Mükerrem

Assist. Prof.

Innovation continues to revolutionize the world, and worth is had in emphasizing how digital technology has disruptively transformed business and social relationships. In this respect, innovation is seen as an economic driver. The complications with technological innovation pose a great challenge to the law. The law generally seems to be more reactive than proactive in handling the speed with which technology and society change. In this respect, smart contracts reflect themselves as a technological revolution in this fast-paced changing world. Smart contracts occur as computer code that is placed on a blockchain, something that is characterized as distributed ledger that runs on thousands of different computers located in different parts of the world and has no central authority. Having said that, blockchain systems are developed with the motivation of eliminating intermediaries such as central banks and centralized organizations. Start-up companies currently unfold smart contract solutions for the purpose of digitally bypassing conventional contract law, and the main question in front of legal scholars is whether smart contracts present a masterful solution to the challenges with which conventional contract law contends. In connection with this point, this study benefits from comparative law and presents the concepts of blockchain and smart contracts in layman’s terms while considering the potential and limitations of smart contracts. Accordingly, this article delivers an attentive assessment of the roles blockchain technology and smart contracts have within the realm of contract law. The core questions this article asks are as follows:&nbsp;i) Are smart contracts legally binding? ii) Is conventional contract law satisfactorily adaptable for governing and regulating smart contracts, or does any specific rule need to be added for smart contracts? iii) Are smart contracts compatible with the rules governing general terms and conditions, personal data protection regulations, liquidation of invalid contracts, modification and amendment of contracts, and other applicable legal issues.&nbsp;In other words, this article takes the approach of elaborating on whether smart contracts are compatible with the existing framework of specific areas of conventional contract law and concludes that smart contracts offer innovative and unique possibilities, that they may considerably remodel the commercial ecosystem, and that they will require new legal responses. Still, smart contracts will not reposition contract law. Smart contracts are unquestionably one segment of the prevailing tendency of computerized technologies asserting themselves in order to displace or replace human decision making. That being said, smart contracts reflect themselves in the form of software with the ability to carry out an entire contract cycle from formation to enforcement.The first part of this article presents a general framework and sheds light on the legal and technological aspects of blockchain and smart contracts; it discusses the legal meaning of smart contracts and the technology behind the development of smart contracts. The later sections of the article explore the issue of smart contracts and their compliance with personal data privacy regulations. Subsequently, the article takes a look into the legal problems regarding the applicability of general terms and conditions to smart contracts, as well as restitutions in the event of a smart contract being deemed invalid. Additionally, the article discusses the complexity with applying certain provisions in the field of contract law, such as material adverse effect clauses, renegotiation clauses, materialization of secondary terms, interim measures, and other applicable legal issues.In summary, this article analyzes the application of contract law with regard to smart contracts. At this juncture, smart contracts appear to be characterizable as an instrument for automating and enforcing legal rights, and this may result in radical changes to the current business environment.&nbsp;

Smart Contracts and the Problems Likely to Appear in the Field of Private Law Regarding Its Possible Implementation

Seda

Assoc. Prof.

The Covid-19 pandemic brought with it the question of whether compulsory vaccination applications could be made legally possible. It is seen that with the increasing vaccine hesitancy and vaccine rejection throughout the world over the years, the community immunity for vaccine-preventable infancy diseases is gradually decreasing. In this respect, it has been accepted by many countries that infancy vaccination practices must be mandatory. Turkey is not far away from the current vaccine debates. The Halime Sare Aysal decision of the Constitutional Court in 2015 regarding infancy vaccination practices provided a different direction to this debate. The Constitutional Court built its decision only on the principle of “lawfulness,” without any reference to concepts such as custody, the best interest of the child, the superior public, or private benefit, all concepts that can replace consent to medical intervention. A crucial opportunity was missed by the high court’s strict formal assessment of the concept of legality, as the right of custody is understood in the current literature not only as a right, but as an obligation shaped according to the best interests of the child.Although the European Court of Human Rights did not find a violation in the Czech Republic’s decision to make infant immunizations mandatory, it missed a significant opportunity by not mentioning the ideas of custody or the best interest of the child in the judgment’s reasoning. The Vavřička and others v. the Czech Rebuplic case was constructed primarily in terms of a conflict between the private life of unvaccinated children and the values of public health and social solidarity. Despite appearances, the underlying issue is not a conflict between one’s freedom to self-determination and public health. Instead, the conflict at hand is between the parents’ right to make decisions on behalf of their children and the state’s right to impose obligations in order to preserve public health as well as the best interests of the child in question. For example, an adult person who refuses a vaccine against Covid-19 does so willingly and voluntarily, knowingly all of the consequences. This decision can be considered as a person’s self-determination. On the other hand, an infant cannot make this choice. As the decision will be made by the parents, it represents their choices instead of the infant’s, even though the consequences will be borne by the infant.In the first part of the study, I will examine which methods are compulsory for infancy vaccination in the world and especially in Europe. For example, the Measles vaccination is now required for children aged one and up who attend daycare, school, or other community institutions, as well as for individuals who work in those facilities or in medical facilities, according to a German legal rule that alters various statutes. Vaccinations against measles will also be required for those living or working in refugee and asylum-seeker facilities. Noncompliance will result in fines, as well as the exclusion of unvaccinated children and adults from the appropriate facilities. In the second part of the study, I will discuss Turkey’s legislation on infancy vaccination practices and the position of national and supra-national jurisdictions on this issue. The last part is devoted to the evaluation of the right of custody in the context of the best interests of the child. Unfortunately, this concept has found its place neither in the decisions of the Constitutional Court nor in the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. Thus, the rights and best interests of the child related to infant vaccination practices will be examined. Furthermore, a step that will put an end to the debates on formal legality is to make a legal regulation by the legislator regarding infancy vaccination practices. In this respect, how the new regulation should be designed in order to take into account the best interests of the child will also be discussed.&nbsp;

