Answer ... As per Law 6352, which entered into force as of 5 July 2012, final decisions of the Competition Board, including decisions on interim measures and fines, can be submitted to the administrative courts for judicial review within 60 days of the receipt of the board’s reasoned decision. Decisions of the board are considered administrative acts and thus legal actions against them shall be pursued in accordance with Law 2577 on Administrative Procedure. The judicial review comprises both procedural and substantive review.

As per Article 27 of Law 2577, filing an administrative action does not automatically stay execution of the decision of the Competition Board. However, upon the request of the plaintiff, the court, by providing its justifications, may decide to stay execution of the decision if this is likely to cause serious and irreparable damage and the decision is highly likely to be against the law (ie, showing of a prima facie case).

Decisions of the Ankara administrative courts are subject to appeal before the regional courts (appellate courts) and the Council of State. If the challenged decision is annulled in full or in part, the administrative court will remand it to the Competition Board for review and reconsideration.

Answer ... Pursuant to Article 2(1a) of Law 2577, anyone - including a third party - can appeal the Competition Board’s decisions if it can prove an interest.

Third parties can also join appeal proceedings, subject to the relevant court’s approval, if they have sufficient interest in the case. Pursuant to Article 66 of Code 6100 on Civil Procedure, to which Law 2577 refers on the intervention of third parties in appeals of administrative decisions, if a third party has a legitimate interest in the outcome of proceedings pending before the court and its rights will be directly affected by the outcome of the proceedings, it may seek to join the ongoing proceedings as an intervening party until a final decision is rendered. If the third party’s legal interest will be affected by the ruling of the court, the intervention request should be deemed appropriate.