Law No. 7589 on Amendments to Certain Laws for the Effective and Efficient Functioning of the Judiciary (the “12th Judicial Package”) was published in the Official Gazette on 31 July 2026 and entered into force. The law amends thirteen separate statutes and contains various procedural and substantive provisions concerning, above all, the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law, as well as the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Turkish Criminal Code, the Code of Civil Procedure and the Turkish Code of Obligations.
Bidding among heirs in enforcement sales: The law's most concrete change to the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law was made to Article 114 of Law No. 2004. Under the new rule, in the sale of real property held entirely by heirs, with no third-party co-owner, for the purpose of terminating the co-ownership (partition sale), the first round of bidding is held exclusively among the heir-owners. In this round, the bid must cover the full appraised value of the property plus the costs of sale. If none of the heirs can meet this condition, the second round reverts to the general procedure and is opened to the public at a minimum of 50% of the appraised value. In addition to forfeiture of the deposit, a buyer who fails to pay the winning bid within the time limit is subject to an administrative fine of 5% of the bid amount. This change does not apply to sales publicly announced before 31 July 2026.
Appellate review of suspended sentences (HAGB): Under the amendment to Article 231 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the objection remedy against decisions suspending the announcement of the verdict (HAGB) has been abolished and replaced with review before the regional court of appeal, with a further right of appeal to the Court of Cassation. HAGB is now completely prohibited for the offenses of torture and ill-treatment by a public official.
Interest in compensation calculations: Under the amendment to Article 55 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, in claims for loss of support and bodily-injury compensation, interest on damage items relating to the period between the date of the tort and the date of judgment now runs from the date of the tort, while interest on prospective damage items relating to the period after judgment runs from the date of judgment. In addition, the fixed 9% rate under Law No. 3095 on Statutory Interest has been abolished, replaced by a dynamic mechanism linked to 80% of the Central Bank's rediscount rate.
Other procedural changes: Article 107 of the Code of Civil Procedure, governing actions for an indeterminate claim, has been repealed for cases filed after the law's publication; cases already pending continue to be governed by the former provision. Amendments were also made allowing partial claims to be increased more than once within the same case without limitation, and to the mandatory mediation meeting periods, among other topics. On the criminal side, a new paragraph added to Article 158 of the Turkish Criminal Code opens the way to a reduction of the base sentence where a person's involvement is limited to providing bank account, credit card or IT-system access credentials to the principal offender of a fraud; convicts at the enforcement stage who compensate the victim's loss within six months may also benefit from the effective-remorse provisions.
Most of the law entered into force on its publication date, although certain provisions (such as those on the sale of property under guardianship and the exemption from signature requirements in e-hearings) will enter into force three months after publication. Because the new provisions may also affect enforcement proceedings and litigation already under way, the impact of the changes on the specific files of the parties concerned warrants separate assessment.