Answer ... Under Turkish law, disputes arising from matters that are not within the parties’ disposal are not arbitrable. For example, disputes involving administrative law, criminal law, bankruptcy law or family law are not arbitrable; instead, these matters are subject to the state’s judgment, as indicated by Article 408 of Code 6100 and Article 1, paragraph 4 of the Turkish International Arbitration Code (TIAC). In addition, disputes arising from labour, consumer or property lease contracts are not arbitrable, in light of the principle of protection of the weaker party. Furthermore, in IP disputes, it is not possible to resort to arbitration against third parties who are not party to an arbitration agreement.

As the meaning of ‘disputes that are not within the parties’ disposal’ is open-ended and there is no definitive list in Turkish law of which disputes are arbitrable, arbitrability has also been the subject of Court of Cassation decisions. In some of these cases, the court decided that consumer disputes are not arbitrable and thus that consumers cannot be party to an arbitration agreement. In addition, where an arbitration agreement has been signed by proxy, the court has held that the relevant power must be provided by the proxy issuer in the form of a special proxy. Otherwise, the arbitration agreement shall be deemed invalid.

Answer ... The parties are obliged to execute the arbitration agreement in accordance with the provisions of law. Pursuant to Article 4 of the Turkish International Arbitration Code (TIAC), the arbitration agreement must be in writing. In addition, the rights and powers of the parties under international arbitration rules and practice (eg, to appoint, reject or challenge the appointment of an arbitrator or the arbitral tribunal; to choose the substantive law, the applicable law and the place of the arbitration; and to decide on other procedural matters) are generally also applicable under Turkish law. However, one explicit obligation of the parties is stipulated in Article 10 of the TIAC and Article 397 of the Turkish Civil Procedure Code (TCPC), which provide that if one of the parties obtains an interim measure or interim injunction from the court, it must initiate arbitration case within 30 days under the TIAC and within two weeks under the TCPC. Otherwise, the interim measure or interim injunction will be lifted.

Answer ... No explicit provision of the TIAC or the TCPC deals with multi-party disputes. However, in practice, multi-party disputes can be resolved in arbitration centres in Turkey. For example, the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce Centre of Arbitration and Mediation (ITOTAM) has implemented provisions to deal with multi-party disputes. According to Article 16 of the ITOTAM Arbitration Rules, where there are multiple parties – whether as claimant or as respondent – and where the dispute is to be referred to three arbitrators, the claimants must jointly nominate an arbitrator and the respondents must jointly nominate an arbitrator for confirmation by the arbitration court. In the absence of such a joint nomination, and where the parties are unable to agree to a method for the constitution of the arbitral tribunal, the Arbitration Court shall appoint each member of the arbitral tribunal and shall designate one of them to act as chairman. A similar provision is also included in Article 14 of the Istanbul Arbitration Centre (ISTAC) Arbitration Rules.

Although these provisions concern the appointment of the arbitrators, by extension, they can be used as an example to highlight the fact that Turkish law has no rules that prohibit multi-party disputes.