Civil law is the broadest branch, forming the foundation of our legal system, that touches almost every moment of a person's life from birth to death. Many matters fall within the scope of this field, from the correction of a name and date of birth to ownership disputes over a title deed, and from the appointment of a guardian or a trustee to attacks on personality rights. These relationships, regulated under the roof of the Turkish Civil Code No. 4721 (Türk Medeni Kanunu), directly concern both a person's identity and their assets. In such a broad and technical field, it is of great importance that the steps taken are correct. Setting the process up correctly from the outset with an experienced Izmir civil law lawyer both prevents losses of rights and lays the ground for the dispute to be resolved in the soundest possible manner. As Av. Aydın, we offer our clients holistic support across all sub-branches of civil law.
Our Services as a Civil Law Lawyer
Civil law is a broad field, closely connected above all with the Turkish Civil Code and with the law of obligations, and it addresses a person's legal existence from different angles. Heavily resorted-to sub-branches such as family law and inheritance law are in fact parts of civil law too; on this page, however, we deal mainly with disputes weighted towards the law of persons and property law. An Izmir civil law lawyer must have a command of both the provisions of the law and settled case-law in these disputes concerning a person's capacity to have rights, their capacity to act and their assets. Our principal services and types of case are the following:
- Disputes relating to the law of persons: The capacity of natural persons to have rights and to act, the beginning and end of personality, the place of residence (domicile), and matters concerning legal persons such as associations and foundations are assessed within this scope.
- Actions for the correction or change of a name and age: Actions for changing a given name and surname on justified grounds, correcting an incorrectly recorded name, and correcting a date of birth (age) wrongly entered in the civil register are among the frequently resorted-to matters.
- Civil-register correction actions: These cover actions brought to correct erroneous entries in the population register (such as place of birth, parents' details or marital status) so that they conform to the true situation.
- Guardianship and trusteeship matters: Protective measures such as the appointment of a guardian for persons unable to protect their own interests, the appointment of a trustee for specific tasks and the assignment of a legal adviser are conducted under this heading.
- Restriction of capacity (interdiction) actions: These are actions brought for the restriction of a person's capacity to act and the appointment of a guardian on grounds such as mental illness, mental weakness, prodigality, or alcohol or drug addiction.
- Declaration of presumed death: This covers the procedures for obtaining a declaration of presumed death from the court, where the conditions laid down in the law are met, in respect of persons who have disappeared in circumstances of imminent death or from whom no news has been received for a long time.
- Actions for attacks on personality rights and compensation: In attacks on personality values such as a person's honour, dignity, private life, image and name, pecuniary and non-pecuniary compensation may be sought in order to prevent and stop the attack and to redress the damage caused.
- Property law and rights in rem: Ownership, limited rights in rem (such as usufruct, the right of habitation, the right of way and pledge) and disputes arising from possession form the core of this field.
- Title-deed and ownership disputes: Actions for the annulment of the title deed and for registration, prevention of interference (prevention of encroachment), dissolution of co-ownership (izale-i şuyu) and claims for registration based on acquisitive prescription are frequently encountered disputes.
- Civil-status actions: Actions for the establishment and correction of facts that directly concern a person's legal status and are reflected in the population register are assessed under this heading.
A significant portion of these actions requires meticulous preparation in terms of both substantive law and rules of procedure. It should be stressed that fields such as family, inheritance and the law of obligations lie within civil law as a whole; for this reason an Izmir civil law lawyer must assess the file not through the window of a single sub-branch alone, but within the integrity of civil law. As Av. Aydın, we handle each file within its own circumstances and work meticulously so that the dispute is channelled into the most appropriate legal route.
The Scope and Fundamental Principles of Civil Law
Civil law is the principal branch of private law that regulates relationships between persons on the basis of the principle of equality. The Turkish Civil Code addresses these relationships systematically and consists, in general terms, of the headings of the law of persons, family law, inheritance law and property law. All of these branches are interconnected; for example, an heir's right over an immovable may concern both inheritance law and property law. This integrity requires that, in assessing disputes, the branches not be regarded as disconnected from one another.
At the foundation of civil law lies the expectation that everyone will act in accordance with the rule of good faith when exercising their rights and performing their obligations. Likewise, principles such as the abuse of one's own right not being protected by the legal order, good faith being the norm, and the party alleging the contrary being required to prove it, become decisive in almost all civil law disputes. An Izmir civil law lawyer, assessing the concrete case in the light of these fundamental principles, determines which provisions and precedents are to be applied. Establishing the principles correctly ensures that the action rests on a firmer legal footing.
The Law of Persons: Capacity, Name and Personality Rights
The law of persons places at its centre the person as the subject of the law and regulates their capacity to hold rights (capacity to have rights) and to carry out legal transactions themselves (capacity to act). Provided the child is born alive and viable, personality is taken under legal protection from the moment the child is conceived in the mother's womb, and it ends with death. The capacity to act, on the other hand, is subject to the conditions of being of age, having the power of discernment and not being under a restriction of capacity. The absence of any one of these conditions affects the person's ability to carry out legal transactions on their own.