Evaluation of Infancy Vaccine Applications within the Scope of Custodial Right

Merve

Article 518/I of the Turkish Civil Code provides that bequeathed property be delivered to the testator in the state in which it is found at the time succession is begun, with the benefits and damages also being transferred to the legatee upon the initiation of succession. This provision makes a distinction in regard to the changes that occur to the bequeathed property before succession has begun compared to the changes that happen after. The legislator is to distinguish between the changes that occur prior to the initiation of succession those that occur after and to attribute different consequences to them. According to Art. 518/I of the Turkish Civil Code, bequeathed property is to be delivered to the testator in its current state once succession has been initiated. Accordingly, the beneficiary will suffer or benefit from the material and legal changes that have occurred up until the initiation of succession (i.e., the death of the testator) and that do not technically qualify as benefits or damage. The changes that occur upon the initiation of succession but prior to the execution of the legacy before updating the land register and ownership had transferred are referred to as benefits and damages. However, these concepts have not been defined, and thus the results of transferring benefits and damages are not clearly regulated in this provision.According to Art. 518/I of the Turkish Civil Code, benefits and damages will pass on to the testator at the time of death and prior to the execution of the will. As follows from this provision, the benefits and damages should belong to the legatee who will benefit from the bequeathed property despite not actually yet having become the owner and possessor of the property; at the same time, however, the legatee must also endure any destruction/damage to the bequeathed property, including the impossibility of transferring ownership for any reason.Meanwhile, the wording in Art. 518 of the Turkish Civil Code suggests this provision to only regulate the transfer of benefits and damages with regard to specific types of legacy. The provision in the doctrine has been argued to also be applicable by analogy to demonstrative legacy. However, the provision is also accepted as not being applicable to general legacy as well as legacy for procurement. In the case of a demonstrative legacy, the transfer of benefits and damages is carried out in accordance with Paragraph 1 of Article 518 of the Turkish Civil Code. Hence in the case of a demonstrative legacy, benefits and damages pass on to the legatee upon the initiation of succession. Although the provision does not clearly regulate this, the current study’s opinion regarding the case of a general legacy is that the benefits and damages pass on to the beneficiary only once the adjustment is made to the entry in the land register or the property is transferred.Regarding the case of a legacy for procurement, nothing changes in regard to the transfer of benefits and damages. Regardless of whether a generic debt or a piece debt has arisen from the legacy, benefits and damages will pass on to the legatee once the bequeathed property has been procured and handed over. Finally, a difference is seen regarding whether the legacy is subject to a condition precedent or a condition subsequent. In the case of a legacy being subject to a condition precedent, the benefits and damages will pass on to the beneficiary upon the occurrence of the condition precedent. In the case of a legacy subject to a condition subsequent, the beneficiary is entitled to the benefits and responsible for the damages arising from the legacy during the period from succession initiation up to the realization of the condition subsequent. When reading Article 518/I of the Turkish Civil Code from the heir’s perspective, heirs acting without authority are under the obligation to fulfill the requirements of the legacy and have to protect, manage, and preserve the bequeathed property while simultaneously being held liable for faults of any kind; on the other hand, the heir is not entitled to the benefits that accrued prior to the transfer (in accordance with Article 518/II of the Turkish Civil Code). Although at first glance, one might think that heirs have a more disadvantageous position compared to legatees, the responsibility of the heirs toward the bequeathed property is an extension of the principle of universal succession. As a consequence of universal succession, heirs must bear the debts associated with their title just as the rights belonging to the estate are vested in the heirs (Art. 599/II of the Turkish Civil Code). Furthermore, according to Art. 518/II of the Turkish Civil Code, heirs may claim the necessary and useful expenses they have incurred for the bequeathed property under the provisions of acting without authority. In addition, an heir who does not wish to bear the obligation to protect and maintain a bequeathed property has the right to refuse the inheritance (Art. 605 of the Turkish Civil Code).&nbsp;

Transferring Benefits and Damages in Certain Bequeathed Property (Art. 518/I of the Turkish Civil Code)

Aslı

Res. Assist.

