Administrative law is a branch of law that takes its foundation from the Constitution and that strikes a balance between the pre-eminence and privileges accorded to the public authorities and the rights and freedoms of the individual. The resolution of disputes arising from the acts and actions of the administration falls within the field of the administrative courts. The continual increase in the number of files brought before the courts, however, aggravates their caseload, and even the most straightforward disputes may take years to conclude. Indeed, a judgment delivered after a long period may prove inadequate to deliver the justice expected of it. In response to this problem the legislature has introduced a special regime called the expedited judicial procedure, applicable to certain disputes such as urgent expropriation or tender procedures. Under this procedure the time limit for bringing an action is 30 days, the preliminary examination period 7 days, and the period for filing a defence 15 days from notification. The stages of reply to the defence and second defence — also referred to as reply and rejoinder — do not exist under this procedure; once the case file is complete, the dispute is decided within 1 month.
Another distinctive feature of the regime is that no objection may be lodged against a decision on a stay of execution. Furthermore, no appeal lies against a judgment delivered at the end of an expedited procedure; only an appeal on points of law may be lodged. In addition, the judicial procedure relating to central and common examinations is likewise regulated in the legislation under the heading of expedited procedure.
The heavy caseload of almost every judicial body in Türkiye can spread the resolution of disputes over years. In order to change this picture the legislature makes amendments to the legislation to meet current needs, and the expedited judicial procedure is one of these attempts at a solution.
What Is the Expedited Judicial Procedure?
Productive arrangements have been made in the field of administrative justice with a view to easing the caseload of the judicial bodies and concluding disputes within a shorter time. One of these amendments, which aim to shorten the time to resolution and which have produced effective results in practice, is the expedited judicial procedure.
The word “expedited” means, in the dictionary sense, “haste, the necessity of acting quickly”. As a procedure, expedited adjudication aims to have the dispute resolved as soon as possible and to ensure that no one suffers a loss of rights or interests. The objective of this regime is not confined to shortening the time to resolution; simplification of the judicial procedure is also intended.
The Scope of the Expedited Procedure
The disputes in which this procedure is to be applied are set out in Art. 20/A of the Administrative Procedure Act No. 2577; the regime may be applied only in the cases specified in the Act.
Administrative Procedure Act No. 2577, Art. 20/A (Added: 18/6/2014-6545/Art. 18)
“1. The expedited judicial procedure shall apply to disputes arising from the acts listed below:
a) Tender procedures, excluding decisions to exclude from tendering.
b) Urgent expropriation procedures.
c) Decisions of the Privatisation High Council.
d) Sale, allocation and leasing procedures carried out pursuant to the Tourism Incentive Act No. 2634 of 12/3/1982.
e) Decisions taken as a result of an environmental impact assessment pursuant to the Environment Act No. 2872 of 9/8/1983, excluding administrative sanction decisions.
f) Presidential decisions taken pursuant to Act No. 6306 of 16/5/2012 on the Transformation of Areas at Disaster Risk.”
As can be seen, the areas in which the expedited procedure may be applied are listed exhaustively in the Act. Disputes arising from acts and decisions not appearing in that list cannot therefore lawfully be resolved under this procedure.
Distinguishing Features of the Expedited Procedure
- Time limit for bringing the action. The most striking aspect of the regime is that the time limits are markedly shorter than under the general procedure. In the expedited procedure the time limit for bringing an action is 30 days.
- Preliminary examination period. The preliminary examination, which is 15 days under the general procedure, has been reduced to 7 days in the expedited procedure. This is one of the most concrete differences between the two regimes.
- Period for filing a defence. The period for filing a defence, which under the ordinary procedure is 30 days from notification of the statement of claim, is applied as 15 days in the expedited procedure.
- Period for delivering judgment. Under the general procedure this period may be extended in certain cases; as a rule, judgment is delivered within six months at the latest of the completion of the case file. Since the nature of the expedited procedure calls for a swift outcome, the period here is one month at the latest from completion of the case file.
- Reply and rejoinder. The stages of reply to the defence and second defence are not operated under this procedure.
- Stay of execution. No objection lies against a decision on this point; the court’s decision is final in nature.
- Bench or single judge. As regards whether the action is to be heard by a single judge or by a bench, the expedited procedure does not depart from the general procedure, since this matter is determined entirely by the amount at stake in the dispute.
Appeal and Appeal on Points of Law in the Expedited Procedure
This procedure affords no opportunity to apply to the regional administrative court; the route of an appeal on points of law has, by contrast, been kept open. The time limit for lodging such an appeal and the conduct of the process are laid down in Art. 20/A of the Administrative Procedure Act.
Administrative Procedure Act No. 2577, Art. 20/A
“An appeal on points of law may be lodged against final judgments delivered within fifteen days of the date of notification.
h) Petitions of appeal on points of law shall be examined and sent out for notification within three days. Those provisions of Article 48 of this Act which are not contrary to this Article shall apply by analogy.
