of service; judgments in cases below a monetary limit are final (art. 45(1)). The limits rise every year under additional art. 1, so they are not stated here. A further appeal (temyiz) to the Council of State (Danıştay) lies within 30 days only in the cases listed in art. 46(1), among them annulment actions against acts that remove someone from a profession, public office or student status (art. 46(1)(d)) and zoning plan and parcelling cases (art. 46(1)(g)). For regional court decisions made after 31 July 2026, Law 7589 added art. 46(2): outside the listed cases, a new decision given after the regional court sets aside the first-instance judgment can also be appealed, except in single-judge cases, cases under the Foreigners Law and decisions only on lawyers’ fees and costs (provisional art. 1(3)). An appeal does not by itself suspend execution (art. 52(1)). After other remedies, an individual application may be made to the Constitutional Court within 30 days (Law 6216 art. 45, 47(5)).

Security vetting and archive checks (negative result)

Archive research (arşiv araştırması) covers anyone to be appointed, for the first time or again, to a civil service post or public duty. A security investigation (güvenlik soruşturması) is carried out with it for those to work in classified units, defence, the gendarmerie, the police, the coast guard, the intelligence services and prisons, for teachers, senior public managers and strategic national-security units (Law 7315 art. 3). Archive research checks records: criminal record, whether the person is wanted, restrictions, final judgments, facts in pending or concluded investigations and prosecutions, and removal from public service (art. 4). A security investigation adds police and intelligence records, ties to foreign state bodies and foreigners, and any acting in concert, contact or affiliation with terrorist or criminal organisations (art. 5). The National Intelligence Organisation, the General Directorate of Security and local civil administrations carry it out (art. 6).

Who decides. The factual data go to the institution’s Evaluation Commission (Değerlendirme Komisyonu), which gives the authority competent to appoint its objective, reasoned written assessment (art. 7). Under the Regulation the result is reported to the requesting institution within 30 working days for archive research and 60 for a security investigation (art. 11(7)). Information that cannot be observed concretely or checked, or is clearly false or malicious, is not passed to the Commission or taken into account; the Commission may ask the person to explain, without revealing the source (Regulation art. 12(3)).

No special objection route; the act is challenged. Neither the Law nor the Regulation provides a separate administrative objection or requires the result to be notified to the person; the general routes of İYUK art. 10 and 11 remain open. The result reaches the person through an act such as a refusal to appoint or the end of the post. The annulment action is brought against that act within 60 days from the day after written notification (İYUK art. 7). It rests on a claim that the act is unlawful for lack of competence, form, reason, subject or purpose (art. 2(1)(a)); Constitution art. 70 allows no distinction in entry to public service beyond the qualifications the post requires. The competent court is that of the new or former post for appointments and of the last post for termination (art. 33(1)–(2)); art. 20/C(1) applies to Ministry of National Defence personnel.

Evidence and data. The Commission’s written assessment is supplied to courts on request (Law 7315 art. 7(3)). Personal data are deleted after two years, but not before judgment is final if a claim has been filed (art. 10). For data not part of intelligence activity, measures are taken for information, access, correction and deletion; information obtained through intelligence activity cannot be given to the person (art. 8). Orders to reinstate some groups of personnel are carried out only after the final judgment is final (İYUK art. 28(1), last sentence; see above).

Civil servants’ disciplinary penalties

The Civil Servants Law (Devlet Memurları Kanunu, DMK) lists five penalties: warning, reprimand, deduction from salary (1/30 to 1/8 of gross pay), halting of grade progression for 1 to 3 years, and removal from the civil service (art. 125). Disciplinary rules in special laws are preserved (art. 125, 126); for military personnel and the police see the severance section below. Disciplinary supervisors (disiplin amirleri) give warnings, reprimands and salary deductions; halting progression follows a disciplinary board decision; removal follows a supervisor’s request, by decision of the higher disciplinary board (art. 126).