Ömer

The use of social media has become widespread all over the world, especially with access to the Internet being provided through mobile devices. Likewise, employees also use social media widely, both during and outside the working hours. In our study, it has been examined whether workers using social media during working hours or in a particular type of way constitute a reason for termination for the employer, and if so, which type of termination may apply. The increase in the use of social media by workers has led employers to take various measures. Indeed, the use of social media platforms in the workplace may cause employees to disrupt their duties. Moreover, workers losing focus due to the use of social media platforms can cause dangerous situations in terms of occupational health and safety. In addition, employees using social media (shares, comments, likes, and direct messages etc.) can sometimes put the employer in a difficult position in front of the public, damage the employer’s reputation, and even cause business secrets to be disclosed.It is possible for employers to limit the use of social media in the workplace in various ways. These regulations may be directly related to the use of the Internet in the workplace or may be in the form of restrictions on certain social media platforms. Furthermore, the employer can make regulations on how social media will be used. For example, it may be prohibited to share images of the whole or part of the workplace, or images of the workers in their workplace clothes. It is also possible for employers to explicitly permit the private use of the Internet at work. If the employer has not made any regulations regarding the use of the Internet for private purposes, as a rule, it can be accepted that the employee cannot use the Internet for private purposes at the workplace and during working hours. In practice, it can be seen that employers want to limit the employees’ use of social media, even outside the workplace. Employers are especially sensitive about the content of the posts made by the employees on social media platforms. As seen in some of the Turkish Supreme Court decisions, many employers claim that they suffer losses because of employees’ posts or the posts by others that the employees liked or reposted, even if these took place outside of the working hours.Employers do not have unlimited authority when making arrangements regarding the use of social media by employees. In particular, certain rights and freedoms of employees will be taken into account in determining the limits of the employer’s regulatory authority. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Turkish Constitution, everyone has: (i) “the right to protect and develop his/her spiritual existence;” (ii) “the right to demand respect for his/her private life;” (iii) “the freedom of communication;” and (iv) “the right to express and disseminate his/her thoughts and opinions by speech, in writing or in pictures or through other media, individually or collectively.”While these freedoms are constitutionally guaranteed, they are not absolute. For example, the employee’s freedom of expression does not allow him/her to make statements about the employer or other employees that would harm their honor and dignity. Likewise, the employees are obliged to consider the legitimate interests of the employer, to keep business secrets, and not to compete with the employer during the continuation of the employment relationship, in accordance with their duty of loyalty. In determining whether the fundamental rights and freedoms of the employee have been violated, the obligations of the employees arising from the employment contract should also be taken into account. Within this framework, a fair balance should be found between, for example, the freedom of expression of the employee and the protection of the honor and reputation of the employer.The important points to be taken into consideration while evaluating the termination of the employment contract also examined in the study include: whether the employee’s use of social media (i.e., browsing, sharing, liking, commenting, and sending messages) violates the employer’s legitimate interests, the severity of the negative impact of the social media use on the employment relationship, and whether the continuation of the employment relationship can be expected. In this regard, (i) the social network used by the employee, (ii) the audience reached through the social network, (iii) the content of the social media use, (iv) use of information about the employer or the workplace, (v) the position of the employee in the workplace, and (vi) the effects of social media use on the employment relationship should be taken into consideration while evaluating the termination. In the last part of the study, in light of the above-mentioned issues, termination of an employment contract because of the employee’s use of social media are examined, considering the employee’s violation of the duty of work, obedience, and loyalty.&nbsp;