A name is the value that distinguishes a person from others and is an inseparable part of the personality right. Where justified grounds exist, a given name or surname may be changed by a court decision; incorrectly recorded names in the register are brought into conformity with the truth by a correction action. Similarly, where the date of birth has been erroneously entered in the register, an age-correction action comes onto the agenda. In attacks on personality rights, the person may request that the attack be stopped, prevented and established and, where the conditions are met, may also claim pecuniary and non-pecuniary compensation. In these actions, setting out the justified ground and presenting the evidence correctly are of great importance; for this reason, conducting the process alongside an Izmir civil law lawyer contributes to the file resting on a firmer footing.
Guardianship, Trusteeship and Restriction of Capacity
Civil law has provided special institutions to protect persons who are unable to protect their own interests on their own. These institutions aim to prevent harm to both the person and their assets, and are always applied with regard to the benefit of the individual concerned.
Guardianship refers to the appointment of a guardian for the protection of minors not under custody and of adults whose capacity to act has been restricted. The guardian protects the rights of the person under guardianship and carries out the necessary transactions on their behalf. Trusteeship, on the other hand, covers the appointment of a trustee for the handling of a particular matter or the administration of a particular set of assets; for example, a trustee may be appointed to administer the assets of a person who cannot be found for a long time. Restriction of capacity (interdiction) is the limitation of an adult's capacity to act on grounds such as mental illness, mental weakness, prodigality, addiction, or being sentenced to a custodial penalty of one year or longer. All of these processes are conducted under the supervision of the guardianship authority and the supervisory authority. An Izmir civil law lawyer assesses which protective institution is appropriate to the concrete situation and contributes to the process operating in the manner most suited to the benefit of the individual concerned.
Property Law, Title Deeds and Ownership
Property law regulates persons' direct dominion over things and the rights in rem arising from that dominion. Rights in rem are absolute rights that may be asserted against everyone, and the most comprehensive of them is the right of ownership. Ownership gives its holder the power to use the thing, to benefit from it and to dispose of it. Alongside ownership, limited rights in rem such as the right of usufruct, the right of habitation (residence), the right of way and pledge also constitute the subject matter of this field.
Disputes concerning immovables form the most frequently encountered and, in pecuniary terms, most important part of property law. Actions for the annulment of the title deed and for registration are brought to correct the record where the land-registry entry does not reflect the true state of rights. An action for the prevention of interference (prevention of encroachment) is heard for the purpose of stopping an unlawful interference with an immovable. Where agreement cannot be reached on the division of property held in shared or joint ownership, an action for the dissolution of co-ownership (izale-i şuyu) comes onto the agenda. Under certain conditions, a person who has possessed an immovable as if its owner for a long time may seek registration based on acquisitive prescription. Because these actions generally require a site inspection, an expert examination and a comprehensive assessment of documents, conducting the process meticulously through an Izmir civil law lawyer is important in terms of preventing losses of rights.
Time Limits and Procedure in Civil Law Cases
In civil law disputes, time is often as important as the right itself. The law has laid down specific time limits for certain claims; missing these limits may render the right unenforceable. For example, compensation claims are subject to specific limitation periods; by contrast, certain claims such as a claim of ownership (rei vindicatio) based on the right of ownership are as a rule not subject to prescription. Which claim is subject to which period can be determined only through the legal characterisation of the concrete case.
The course of the case also varies according to the type of dispute. While files requiring a site inspection and an expert, such as title-deed and ownership cases, generally take longer, relatively simple claims such as a civil-register correction may be concluded in a shorter time. Assessing, before an action is brought, whether a condition precedent to litigation such as mediation exists is also important; because in certain disputes it is compulsory first to have recourse to mediation in order to be able to bring an action. Correctly following the time limits and the rules of procedure forestalls outcomes such as the action being dismissed on the merits. For this reason, working with an Izmir civil law lawyer carries great value in terms of preventing losses of rights arising from errors of time limits and procedure.
Izmir Civil Law Lawyer Fees
The fee of a civil law lawyer is among the foremost matters wondered about at the start of the process. The most important factor determining the fee is the type of the dispute, its scope and the workload it requires. A simple civil-register correction action and a comprehensive action for the annulment of the title deed and for registration that requires a site inspection and an expert examination differ considerably in terms of the labour and expertise to be expended. The table below has been prepared in order to offer a general framework regarding the fixing of the fee; it is intended not to give an exact figure, but to show the factors taken into account.