1. A defence is taken. No penalty may be imposed without the civil servant’s defence (DMK art. 130; Constitution art. 129(2)). The time given must be at least 7 days, and not defending within it counts as waiver (art. 130). A civil servant facing removal may examine the file, have witnesses heard and defend in writing or orally before the board (art. 129).
2. Time limits for the authority. Supervisors decide on warnings, reprimands and deductions within 15 days of the end of the investigation. For halting progression the file goes to the board within 15 days and the board decides in 30; for removal the higher board decides within six months at most (art. 128).
3. Check limitation. Power to punish lapses if an investigation is not started within one month of learning of the act (warning, reprimand, deduction, halting progression) or six months (removal). Since 29 January 2026 (Law 7573) it also lapses if no penalty is imposed within two years of the act. If a court annuls a penalty, a new one may be imposed within the remaining limitation period counted from the day the judgment reaches the authority or, if that has expired or has under six months left, within six months (art. 127).
4. Objection or claim. An objection to a supervisor’s penalty goes to the disciplinary board, and one to a halting of progression to the higher board, within seven days of service; the body decides within thirty days (art. 135). The administrative courts are open as well (art. 135; Constitution art. 129(3)).
5. Choose the court. For penalties that do not end the service relationship, the court of the place where the civil servant works has jurisdiction; for removal, the court of the last post (İYUK art. 33(2)–(3)). In annulment actions against acts that remove someone from public office, the regional court’s decision may be appealed to the Council of State (art. 46(1)(d)).

Penalties are entered in the personal file; the civil servant may ask the appointing authority to remove a warning or reprimand after 5 years and other penalties after 10 (art. 133). Those given a salary deduction cannot be appointed for 5 years, and those given halted progression for 10, to posts of head of department and above, the top posts of provincial and regional organisations, and governor and ambassador posts (art. 132).

Appointments and transfers

Transfers of civil servants between places within an institution are made within a fair and balanced system between regions defined by the needs and nature of the service, with details set by regulation (DMK art. 72). Mutual transfers depend on the appointing authority’s approval (art. 73). Institutions may transfer civil servants to posts of equal or higher grade, and civil servants may at their own request take posts up to three grades lower (art. 76). Transfers between institutions need the institutions’ consent (art. 74). Art. 72 has separate provisions on spouses and on family members with disabilities. People who pass an entry examination are appointed in order of ranking (art. 52).

What the court reviews. Lawfulness, not appropriateness (İYUK art. 2(2)); a claim alleges that the act is unlawful for competence, form, reason, subject or purpose (art. 2(1)(a)). In appointment and transfer cases the court of the civil servant’s new or former post has jurisdiction (art. 33(1)).

Deadline and stay. The claim period is 60 days from written notification (art. 7). Because appointments, transfers and assignments are not treated as acts whose effect is exhausted by their application, a stay is decided after the authority’s defence or the lapse of the time for it, and both conditions must be met (art. 27(2)). If the act is annulled, the authority must comply within 30 days at most (art. 28(1)). Damage from the act can be claimed in a separate full-remedy action (art. 12; see below).

Zoning fines and demolition orders

When a building is found to breach the zoning rules, the municipality or governorate records the state of construction, seals the building and stops the works. The stop-work record is treated as served on the owner by being posted on the site, with a copy left with the neighbourhood head (muhtar) (Zoning Law 3194 art. 32). The owner then has at most one month to bring the building into line or obtain a permit and ask for the seal to be lifted. Otherwise the permit is cancelled and the building is demolished at the owner’s cost after a decision of the municipal committee (belediye encümeni) or the provincial administrative board (il idare kurulu) (art. 32). For buildings found impossible to bring into line, the permit is cancelled without waiting a month. Work done with the authority’s written permission to bring the building into line is not the offence of breaking a seal (art. 42).

The administrative fine. Within ten working days of the breach being recorded, the committee imposes a sanction on each person responsible, separately for each responsibility (art. 42). It may fall on the owner, the contractor and the technically responsible architect or engineer (fenni mesul) who failed to report the breach; the amount depends on the building’s class and group, the floor area and the nature of the breach, and is raised each year by the revaluation rate, so no figures are given here. Art. 42 was amended by Law 7579 (in force from 22 May 2026 in the consolidated text). A fine collected is refunded without interest to anyone later convicted for the same act under Turkish Criminal Code art. 184.

Which route applies.

• Demolition, permit cancellation and stop-work measures are administrative acts. The claim is brought within 60 days (İYUK art. 7) in the administrative court where the property is (art. 34(1)). Linked acts can share a petition (art. 5(1)). The claim does not stop the demolition (art. 27(1)); a stay is requested, and for acts whose effect would be exhausted by application it may be granted before the defence is taken (art. 27(2)).
• The administrative fine. The Misdemeanours Law provides for an application to the criminal court of peace (sulh ceza mahkemesi) within 15 days of service or announcement; if the period is missed, the decision becomes final (art. 27(1)). If decisions within the administrative courts’ jurisdiction (such as demolition) were made in the same process, objections to the fine’s lawfulness are heard in the administrative court together with the claim to annul that act (art. 27(8)). Because the periods differ (15 and 60 days), the route has to be settled from the content of the decision.
• Payment. Where the law sets no other period, a fine is paid within one month of service; payment in that period reduces it by a quarter and does not affect the right to challenge the decision (Misdemeanours Law art. 17(6)).