Employee’s Use of Social Media as a Reason for Termination by Employer

Nilgün

The subject of the present study is the question of who would obtain the estate as an inheritor with the death of a person who is not under the paternal power (sui iuris) in Roman law. According to Roman law, the death of a Roman sui iuris citizen had to take place in order for someone to become an heir. Then, inheritance was done by legal inheritors through the will of the legator (ex testamento) or by calling into inheritance (delatio) by law (ab intestato), even if the heir was not appointed by anyone or there was no will. In addition, if the will made was invalid, the heirs appointed by the will did not accept the inheritance, or did not have the ability to obtain the inheritance, the legal inheritance would have found a field of application. Otherwise, as a rule of Roman law, inheritance by will and legal inheritance would not coexist. Inheritors (sui heredes) who would become sui iuris with the death of the head of a family, consisted of his wife, their children born in a marital union (or at least being fetuses), and their grandchildren from a previously deceased male child. In addition, until the reign of Iustinianus, the slaves appointed by the legator as heirs by freeing in their will would also obtain the inheritance as a domestic heir spontaneously, without any acceptance process upon the death of the legator. These people were considered the mandatory heir according to the ius civile since they could not be prevented from obtaining the inheritance. However, thanks to the privilege of power to be able to decline an inheritance for sui heredes (beneficium abstinendi), these people would not be responsible for the debts of the estate, even if they still had the right to inherit. In order to prevent the unfair consequences of the term on slaves as mandatory heirs because of the situation in which passives exceeds the actives, praetor stepped in and gave them the “privilege of keeping their own goods separate from the estate (beneficium separationis).” Thus, although the slaves appointed as heirs bore the qualification of inheritors, the peculium (or the assets) acquired by the legator were protected from the intervention of creditors after their death. Everyone except domestic heirs had to accept the inheritance as an external heir (heredes extranei) after being called to the inheritance. Since these people also had the opportunity to not accept the inheritance, they were also counted as the discretionary heir (voluntarii heredes). First granted to these persons, during the reign of Iustinianus, the privilege of “bookkeeping or inventory” (beneficium inventarii) enabled liability against creditors within the scope of all the goods that&nbsp;made up the estate. Acceptance of inheritance was carried out by a legal process (cretio) depending on the form, which usually consisted of 100 days in the Classical Legal Period or behavior showing the desire to be heir, that is, by acting as if he were the heir (pro herede gestio). However, in the reign of Iustinianus, there remained only the concept of aditio for accepting the inheritance with an ordinary statement and without any formal procedures after the abolishment of cretio. Those who could not become an inheritor according to ius civile, could demand praetor inheritance (bonorum possessio) within a period of 100 days or one year that was granted to them. This person could apply for the property protection granted by praetor for lawsuits against estate creditors, and they could obtain ius civile possession of estate assets at the end of acquisitive prescription period. According to Roman law, the last condition necessary to obtain the qualification of an heir was a license to inherit. For domestic heirs, it was enough to have inheritance licenses at the time of the death of the legator. However, at the time of the bequest in the acquisition of the inheritance through the will, if there were external heirs, there had to be an inheritance license at the time of the acquisition of the inheritance. There were no restrictions on the inheritance license of a sui iuris Roman citizen. In contrast, the inheritance licenses of women, family sons, and slaves were restricted. In addition to this, if it was desired to appoint a family child under the dominance of another father or slave belonging to a third person as an heir, the acquisition of the inheritance would have occurred for the benefit of the people who control this family child or slave. For this reason, the father of the family child appointed as the heir or the master of the slave also had to have an inheritance license. The ability to obtain inheritance (caducitas) and the inheritance license are different concepts. A person might not have had the ability to obtain an inheritance even if they had an inheritance license. Likewise, the ability to obtain inheritance was only true in the case of being called to the inheritance through a will. At the same time, the scope of inheritance was determined by the laws enacted by Emperor Augustus. By these laws, men between the ages of 25 and 60 and women between 20 and 50 were required to marry and have children. Anyone who was unmarried in this age range (caelibes) or who had not made a marriage suitable for their class would not receive their share of the inheritance bequeathed to them by will. If they did not fulfill their obligation to have children despite being married within this age range (orbi), they obtained half of the share of the inheritance left to them. However, those who did not have children in this age range could bequeath to their spouses only one-tenth of their assets through a will. Finally, a person who lacked an inheritance (indignus), would acquire the inheritance and bear the qualification of an heir. However, since it was not considered appropriate in some cases for this person to earn an inheritance, the assets they obtained were taken from them by aerarium or fiscus.&nbsp;