ı) The period for responding to petitions of appeal on points of law shall be fifteen days.
i) If, at the end of its examination on the documents, the Council of State considers the information obtained as to the facts to be sufficient, or if the appeal relates solely to points of law, or if it is possible to correct the factual errors in the judgment appealed against, it shall give a decision on the merits of the matter. Otherwise it shall itself carry out the necessary examination and investigation and give a fresh decision on the merits. However, where it finds well-founded an appeal lodged against decisions given upon the preliminary examination, it shall quash the decision and return the file. Decisions given on appeal on points of law shall be final.
j) The appeal on points of law shall be decided within two months at the latest. The decision shall be sent out for notification within one month at the latest.”
The Judicial Procedure for Central and Common Examinations
The Administrative Procedure Act regulates accelerated adjudication under two headings, Articles 20/A and 20/B. While the disputes addressed above fall within the scope of Article 20/A, Article 20/B governs the judicial procedure relating to central and common examinations.
Central and common examinations are conducted by the administration, and this is a field in which no loss of rights should ever occur and in which swift adjudication is needed. Although the word “expedited” does not appear in the heading of the article, in terms of its content this procedure is considerably faster than the general adjudication regime. Indeed, delay in the decisions to be given in examination disputes may produce irremediable consequences such as the loss of the right to sit the next examination. For that reason, securing a legal resolution of examination disputes as soon as possible is of great importance for the candidate. Accordingly, the following provision has been included in the Administrative Procedure Act:
Administrative Procedure Act No. 2577, Art. 20/B — Judicial procedure relating to central and common examinations (Added: 10/9/2014-6552/Art. 96)
“1. In the judicial procedure relating to actions brought concerning central and common examinations conducted by the Ministry of National Education and the Measuring, Selection and Placement Centre, the acts and procedures relating to those examinations and the examination results:
a) The time limit for bringing an action shall be ten days.
b) The provisions of Article 11 of this Act shall not apply.
c) The preliminary examination shall be carried out within seven days and the statement of claim and its annexes shall be sent out for notification.
ç) The period for filing a defence shall be three days from notification of the statement of claim, and this period may be extended by not more than three days on a one-off basis. Upon the filing of the defence or the expiry of the period for filing it, the case file shall be deemed complete.
d) No objection may be lodged against decisions to be given on a request for a stay of execution.
e) These actions shall be decided within fifteen days at the latest of the completion of the case file. Steps such as the making of an interlocutory decision, an on-site examination, an examination by a court-appointed expert or the holding of a hearing shall be concluded expeditiously.
f) An appeal on points of law may be lodged against final judgments delivered within five days of the date of notification.
g) Petitions of appeal on points of law shall be examined and sent out for notification within three days. Those provisions of Article 48 of this Act which are not contrary to this Article shall apply by analogy.
ğ) The period for responding to petitions of appeal on points of law shall be five days.
h) If, at the end of its examination on the documents, the Council of State considers the information obtained as to the facts to be sufficient, or if the appeal relates solely to points of law, or if it is possible to correct the factual errors in the judgment appealed against, it shall give a decision on the merits of the matter. Otherwise it shall itself carry out the necessary examination and investigation and give a fresh decision on the merits. However, where it finds well-founded an appeal lodged against decisions given upon the preliminary examination, it shall quash the decision and return the file. Decisions given on appeal on points of law shall be final.
ı) The appeal on points of law shall be decided within fifteen days at the latest. The decision shall be sent out for notification within seven days at the latest.
2. Stay of execution and annulment decisions given in actions brought concerning central and common examinations conducted by the Ministry of National Education and the Measuring, Selection and Placement Centre, the acts and procedures relating to those examinations and the examination results shall be implemented in such a way as to produce results in favour of the persons who sat the examination in question.”
Keeping the applicable time limits this short in disputes arising from central and common examinations contributes to reducing losses of rights.
Independent Legal Assessment
Although the expedited procedure may look like a convenience that shortens the time taken to vindicate a right, in practice it is a regime that seriously narrows the parties’ margin for error. Taking the thirty-day time limit for bringing an action, the fifteen-day period for filing a defence and the fifteen-day period for an appeal on points of law together, the time available for preparation is decidedly limited by comparison with the general procedure. The process must therefore be planned from the moment the dispute arises.
That the scope of the regime is circumscribed by statute is also of particular importance. Misjudging whether a dispute falls within the scope of Article 20/A leads to both the time limit and the available appellate route being determined incorrectly. In individual files we recommend that the following matters be given priority:
- Verifying from the outset whether the dispute falls within one of the types of act listed in the Act
- Calendaring the time limits for the action, the defence and the appeal on points of law, and recording the final days
- Setting out all pleas and evidence in full in the first petition, given the absence of reply and rejoinder
- Substantiating the request for a stay of execution in the strongest possible terms, bearing in mind that no objection lies against the decision
- Framing the legal grounds so as to lend themselves directly to review on points of law, given that no appeal is available
- Bringing forward the gathering of documents in central examination disputes, on account of the ten-day time limit for bringing an action and the three-day period for the defence
Independent Legal provides advisory services and conducts proceedings in files subject to the expedited judicial procedure, notably tender, urgent expropriation, environmental impact assessment and central examination disputes.