The application dates in provisional art. 16 (building registration certificate), in force since 2018, have passed on the face of the text; buildings that obtained a certificate are not covered here. For property law generally see real estate.

Full-remedy action

A full-remedy action (tam yargı davası) is brought by those whose personal rights are directly harmed by administrative acts or conduct, to obtain compensation (İYUK art. 2(1)(b)). The Constitution makes the administration liable to pay damage arising from its acts and actions (art. 125), and claims for damage caused by civil servants’ faults in using their powers can only be brought against the administration (art. 129). The grounds of liability (fault in service, liability without fault) have been shaped by case law and are not covered here.

There are two routes.

1. Damage from an unlawful act. A full-remedy action may be brought directly, or together with an annulment action; or an annulment action may be brought first and the full-remedy action filed within the claim period after the judgment (or the judgment on appeal) is served (art. 12).
2. Damage from administrative conduct. The person must first apply to the authority within one year of learning of the conduct and in any case within five years of its date. If the request is refused, or not answered within thirty days, the claim is filed within the claim period (art. 13(1)). If a claim in the ordinary courts is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, the prior application is not required in the administrative courts (art. 13(2)).

Court. For full-remedy actions other than on administrative contracts, jurisdiction lies in turn with the court competent for the dispute that caused the damage; where the damage arose from a service or action, the place the service was provided or the action taken; and otherwise the claimant’s place of residence (art. 36).

Petition and proceedings. The petition states the amount in dispute (art. 3(2)(d)); until final judgment it can be increased once on payment of the fee (art. 16(4)). The Code of Civil Procedure applies to inspections, experts and costs (art. 31).

Judgment and payment. The sum awarded is paid into the bank account the claimant notifies to the authority in writing; for the time between service of the judgment and payment, interest is payable at the deferral rate set under Law 6183 art. 48 (art. 28(2), 28(6)). The monetary limits for finality and appeal change every year (art. 45(1), 46(1)(b), additional art. 1). For harm from health care see medical negligence and compensation and insurance.

Severance from the armed forces and the police

The Constitution keeps judicial review open against every act severing a person’s ties (ilişik kesme), except promotions by the Supreme Military Council and retirement for lack of a post (art. 125(2)); İYUK art. 20/C(6) repeats the rule. Which law applies depends on the person’s status.

Armed forces. A discharge penalty ends the person’s tie with the armed forces or terminates the contract, depending on the rules that apply to them; the person cannot serve again except in mobilisation and war (Law 6413 art. 13(1)). It may be imposed on the proposal of at least two disciplinary supervisors or by the board of its own motion (art. 13(3)). Disciplinary penalties given to military students, privates and corporals, and the warning, reprimand and part-time service penalties given to officers, non-commissioned officers, specialist sergeants (uzman erbaş) and contracted privates, cannot be challenged by an annulment action; but where severance results from the number or points of penalties, the lawfulness of those penalties is also reviewed (art. 43(1)). The contracts of specialist sergeants are also terminated, and their ties severed, in the cases listed in Law 3269 art. 12 (failure to adapt, failure in the post, conviction for listed offences, number of penalties). During the probation period, Law 926 art. 14 and 68 contain separate severance provisions for officers and non-commissioned officers.

Police and gendarmerie. Removal from the profession means leaving the organisation never to be employed again (Law 7068 art. 7(1)(e)); it may be imposed for conduct, or when disciplinary points or the number of penalties reach the statutory thresholds (art. 12). An objection to a supervisor’s penalty is made within ten days of service; penalties of boards and of the Minister can only be taken to the administrative courts (art. 30). Students at police vocational training centres lose their ties if found not to meet the entry conditions, if they fail the training, or if a competent board decides they cannot be police on disciplinary or health grounds (Law 3201 additional art. 24).

The claim. For Ministry of National Defence personnel and reserve officers, non-commissioned officers and privates, art. 20/C(1) gives jurisdiction to the administrative court in the seat of the regional administrative court to which the person’s place of service belongs; art. 33 applies to others. For execution of reinstatement orders see the last sentence of art. 28(1).