The Conditions of Heirship Qualification in Roman Law

Injury from nervous shock (Schockschaden) refers to the types of damage caused by the mental breakdown or psychological disorder of a person other than the victim who’d been directly injured or died in an accident. One of the most striking examples of nervous shock is the mental depression of a mother who’d witnessed an accident where her son’s legs had been amputated by a train. Examples of these kinds of injuries can easily be counted, as these cases are very common in daily life. Although injury from nervous shock is legally recognized by foreign legal systems, they still have different legal opinions and regulations regarding this field and therefore the subject remains open to discussion.In Turkish law, injury from nervous shock is a fairly new term, and thus no legal regulations nor comprehensive definition exist for it other than some brief mentions in the legal doctrine. The lack of any specific provisions regarding injury from nervous shock may lead one to interpreted these types of injuries to be non-compensable. However, such a misinterpretation would clearly be contradictory to the general principles of compensation law, which merely seeks to protect victims that have been personally injured. In this regard, these specific types of injuries require the immediate attention of Turkish legislators and authorities.The injuries caused by nervous shock relate to the legal liability of the tortfeasor in Tort Law. The nature of these types of injuries are very similar to the concept of Damage by Reflection, as also regulated in the Tort Law of the Turkish legal system. However, these two types of injuries have different meanings and therefore shall be distinguished from one another. Damage by Reflection is the damage that occurs from a breach of contract or the tortious act of a legal entity that violates the personal rights of a person other than the direct victim who’d been subjected to this breach of contract or tortious act. Because Damage by Reflection aims to provide legal protection to persons other than the victim who’d been directly damaged, these types of damages can only be claimed if relevant special provisions exist that can be applied. A typical example of such damage occurs in the Turkish Code of Obligations regarding the loss of support of the victim’s relatives. However, injury from nervous shock only involves people who have a close relationship with the victim or who witnessed an accident where the victim had been heavily injured or died as a result of a tortious act. The main feature of injury from nervous shock pertains to the types of damages only derived from being a relative of the victim or witness to the accident itself, not because of indirectly being a victim. Subsequently, injury from nervous shock cannot be referred to as indirect damages. This type of injury is a direct form of damage regarding one’s mental integrity. In other words, it involves personality rights, which are considered absolute rights. A compensation claim in this regard therefore has a nature independent of a claim for loss of support as in Damage by Reflection.Injury from nervous shock can only be claimed if the case possesses the elements of proper causal link and illegality. The persons who are entitled to be claimants are only limited to very close relatives of a victim who has been directly injured or died or to one who witnessed the accident. Broad interpretation of the scope of the term “close relatives” is to be avoided but should instead only include parents and immediate family. In addition, the claimant should be seen to have suffered severe emotional distress or a psychological breakdown that leads to a breach of mental integrity. The compensation for injury from nervous shock as ruled by the court may be pecuniary as well as nonpecuniary.The most common cases of claims of injury from nervous shock in Turkish courts have been made by the relatives of those injured in traffic accidents. Previous decisions of the Turkish Supreme Court showed reluctance to acknowledge injury from nervous shock and rejected any claims thereof due to the lack of legal precedence. However, the Court’s view has changed over the course of time. Since its 1995 benchmark decision, the Court’s position has fully transformed to allow for injury from nervous shock to be claimed without requiring the claimant to fulfill the heavy burden of proof. However, the Court should also be noted to have avoided using the phrase of “injury from nervous shock” in its decisions.As a result, injury from nervous shock has a direct link to a breach of personal rights, which holds great significance in Tort Law. In accordance with the modern approaches in foreign legal systems, the Turkish legal system also recognizes the principle that a witness to or a close relative of a victim in an accident is entitled to claim compensation for injuries resulting from nervous shock. The legal liability derived from the violation of personal rights is independent from being the primary victim of the tortious act. This principle shall be moved forward both in Turkish as well as all other legal systems, wherein the scope of protection shall be interpreted broadly to include all those whose personal rights have been directly violated.&nbsp;

Can One Claim Compensation for Nervous Shock?

Alptekin

Öğretim Görevlisi Dr.