| Transaction / Type of Case |
Principal Factors Affecting the Fee |
| Name and age correction and civil-register correction actions |
The scope of preparation of the file, the need for witnesses and documents, the number of hearings |
| Guardianship, trusteeship and restriction-of-capacity matters |
The nature of the process, the requirement for a medical report and an expert, the follow-up period |
| Actions for attacks on personality rights and compensation |
The scope of the compensation sought, the density of the evidence, the duration of the proceedings |
| Actions for annulment of the title deed and registration, and prevention of encroachment |
The value of the immovable, the site inspection and expert examination, the complexity of the file |
| Actions for dissolution of co-ownership (izale-i şuyu) |
The number of co-owners, the number and value of the immovables, the scope of the sale process |
| Legal advice / preliminary consultation |
The scope of the problem and the examination it requires |
Attorney's fees may under no circumstances be set below the Minimum Attorney's Fee Tariff (Avukatlık Asgari Ücret Tarifesi, AAÜT) published each year by the Union of Turkish Bar Associations. This tariff secures the minimum value of the legal service and forms the lower limit of the fee. The fee to be fixed above the tariff, on the other hand, is freely agreed according to the particular features of the file, the labour to be expended and the requirement for expertise. As Av. Aydın, after assessing your file and clarifying its scope at the preliminary consultation, we provide transparent fee information; committing to a definite figure without examining the concrete file would not be a correct approach.
A distinction that is frequently confused here also deserves attention. The attorney's fee (vekâlet ücreti) paid to the lawyer is the consideration for the legal service and is based on the contract between the client and the lawyer. By contrast, litigation costs are items paid to the state or to third parties during the proceedings, such as court fees, expert and site-inspection fees, witness expenses, and postage and service costs. Especially in title-deed and compensation cases, the proportional fee levied on the value of the case may be a significant item. These two groups are independent of each other. In addition, depending on the outcome of the case, the opposing party's attorney's fee that the court may impose on the losing party may also come onto the agenda; this fee is a concept distinct from the fee in the contract made with the lawyer. When working with an Izmir civil law lawyer, discussing these items clearly from the outset forestalls surprise costs and makes the process predictable.
Who Is the Best Civil Law Lawyer in Izmir?
One of the questions frequently searched for on the internet is "who is the best civil law lawyer in Izmir?". It should be stated honestly that there is no single "best" lawyer valid for every file. The correct expression is not the "best" lawyer, but the lawyer most suited to the file. This is because civil law is an extremely broad field; a lawyer experienced in an action for the annulment of a title deed may not display the same intensity of expertise in a guardianship or personality-rights file of a wholly different nature. For this reason, instead of a search for the "best", it is far healthier to focus on finding the lawyer suited to the requirements of your file.
Some criteria that may be assessed when choosing a good civil law lawyer are the following:
- Experience and area of expertise: The lawyer's accumulated experience in the field of civil law, and in particular in matters close to the type of dispute in your file, is important.
- Command of the file: A good lawyer becomes conversant with the details of the file and correctly assesses the documents, the land-registry records, the rules of procedure and the case-law.
- Communication and transparency: Working with a lawyer who explains the process in an understandable manner, offers a realistic picture and does not make exaggerated promises inspires confidence.
- Accessibility: Being able to reach your lawyer throughout the process and to receive regular information about the progress of the file is important.
- Commitment to professional ethics: A lawyer who makes an honest and realistic assessment should be preferred, rather than one giving guarantees such as "we will definitely win the case".
It should be known that no lawyer can guarantee the outcome of a case in advance; because the judgment depends on the evidence, the documents and the court's discretion. When choosing an Izmir civil law lawyer, it will be in your interest in the long run to prefer a lawyer who assesses your file honestly and clearly explains the possible scenarios, rather than one promising you a definite result. As Av. Aydın, our approach is to avoid exaggerated promises and to build the most appropriate legal solution together by offering our client a true picture.
Our Approach as Av. Aydın
Civil law is a technical and broad field, concerning both a person's identity and their assets, in which substantive law and procedural law are interwoven. The particular circumstances of each file, its documentary situation and its risks call for a different legal strategy. As Av. Aydın, we first assess the dispute holistically, examine the favourable and unfavourable elements in detail, and work from the very start of the process to forestall potential losses of rights.
We offer our clients in Izmir and the surrounding region support across a broad spectrum, from the law of persons to property law, from civil-register and name correction actions to title-deed and ownership disputes, and from guardianship and trusteeship matters to the protection of personality rights. Our aim is not merely to file suit; it is to channel the dispute into the most appropriate legal route, to assess pre-litigation solution paths where necessary, and to plan the process in a predictable manner. The losses of rights most frequently encountered in civil law files stem from missed time limits, the submission of missing or incorrect documents, the erroneous legal characterisation, and the overlooking of the conditions of the action.
When a person's name, identity, property or rights are at stake, the uncertainty experienced can be wearing. Having an experienced legal adviser at your side in this process both protects your rights and ensures that the process advances more predictably and with less strain. For any question concerning civil law, whether in the field of the law of persons or property law, you are welcome to contact our office to have your file assessed.
