The Regulation on the Conduct of the Hearings by Transmission of Audio and Video in Civil Procedures ("Regulation") has been published in Official Gazette numbered 31527 on 30 June 2021, as effective of even date.
The Regulation regulates the procedures and principles regarding hearings attendance and procedural actions by the parties and the attorneys; listening to the witness, experts and other relevant persons, from their location by means of simultaneous audio and video transmission in civil proceedings.
As per the Regulation;
- At the request of one of the parties, the court may decide that the requesting party or its attorney can attend the hearing and take procedural actions via the e-Hearing System. The judge decides whether to accept or reject the e-Hearing request, at least one business day before the hearing. This decision is final.
- The representative of the party requesting the e-Hearing may attend the hearing from the attorney's office, from the section designated by the bar association for this purpose, from the place allocated for this purpose in the courthouse, or from another suitable place meeting the conditions. The place of attendance to the e-Hearing should be free from any influence and direction and should allow the facial expressions, body movements, attitudes and behaviors, emotions and statements of of the person concerned to be observed clearly.
- In cases followed by more than one attorney, only attorneys who make a request and whose request is accepted can attend the e-Hearing.
- During the e-Hearing, photos and audio/video recordings are not allowed. However, in cases where the trial makes it necessary, recordings can be made by the court. Records obtained with the e-Hearing System are transferred to the computer where the e-Hearing is managed by the court or to a device capable of storing data and are kept in the Central Recording System for two weeks to be kept in its file. At the end of the period, this data in the Central Registry System is deleted irreversibly. Records obtained in this way cannot be published anywhere without the express permission of the court and the relevant persons.
Please see this link for the full text of the Law published in the Official Gazette dated 30 June 2021 and numbered 31527 (only available in Turkish).
Information first published in the MA | Gazette, a fortnightly legal update newsletter produced by Moroglu Arseven.
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