According to the practice, there are two types of signs sought registration for: traditional and non-traditional marks. Traditional marks can be listed nonexhaustively as words, logos, slogans, a combination of words, logos and slogans, pictures or drawings. On the other hand, many non-traditional (non-conventional) marks are more widely accepted due to the expansion of trade mark law. These can be listed as single colour marks, hologram marks, shape marks (three-dimensional or 3D) and sound, scent and taste marks. The three-dimensional mark is the most common type of non-traditional mark. In the EU, three-dimensional marks take up to 5 per cent of all trade marks. Although the assessment for three-dimensional marks should not be different from any other mark during the registration process, as the Court of Justice states, being a sign and having a distinctive character are not the only requirements for three-dimensional shapes to fulfil the protection criteria, a three-dimensional shape needs to overcome other absolute grounds for refusal indicated in the EU Trade Mark Regulation 2017/1001 and the EU Trade Mark Directive 2015/2436/EU. Special provisions regarding shapes or other characteristics indicate that shape marks need to fulfil three additional criteria. Article 4(1)(e) of the EU Trade Mark Directive and Article 7(1)(e) of the EU Trade Mark Regulation exclude shape marks that result from the nature of the goods themselves, which are necessary to obtain a technical result, or which give substantial value to the goods, from trade mark protection in the EU. On top of that, the Court of Justice of the European Union and EU Intellectual Property Office, to some extent, tend to be extremely strict in interpreting the law regulating the protection of three-dimensional shape marks. As a result, obtaining trade mark protection for three-dimensional shapes becomes increasingly difficult for proprietors.&nbsp;There are several policy considerations behind the conduct of courts and intellectual property offices alongside lawmakers’ intention in the EU regarding why they seem to be rather unwilling to grant trade mark protection to three-dimensional shapes. Threedimensional shapes as indicators of origin generally suffer from two main problem regarding trade mark protection. The first problem is the distinctiveness criterion which is the same for all types of marks, and there are no special requirements for threedimensional shapes to fulfil. However, common shapes or cheap packaging shapes (cheap in terms of production costs and R&amp;D) usually lack distinctive character. As they have rather common and obvious shapers, they cannot become indicators of origin. Also, consumers do not necessarily distinguish products for daily-life use. In other words, common shapes are not as indicative as figures, logos or words in the eyes of consumers. On top of that, the CJEU gives particular importance to the public interest clause and ensures that common shapes keep open for competition in the market since shapes are finite and certain shapes are in common use. The second problem regarding three-dimensional shapes is the special provisions: Article 4(1)(e) of the EU Trade Mark Directive and Article 7(1)(e) of the EU Trade Mark Regulation. Established case law indicates that if a product is protectable by other intellectual property rights such as patents or designs, additional trade mark protection should not be an option since trade mark protection gives indefinite monopoly rights to use the mark, subject to renewal. The CJEU justifies the conduct by claiming that time-restricted intellectual property rights, such as patents and designs, should not be extended by granting trade mark protection to such products. As the first exclusion dictates, shapes exclusively resulting from the nature of goods cannot be registered. It means that functional shapes that a specific design is necessary for the product itself, then these shapes cannot be registered to ensure healthy competition in the market even if they have some distinctive character. In addition, the second exclusion dictates that shapes necessary to obtain a technical result are also kept out of trade mark protection. The same concerns and reasoning apply to this provision. In this sense, the approach of the CJEU to three-dimensional on the grounds of the first and second subsections of the provision is appropriate.&nbsp;However, as this study suggests, the third exclusion is problematic due to its wording and interpretation by the CJEU. The clause indicates that shapes that give substantial value to products cannot be registered as trade marks. This clause is open-ended and allows for wide interpretations, which could completely exclude three-dimensional shapes that give a value or a character from trade mark protection. Three-dimensional shapes with distinctive character, unique, not a result of a technical function or nature, and giving pure aesthetic value should be registrable since they can function as commercial trade marks and indicate the origin of products. Nevertheless, the purpose of lawmakers is to maintain a distinction between trade marks and other intellectual property rights. Thus, abolishing the third exclusion completely might not be a good consideration, but narrowing its scope is needed for the purposes of trade mark protection regarding three-dimensional shapes.&nbsp;

The Approach of The Court of Justice of the European Union  Towards the Protection of Three-Dimensional Marks

