Critical analysis of recent Turkish legislation on the registration of foreign divorce decisions

Abstract

The Act on Private International Law and International Civil Procedure of 2007 is the main legislation regulating the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in Turkey. The recognition of divorce judgments delivered by foreign courts had also been subject to the Act until 2018 just as all other foreign judgments on civil and commercial matters. However, in 2018 the Turkish legislator enacted a special regime under the Civil Registry Services Act providing for the registration of foreign divorce decisions. The new legislation which is examined in this article will undoubtedly reduce the workload of the Turkish courts; hence it will contribute to the efficiency of litigation. However, as argued here, by also departing from the traditional requirements for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in Turkey it is subject to criticism in many other ways.