Court cost calculator

How it is calculated

• Filing fee (başvurma harcı): a fixed amount, lower in sulh hukuk courts than in courts of asliye rank. Labour and family courts are of asliye rank (Law No. 7036 art. 2/1; Law No. 4787 art. 2) and the commercial court is the asliye ticaret court, so they pay the asliye amount (Fees Law No. 492, tariff (1) A-I).
• Judgment fee (karar ve ilam harcı): in a claim with a stated value it is a proportional fee on the value awarded, at the rate in the table below and never less than the minimum shown (tariff (1) A-III-1). One quarter is paid when the case is filed (peşin harç), one twentieth in compensation claims for death or bodily injury; the rest is due within one month of the judgment being served (art. 28/a). A claim without a stated value carries a fixed judgment fee (tariff (1) A-III-2-a); the calculator assumes the court collects it in full when the case is opened (art. 27/1).
• Power-of-attorney copy fee (vekâlet suret harcı): charged on the copy of the power of attorney certified by the lawyer (tariff (1) D-I-c). The calculator counts one copy for each claimant.
• Expense advance (gider avansı): the claimant must pay it when filing, together with the court fees (Code of Civil Procedure (HMK) art. 120/1). The Ministry of Justice sets it each year: a number of notification fees for each party, plus a fixed amount for other work (Expense Advance Tariff art. 4). It does not depend on the type of court. The parties are the claimants and the defendants together. The notification fee is the PTT’s, which is why the calculator asks for it. The unused part is returned once the judgment is final (tariff art. 5).
• Consumer courts: claims filed by consumers are exempt from the fees of Law No. 492 (Law No. 6502 art. 73/2). The calculator treats the claimant as a consumer there. The expense advance is still paid.
• Later items, not in the total: the balance of the judgment fee; an expert’s fee (the minimum for each type of court in the table below, which the court may raise: Expert Minimum Fee Tariff art. 8); and a witness’s fee, within the range shown and in proportion to the time lost (HMK art. 265; Witness Fee Tariff art. 3). The court decides what each party must deposit for evidence it asks for (HMK art. 324).
• Who bears the costs: unless the law provides otherwise, court costs are charged to the party against whom judgment is given (HMK art. 326/1); if each side partly succeeds, the court divides them in proportion (art. 326/2). The lawyer’s fee is a separate calculation.

What it leaves out

• Fee exemptions (Fees Law art. 13) and legal aid (adli yardım), which gives temporary exemption from court costs (HMK arts 334–335).
• Fees for other steps: interim injunctions and attachments, site inspection and appeals (tariff (1) A-I, A-III, A-IV and A-V).
• The cost of mediation where it is a condition of suing, as in labour and consumer claims (Law No. 7036 art. 3; Law No. 6502 art. 73/A).
• Travel and accommodation costs of experts and witnesses, the higher expert fee for a legal-person expert, and any increase the court orders.
• The bar’s power-of-attorney stamp (vekâlet pulu), which a lawyer attaches to the power of attorney when filing (Advocacy Law No. 1136 art. 27).
• Notarial and translation costs, and the lawyer’s fee.