Fatih

Turkish Criminal Procedure System (TCPS) has been transformed into a three-tier structure, with the Courts of Cassation becoming operational on July 20, 2016. Firstand second-degree criminal procedures involve two aspects of judicial review: point of law and point of proof. Notwithstanding, the third level of criminal procedure is cassation and only includes point of law regarding judicial review. Therefore, the level of cassation (judicial review in the Court of Cassation) is referred to as the “judicial review”.&nbsp;In accordance with case law for the ECHR and the Turkish Supreme Court, the rules for applying a judicial review (appeal) are not violated as long as they have been previously regulated by the law and do not approach or exceed upon the essence of the right of access to justice and the right to a fair trial. The violation of a legal rule (unlawfulness) constitutes the reason, subject, and outline of an appeal (application to the Court of Cassation) in terms of the a judicial review of the level of law within the three-tier structure. The appellate brief (petition of appeal) should include the appellant’s reason for cassation. Nonetheless the point of absolute unlawfulness (TCPA, Art. 289) is not mandatory for an appellate brief. The absence of any reasons for (merits of) cassation on the appellate brief are legally sanctioned as grounds for the the Criminal Circuit of the Court of Cassation to reject an appeal. Therefore, having the appellant indicate the reason(s) for cassation on the appellate brief is essential for it to be subjected to a judicial review from the Turkish Court of Cassation.Articles 296/1 and 298 of the TCPC are incompatible with one another. Therefore, the indicating the reasons for (merits of) cassation on the appellate brief may have been previously submitted to a judicial review of the criminal circuit of the Court of Cassation, especially if a judgement is rendered without an opinion. Articles 296/1 and 298 of the TCPC must be amended by taking into account the principle of ultra petita regarding judicial reviews in the Court of Cassation. The essential problem with regard to indicating the merits of cassation arises for judgements that have been rendered without an opinion. When focusing on the legal arrangements in the TCPC within this situation, the first petition (i.e., appellate brief) is the first document filed for revealing the reason(s) for cassation regarding judgements rendered without an opinion. The second document involves the merits of cassation and is referred to as an additional petition.The applicant must submit an appellate brief (first petition) within a certain legal timeframe after the judgment (Court of Cassation judgment) has been delivered to the applicant. Afterward the applicant may submit an additional petition that includes the merits of cassation. Submitting an appellate brief that contains reasons such as “we oppose to the judgement,” “we do not accept the judgement,” “we submit an appeal,” or “we make an appeal” are unacceptable as valid appeal reasons for judgements that have been rendered without an opinion. However, indicating a reason for (merits of) cassation on the appellate becomes difficult and especially challenging for appeals to the criminal circuit of the Court of Cessations regarding rulings stated as “formulated judgement,” particularly when taking into account the absence of the obligation of indicating the merits of cassation regarding appeals from parties apart from the public prosecutor, as the application for cassation (application brief) cannot include the merits of cassation by nature of the ruling in this process.A valid application of cassation (application brief) includes a brief summary of the merits of the application (substantive law and/ or procedural law aspects) as long as the judgement has been rendered without an opinion. Afterward, the merits of the application can be submitted at the latest after the initial judicial review of the criminal circuit of the Court of Cassation using a second additional petition. Otherwise, the criminal circuit of the Court of Cassation will be able to make judicial review limited by the specific reason as determined in Article 289 of the TCPC.The TCPC regulates the obligation of indicating the reason(s) for (i.e., merits of) cassation. The Code has clearly and precisely adopted in principle the rule of ultra petita with regard to cassation. However, the Turkish Court of Cassation does accept a valid application cassation regarding substantive criminal law for appellants who declare a judgement to be unlawful in terms of “law and procedure” by law of analogy despite analogy already having been prohibited in terms of clearly and precisely.The statements (i.e., declarations) in the petition of cassation must be clear and require no interpretation in terms of the parties being represented by a lawyer. Otherwise, the application of cassation must be rejected. However, for parties who are not represented by a lawyer, the statements (i.e., declarations) on the petition of cassation must be interpreted as broadly as possible by taking into account the right of access to justice and the right to a fair trial. In this case, the merits of (i.e., reasons for) cassation should be revealed using an interpreter.&nbsp;

Difficulties Regarding the Requirement of Indicating the Reason for Appeal in Criminal Procedural Law

Muharrem

Prof.

