Turkish-French Mixed Arbitral Tribunal Created After the Lausanne Peace Treaty and Example Cases
Mixed arbitral tribunals were established according to articles 92 and 98 of the Lausanne Peace Treaty, which are included in the economic decisions. Unresolved bilateral disputes on contracts, immovable property and debts that could not be enforced due to war between the parties were referred to the mixed arbitral tribunals established after the treaty. TurkishFrench Mixed Arbitration Court was the first court to be opened and the last to be closed, and it handled a large number of cases. Among them are the Çukurova land, the Pera Palace, the Augustin Norman Construction Marine Company, the Périer and Bauer Marchal Banks and the lawsuits brought against France by the heirs of Abdulhamid II. In the research, the events that are the subject of litigation in court, the decisions made, the way the court works and its representatives are included. Therefore, documents in the State Archive of the Presidency, news in the press of the period, and second-hand sources on the Lausanne Peace Treaty and the mixed arbitration tribunals were used in this study.
Lozan Barış Antlaşması Sonrasında Kurulan Türk-Fransız Karma Hakem Mahkemesi ve Örnek Davalar
Lozan Barış Antlaşması’nın iktisadi kararlarında yer alan 92 ve 98. maddelerine göre karma hakem mahkemeleri kurulmuştur. Taraf ülkeler arasında savaş sebebiyle uygulanamayan sözleşmeler, taşınmaz mallar ve borçlar konusundaki çözülemeyen ikili anlaşmazlıklar antlaşma sonrasında oluşturulan karma hakem mahkemelerine gönderilmiştir. Türk-Fransız Karma Hakem Mahkemesi, ilk açılan ve son kapanan mahkeme olmuş, çok sayıda davaya bakmıştır. Bunlar arasında Çukurova arazisi, Pera Palas, Augustin Norman İnşaat-ı Bahriye Şirketi, Périer ve Bauer Marchal Bankaları ile II. Abdülhamid mirasçılarının Fransa aleyhine açtığı davalar mevcuttur. Araştırmada, mahkemede dava konusu olan olaylara, verilen kararlara, mahkemenin çalışma şekline ve temsilcilerine yer verilmiştir. Dolayısıyla çalışmada, Cumhurbaşkanlığı Devlet Arşivi’nde yer alan belgeler, dönemin basınında bulunan haberler, Lozan Barış Antlaşması ve karma hakem mahkemeleri hakkında yazılan ikinci el kaynaklar kullanılmıştır.
After the signing of the Lausanne Peace Treaty, the resolution of bilateral disputes regarding unenforceable contracts, immovable properties and debts between the party countries was left to the mixed arbitration courts. The establishment and working conditions of the courts are specified in articles 92-98 of the Lausanne Peace Treaty. The matters to be dealt with by the courts are also clearly defined by the treaty. Thus, mixed arbitral tribunals were established between Türkiye-England, Türkiye-Italy, Türkiye-Belgium, Türkiye-Greece, Türkiye-Romania and Türkiye-France.
Representative elections for the Türkiye-France Mixed Arbitral Tribunal started in 1924. While Asser was chosen as the president of the court, the Turkish arbitrator was first Osman Bey, then Mehmet Ali and Hacı Adil Bey. The French referees were Daniel Serruys, Maurice Gandolphe, Pierre Chaudun.
With the completion of the final regulations regarding the procedure of the Türkiye-France Mixed Arbitral Tribunal, it entered into force by being published in the Official Gazette of France on 1 December 1925, and in the Official Gazette of Türkiye in two parts between 26 November and 1 December 1925. Thus, December 1, 1925 was the beginning of the filing of defenses in the cases and the submission period of the courts started on this date. While the deadline for filing cases was 31 May 1926 for cases such as contracts, debts, ownership and industry, the deadline for filing cases based on articles 65, 66 and 69 was 31 August 1926. With the completion of the court preparations, the first official arbitration court was held between Türkiye and France on 19 May 1926.
The cases between Türkiye and France regarding Çukurova, Pera Palas, Augustin Normand, Abdulhamid II’s legacy, Périer and Bauer Banks were included in our study.
One of the most important cases of the Turkish-French Mixed Arbitral Tribunals was the case concerning the Resulayn Farm in Syria, which was the personal inheritance of Abdulhamid II after the First World War. The plaintiffs have applied to the court several times under articles 60 and 65 of the Lausanne Peace Treaty. However, the court rejected the applications on the grounds that it was not within its jurisdiction.
Pera Palace was sold to Bodosakis Athanassiadés in 1915. During the War of Independence, Bodosakis escaped from the country and went to Paris. In order not to lose Pera Palas, he established a company here and bought the hotel again. However, since he did not pay the war profits tax due in Türkiye, the hotel and its contents were seized. Bodasakis applied to the mixed arbitration court, claiming that the hotel and its belongings belonged to the French company, and therefore either to return them or to pay compensation. The court found Türkiye’s defense justified and the case ended in Türkiye’s favor in 1931.
In 1914, the Ottoman Empire ordered 6 destroyers from the French Augustin Normand Construction Marine Company. The destroyers ordered during the First World War were not received and were not paid for. After the Lausanne Peace Treaty, the company brought the issue to the mixed arbitral tribunal. Mahmut Esat Bozkurt defended Türkiye in court. Despite a good defense, the case was concluded in favor of France in 1934.
In order to close the budget deficit and meet some of its necessary needs, Istanbul Municipality borrowed 1.100.000 Ottoman liras from the Périer Bank in 1913. During the wars, the municipality could not pay its debt to the bank. For this reason, the bank brought the issue to the mixed arbitral tribunal. Both sides tried to resolve the case peacefully. In 1934, Minister of Justice Adnan Saraçoğlu negotiated with the bank and, after finding a common path, a new contract was signed for the payment of the debt. Thus, the bank gave up the case in 1935 and the case was dropped.
Bauer Marchal Bank claimed to be the successor of Périer Bank and applied to the mixed arbitration court to collect its debt from the Istanbul Municipality. However, since the court process was prolonged, all the courts were closed in 1939 and Türkiye decided to resolve the case through negotiation.
The lands subject to the Çukurova Case were leased to two French partners named Comte Paul de Lesseps and Baron Evain de Vendeuvre in 1912. The contract was canceled in 1916. For this reason, the company took the matter to the mixed arbitration court. Former Minister of Justice Mahmut Esat Bozkurt defended Türkiye in court. Türkiye closed mixed arbitration courts in 1939. Since the Çukurova Case could not reach a conclusion, it was decided to resolve it through negotiations with France.
In 1952, Türkiye took action to pay France the amount it had to pay for the cases it won in the mixed arbitration court. Except for the Çukurova Case, all payments were made in 1953 and the issue of the mixed arbitration court was closed.