Dismissal by decree and the OHAL Commission

Law 7075 set up the State of Emergency Procedures Inquiry Commission to decide applications about acts taken directly by decree-law (kanun hükmünde kararname, KHK), without any further administrative act, under the state of emergency (olağanüstü hâl, OHAL) approved by Grand National Assembly Decision 1116 of 21 July 2016 (art. 1). Its field was removal from public service, a profession or an organisation and severance of ties; severance of student status; closure of associations, foundations and similar bodies; and withdrawal of retired personnel’s ranks (art. 2).

Status of the Commission. The Commission decided on the file (art. 9). Applications had to be made within 60 days of publication of the relevant decree-law in the Official Gazette (art. 7(3)). Its term was two years, extendable by the President in one-year periods (art. 3). The Commission’s term has ended; work on its decisions and requests for information and documents are handled by the relevant institutions (provisional art. 5, in force from 28 December 2022 under Law 7429). There is therefore no new route to the Commission.

Which routes are open today.

1. An annulment action against a Commission decision. It is brought in the Ankara administrative courts designated by the Council of Judges and Prosecutors, against the institution where the person last served; the Presidency and the Commission cannot be sued (art. 11(1)). For people removed from public service the defendant is the last institution; for armed forces personnel it is the Ministry of National Defence, and for police, gendarmerie and coast guard personnel the Ministry of the Interior (additional art. 1). The Law gives no separate period, so under İYUK art. 7 it is 60 days from the day after written notification. In annulment actions against acts that remove someone from public service, a regional court’s decision may be appealed to the Council of State (İYUK art. 46(1)(d)).
2. An accepted application. People ordered back to public service are in principle appointed to their former post; the decision is notified to the institution (art. 10(1)). Some provisions of art. 10, and art. 10/A, were annulled by Constitutional Court decision E.2018/137, K.2022/86 of 30 June 2022 (in force from 12 January 2023 according to the footnote to the consolidated text).
3. Judges and prosecutors. Those removed from the profession under Decree-Law 667 art. 3(1) and Law 6749 art. 3(1) may sue at first instance in the Council of State within 60 days of the decision becoming final (art. 11(2)).
4. The Constitutional Court. Once other remedies are exhausted, an individual application may be made (Law 6216 art. 45–47).

For execution of reinstatement orders, see the last sentence of İYUK art. 28(1) (Law 7588), explained in the section on common rules above.

Deadlines in one place

Applying and suing from abroad

The petition and any document in the case may be lodged at Turkish consulates in foreign countries (İYUK art. 4). A petition lodged at a consulate is registered, the date and number are written on it, and the case counts as filed on the date of that registration; it is forwarded to the court within three days (art. 6). If service cannot be made at the address the claimant gave, the file is removed from the active list until a new address is given and any stay of execution lapses automatically; if no new address is given within a year, the claim is treated as not filed (art. 26(3)). If an agent who is not a lawyer files the claim, the person has 30 days to file in person or through a lawyer (art. 15(1)(d)). For powers of attorney see giving a power of attorney from the UK. For administrative cases involving foreign nationals see immigration.

Mistakes that cost claimants their case

• Challenging unconnected acts in one petition. A separate claim is brought against each act; only acts that are materially or legally linked, or related as cause and effect, may be challenged together (İYUK art. 5(1)).
• Suing for administrative conduct without applying first. Art. 13(1) requires the prior application and sets the one-year and five-year limits.
• Mixing up the objection and claim periods. For a civil servant’s penalty, 7 days to object and 60 to sue; for a police or gendarmerie supervisor’s penalty, 10 days to object; for an armed forces supervisor’s, 2 working days.
• Not giving a new address. If service fails, the file is shelved, and if no new address is given within a year the claim is treated as not filed (art. 26(3)).

Documents to prepare

• The act and its written notification, in original or copy, with the envelope or other record showing the date of service; the notification date is when the period starts.
• Identity document, Turkish ID number, current address and, if abroad, an address in Türkiye at which documents can be served; a power of attorney if a representative will act (made abroad, with an apostille and a sworn translation).
• For discipline and severance: the investigation report, the defence, the board’s decision and copies of the personal file.
• For security vetting: letters about the appointment or the end of the post, and every notification the authority gave the person.
• For zoning: the permit, plans, title deed, stop-work record, committee decision, and photographs showing the state of the building.
• For full-remedy claims: documents showing the loss, the application to the authority and its reply; for a Commission decision, the decision, the record of its service and the name of the last institution served.