The adoption of Turkish International Arbitration Law 4686 in 2001 replaced the principle of reciprocity for a more all encompassing principle of "foreign element", thus enabling more arbitration conducted and enforced in accordance with the Turkish law (itself modelled on the UNCITRAL Model Law).
Turkish laws benefit the foreign joint venturers and foreign purchasers of shares or assets in or from Turkish companies, because they can shorten the resolution time of their dispute and prevent within limits the intervention of the state courts on their dispute being resolved.
An award rendered under Turkish International Arbitration Law shall be definitive if there is no recourse initiated before the competent local court within thirty days after the notification date to the parties of the arbitral award. Moreover, the parties may waive partially or wholly their right of request for setting aside the arbitral award and they may agree that the arbitral award is the final stage of the procedure. This possibility is one of the greatest advantages in order to shorten the time spent to reach an enforceable final award.
In addition to this possibility to waive the right to recourse to a state court against the arbitral award, some other possibilities are set forth to minimize the state courts' interference and to reach a final and enforceable award. The obligation to comply with limitative grounds as far as the setting aside is concerned and the appeal procedures can be quoted as examples illustrating this state of mind aiming at the reduction of scope of the state courts' jurisdiction. Thus, the recourse to a state court does not imply a review of the merits of the arbitration. Moreover, the court has to handle the case with priority and apply an expeditious proceeding.
The International Arbitration Law presents also some undeniable advantages, particularly for the non-Turkish party. In procedural terms, the foreign party has the possibility to be represented by a non-Turkish lawyer and has the right to determine without restraint the language of arbitration.
Özgür Aşık
International Arbitrator
European Court of Arbitration
Executive Member
