Administrative Law

Administrative law (idare hukuku) governs the relationship between individuals and public authorities such as ministries, municipalities, governorships and other state bodies. When an authority takes a decision that affects your rights, Turkish law provides specific procedures to have it reviewed by the administrative courts (idare mahkemesi).

This area concerns civil servants, property owners affected by zoning decisions, businesses dealing with licences, and foreigners whose residence or other applications have been refused.

Scope of services

• Actions for annulment (iptal davası) of unlawful administrative acts
• Full remedy actions (tam yargı davası) for damages caused by the administration
• Disputes concerning civil servants: appointments, transfers, disciplinary penalties
• Zoning (imar) decisions, building permits and demolition orders
• Municipal penalties, licence refusals and closure decisions
• Public tender (ihale) disputes
• Applications to the administration and objections before litigation
• Requests for suspension of execution (yürütmenin durdurulması)

How does the process work?

1. The administrative act, its notification date and the relevant documents are reviewed.
2. The applicable deadline and the competent court are determined.
3. Where useful or required, a prior application or objection is made to the authority.
4. The lawsuit is filed, if necessary with a request for suspension of execution, and the written procedure is followed.
5. Appeals (istinaf and temyiz) are assessed after the first-instance decision.

Frequently asked questions

What is the deadline to file an administrative lawsuit?

Under the Administrative Procedure Law (İdari Yargılama Usulü Kanunu), the general deadline is sixty days before administrative courts and thirty days before tax courts, starting from written notification of the act. Special laws may provide shorter periods, so the deadline should be checked as soon as the decision is received.

Can the decision be stopped while the case is pending?

The court may order a suspension of execution if the act is clearly unlawful and its implementation would cause damage that is difficult or impossible to repair. Such a request is decided on the basis of the file.

My residence permit application was refused. Is this an administrative law matter?

Yes. Refusals and cancellations of residence permits by the migration authorities are administrative acts and can be challenged before the administrative court within the legal deadline. For more details, see our page on foreigners and citizenship law.

For questions about an administrative decision, please use our contact page.