Procedure in the Ottoman court and the duties of kadis

Abstract

Kadıs were heads of civil administration in the Ottoman provinces. In addition to judicial duties, they carried out administrative duties. With the passage of time from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries, the importance of the kadıs serving in the proximity of the center gradually increased, and they undertook more responsibility in administration of justice and of other governmental duties. In this thesis, duties of kadıs were generally discussed, and their duties in court procedure were examined in detail in the light of court records and the Şeyhulislams’ fetvas of mainly seventeenth century. Stages in hearing of legal cases, transfer of cases and annulment of judgment are specific subjects examined in this thesis. It can be suggested that Ottoman court procedure had pre-determined rules, which were designed to prevent partiality in court.