Enforcement of China Courts Judgements in Turkey

Turkey entered into bilateral treaty for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and judicial assistance in respect of commercial and civil matters with China. On the basis of de facto reciprocity, Turkish courts recognise and enforce the judgments of China.

Legal Basis

Enforcement of domestic judgments (through what is known as an “execution proceeding” in Turkey) is regulated under the Execution and Bankruptcy Law. Enforcement of foreign awards is regulated under the Act on Private International Law and Civil Procedural Law No 5718 (PILA).

Judgments

For the purposes of execution proceedings, the following are regarded as “judgments”:

A civil court decision (including any interim measures).
A penal court decision providing monetary compensation.
An exequatur (official recognition) of a foreign court’s decision or an arbitral award.

The following also operate as judgments under the Execution and Bankruptcy Law:

A court settlement.
A waiver submitted to the execution office.
Acceptance of a debt before a notary public.

A final and binding decision rendered by a foreign civil court on a matter of civil law is deemed as a foreign judgment. In addition, civil/personal (that is, non-penal) consequences of criminal law decisions may also be enforceable.

Types of judgments Executable

The following domestic judgments are executable:

Monetary judgments.
Judgments ordering or prohibiting the doing of acts/injunctions.
Judgments made without notice (ex parte).
Decisions in provisional proceedings.

The following domestic judgments are excluded:

Declaratory judgments.
Default judgments.

The following China judgments are enforceable:

Money judgments.
Judgments ordering specific performance that do not depend on the debtor’s voluntary performance.

The following Chine judgments are excluded:

Declaratory judgments.
Judgments ordering specific performance that only the judgment debtor may perform.
Judgments made without due notice (ex parte)/awards.
China Courts decisions granting provisional measures.
China Courts enforcement orders/ (pre-judgment) attachment orders.

The general outline of enforcement proceedings

Domestic Execution proceedings are carried out by execution offices, which are quasi-judicial bodies. The procedure does not differ according to the nature of the judgment to be executed.

The applicants/creditors are recommended to appoint an attorney to pursue the procedure. Applications are made with notice and the debtor must be properly notified. There is a ten-year time limit within which to execute a judgment.

Official application charges and fees are payable to the execution office and are ultimately borne by the debtor once the creditor is able to collect the debt.

An appeal will not usually halt the execution proceedings unless the Court of Appeals decides otherwise.

China Court judgments need an exequatur to be enforced. They cannot be directly subject to enforcement proceedings before the execution office.

In principle there is no time limit to enforce a foreign judgment. Although, there is no consensus on the applicable time restriction, the ten-year limitation period set out in Article 156 of the Code of Obligations appears to prevail regardless of the governing law on merits.

The enforcement procedures

The enforcement court must follow a simplified procedure and the judge is supposed to schedule a hearing only in exceptional circumstances. In practice however, courts almost always schedule not one but multiple hearings, each a few months apart, to:

Understand the case.

Hear each side’s respective positions.

Deal with the award debtor’s objections to enforcement.

Documents and information required

The following documents must be provided with an domestic application for execution:

The judgment (or its copy certified by the court).

Power of attorney (if the creditor is represented by a lawyer).

The following documents must be provided with an application for enforcement China Court Judgements:

A petition addressed to the enforcement court, requesting enforcement of the foreign judgment.

Power of attorney, if the party requesting the enforcement is represented by a lawyer.

Certified foreign judgment and its certified Turkish translation.

A document or a written statement, issued by the relevant authority within the foreign jurisdiction stating that the judgment is final and not appealable, and a certified Turkish translation of the document.

All documents must be ratified by a notary public and certified by the Turkish consulate or by an apostille if the foreign country is party to the HCCH Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents 1961 (Apostille Convention).