Mediation fee calculator

How it is calculated

• Who sets the fee. A mediator’s (arabulucu) fee is agreed with the parties, but it cannot be agreed below the yearly Mediation Minimum Fee Tariff of the Ministry of Justice (art. 1/2). Where there is no valid fee agreement, or the amount is disputed, the tariff applies (art. 1/1). Unless otherwise agreed, the fee is set by the tariff in force when the mediation (arabuluculuk) ends and is shared equally by the parties (Law on Mediation in Civil Disputes No. 6325, art. 7/2; tariff arts 3/1 and 10). Article numbers without a law name are those of the tariff.
• Agreement reached. Where the subject is money, the fee is a percentage of the agreed amount, slice by slice (second part; art. 7/2). It is never below the minimum for any agreement (art. 7/7), and that minimum is higher for commercial disputes and the dissolution of co-ownership (art. 7/6). With more than one mediator the higher percentages apply and the fee is divided equally among them (art. 3/3). In mandatory mediation (mediation as a condition of suing, dava şartı) it is also not less than the two-hour first-part fee (Law 6325, art. 18/A/12).
• No agreement. The fee is hourly, by type of dispute and number of parties (first part; art. 7/3). For two parties the rate is per party; for three or more it is one amount for all parties together. With several mediators each is paid separately (art. 3/2).
• Who pays. In voluntary mediation the parties share the fee equally unless they agree otherwise (art. 3/1). In mandatory mediation that ends without agreement, the two-hour fee is paid from the Ministry of Justice budget when talks last under two hours or do not take place, and the hours above two are shared equally by the parties unless they agree otherwise (Law 6325, art. 18/A/13). The calculator uses the same two-hour payment from the budget when talks run longer. Both the sums paid from the budget and those paid by the parties count as litigation costs (art. 18/A/13).

What it leaves out

• Later tariffs. The fee follows the tariff in force when the mediation ends (art. 10). The Ministry publishes a new tariff each year, and this calculator holds the figures in the parameter table only.
• Consumer disputes: the consumer’s share is met from the budget up to the two-hour fee (Consumer Protection Act art. 73/A/3). The result shows the ordinary split and says so.
• An agreement on a subject that is not money (the first part applies, art. 7/1); partial agreements; reinstatement claims in employment disputes, where the Labour Courts Act defines the agreed amount (Law 7036, art. 3/13); series disputes (art. 7/4); new subjects raised during the mediation (art. 6); mediation-arbitration (art. 9).
• The mediator’s expenses and advance payments (art. 2/3), and the lawyers’ fee for attending mediation, which belongs to the attorney fee tariff.
• How a part-hour is counted: the tariff does not say, and the calculator counts it pro rata.