April 2017 – A significant issue to be considered by potential claimants intending to initiate a lawsuit in Turkey is the "court fee" required to be deposited with the court when filing a lawsuit.

Depending on the type of the case, a certain amount of court fee must be deposited at the time of filing a lawsuit, either as a fixed fee or as a proportional fee. Where the subject matter of a case can be evaluated with a determinate value, a proportional case fee, which corresponds to approximately 1.7% of the value of the case, shall be deposited with the court by the time of filing the lawsuit. Such requirement may pose budgetary problems to potential claimants, especially regarding disputes associated with high amounts.

However, it is crucial to state that under Turkish legislation, claimants are entitled to receive a refund of the initially deposited court fees in the future, regardless of the result of the case.

Although claimants, irrespective of the result of the case, will receive a refund of court fees, different case results have different procedural impacts. If the case is accepted, the defendant is obliged to pay the initially deposited case fee to the claimant (collection problems is a separate subject).

On the other hand, if the case is rejected, the claimant shall be reimbursed the amount of the court fee by the court (the legal attorney fee that needs to be paid to the defendant is not a subject of this article).

In light of the above, court fees can be qualified as costs that are deposited to the court by the claimant to be reimbursed in the future. Since a court fee is required to be deposited in cash and in Turkish Liras, the only issue to be considered by the claimants is the potential losses to be incurred due to foreign exchange risks and interest losses in case of a lengthy trial.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.