Answer ... The procedural requirements for awards rendered in proceedings conducted under the Turkish Civil Procedure Code (TCPC) are set out in Article 436(1). The arbitral award must include:

• the name(s) and surname(s) of the arbitrator or members of the arbitral tribunal;
• the names, surnames, titles and addresses of the parties, their representatives and counsel, if any;
• the legal grounds on which the award is based and its reasoning;
• the formulation of the legal costs and the rights and obligations imposed on the parties, in a clear and precise manner and in sequence;
• the fact that the award is subject to annulment and the timeframe for filing the annulment claim;
• the seat of the arbitration and the date of the award; and
• the signature(s) of the arbitrator or all or a majority of the members of the arbitral tribunal, and the dissenting opinion, if included in the award.

Article 14(A) of the Turkish International Arbitration Code (TIAC) provides that awards rendered in proceedings under the TIAC must include the following:

• the names, surnames, titles, and addresses of the parties, their representatives and counsel, if any;
• the legal grounds on which the award is based, the reasoning and the amount of compensation, where awarded;
• the seat of the arbitration and the date of the award;
• the name(s), surname(s) and signature(s) of the arbitrator or the members of the arbitral tribunal who rendered the award and their dissenting votes; and
• the fact that the award is subject to annulment.

Answer ... Both Article 427 of the TCPC and Article 10(B) of the TIAC provide that: “Unless decided otherwise by the parties, the decision on merits shall be rendered by the arbitrator or the arbitral tribunal within one year starting from the appointment of the arbitrator for the arbitrations to be conducted by sole arbitrator; and starting from the date that the arbitrators issued the minute of first meeting for the arbitrations to be conducted by multiple arbitrators.”

This timeframe may be extended by agreement of the parties. If the parties cannot reach agreement, the timeframe may be extended by decision of civil court of first instance at the request of a party. The court’s decision is final; and if the court dismisses the request for an extension, the arbitration will terminate once the timeframe agreed by the parties or prescribed in law has elapsed.