The rise of human rights activism in the last quarter of the 20th century has turned human rights into a discourse of the modern age by giving a positive acceleration to the evolution of human rights towards an institutional structuring. The potential of human rights, which are structured through a normative construct, to transform societies has become a main focus of international institutions/organizations. The declarative normative framework of human rights education was initially regulated in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR; United Nations General Assembly, 1948). Expressing the normative framework determined by the Declaration regarding the right to education, the principle of “everyone has the right to education.” (UDHR; art. 26/1) has put forth the subject of the right to education. The transformation of human rights education into a global movement corresponds to the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s. The United Nations World Conference on Human Rights (UN, 1993), held in Vienna, represents a turning point for human rights education. In fact, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (UN, 1993, para. 78) which has been adopted as an output of this Conference emphasizes that “human rights education, training and public information is essential for the promotion and achievement of stable and harmonious relations among communities and for fostering mutual understanding, tolerance and peace.”&nbsp;Within the framework of national and supranational documents, the human rights education has shown a dynamic of gradual development. The first phase (prior to 1948) discusses the historical roots of human rights education in regards to the relationality between the basic educational theories and the morals education from Plato to John Dewey (1859-1952). The second phase (1948–1994) focuses on the institutionalization of the human rights education as an educational activity that aims at legitimizing the values and principles of universal human rights. The third phase (1995-2010), which corresponds to the transformation of human rights education into&nbsp;a global movement, begins with the declaration of the UN Decade for Human Rights Education. As a result of these gradual developmental phases, the rights education has become a global activism that aim to raise awareness on the rights granted and registered in the human rights treaties. The theoretical development dynamics of the rights education makes a participatory perspective with multi-stakeholders and multi-actors essential. It is therefore clear that the national human rights institutions should be more involved in the rights education as an institutional actor. In fact, such institutional structures play a significant role in systematically monitoring and reporting the pedagogies related to the human rights education and their impacts and putting awareness-raising activities into practice.The methodological approaches to the human rights education are characterized as a quest for a “fusion of horizons” (Hans Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method, Bloomsbury Academic, 2004) that brings forth an intercultural consensus in the field of human rights. However, the envisaged consensus is not based on a notion of transcendent idealism or moral realism. It is more of a consensus that is affirmed and conceptualized in many cultural structures. The educational models developed for the human rights education in the last quarter of the 20th century have generated a number of schemas to theorize the emergence, conceptualization and exercising of human rights. Although there are many methodological approaches to the human rights education, it can be stated that there is a general consensus on some basic components. First of all, the human rights education should cover both content and learning processes. Secondly, the human rights education should include relevant objectives related to cognitive (content), attitudinal or emotional (values/skills) and action-oriented components. While the main focus in the current human rights education paradigm is “education on human rights”, the relational hermeneutic/interpretive paradigm focuses on “education for the realization of human rights and their equivalents”. In the hermeneutic paradigm, the main focus is the dissemination of the rights knowledge by means of the cultural epistemology. On the other hand, the dissemination of the rights knowledge by means of the Western conceptualization of the human rights appears as the main focus in the modern human rights education paradigm. The foundation of human rights education in the relational hermeneutic epistemology will make it possible to eliminate the tension between the educational orthodoxy and Universalist-Relativist trends.Therefore, it is necessary to address the human rights education through the perspective of hermeneutics which has turned into a philosophy of interpretation in the modern period. Unlike the structured education models, the hermeneutics which reflects the multi-faceted dialectic between the comprehensor and interpreter makes&nbsp;it possible to construct a “subject”. In fact, a subject-centered methodology is not regarded in the structuralist education models. However, education is the construction of a semantic world. Similarly, the human rights also appear as a pluralistic dynamic cultural universe, as they address the dynamism of life as well as the rights and freedoms. Therefore, the human rights education should be addressed through a hermeneutic perspective, not a structuralist/constructed perspective. It should be noted that there are a number of critical perspectives focusing on the ‘effectiveness of human rights education, learning methodologies, pedagogical strategies and human rights discourse’. The human rights education has been criticized for many aspects, ranging from the transformation of human rights education into a global movement, human rights education turning into a political commitment, the literature focusing on purely pedagogical and methodological issues, the declarative nature of education and the colonization of rights education. These criticisms reveal the tense relationship between the modern theory of human rights notion and the cultural relativism. Furthermore, it is seen that the human rights education is organized around a human rights discourse specific to Western culture. In this context, it is emphasized that the human rights education is based on a Westerncentered pedagogy of human rights rather than a culture-based pedagogy. Constructed as the institutional entity of producing and teaching knowledge, the existential essence of the rights education is inherent in the spirit of universal principles and values. The existential tension between theory and practice, tradition and modernity, value and interest affects the pedagogical philosophy of the rights education. Considering all these critical perspectives, it is quite important to develop methodological pedagogies that enable to build a universal language, spiritual texture and culture specific to the teaching of rights, and to examine the forms of methods produced for the rights education through the paradoxical relationship between socio-economic and socio-political reality. All these exploratory efforts are critical for the identification of the organic structural problems that human rights education has been facing.&nbsp;

Human Rights Education: A Historical, Methodological and Critical Analysis

Sevtap

Ülker

Sevgi

Verda

Our study aims to measure the gender perception of law students and to propose tools that will eliminate gender inequality in law education. As an institution that seeks to achieve justice, the law should also eliminate gender-based injustices. The answer to this need emerged in the 1980s as a feminist legal theory. The main effort of feminist theories, which consider the law from the perspective of women, has not been to build the law in favor of women, but to try to prevent it from working against women. Of course, the main problem is the realization of gender equality. For this reason, feminist theorists working on law have subjected law to a gender filter and have revealed the masculine nature of law. Another finding of these studies was that the known legal doctrines were developed by men in a male-dominated society. Although these doctrines may seem gender-neutral, they contain underlying basic male values, behaviors, expectations, and assumptions. Another finding is that those who make the codes on which the law is built are men and that the male point of view establishes the order by determining the standards and rules of the society. Even when it occasionally appears that arrangements are made in favor of women, especially in the laws and regulations regarding rape, obscenity, and abortion, upon a deeper inspection, a male domination is maintained through these laws. Although legal rules appear formally fair and non-discriminatory, their practices reinforce, perpetuate, and justify inequalities. For this reason, one of the agenda items of women, who are largely excluded from law-making processes, is to take part in the reconstruction of the law, which has fostered the patriarchal order until now. Achieving gender equality in law is becoming possible with the increasing inclusion of women in the sphere of law, where masculine thought has prevailed until today. “If law stands for justice, it must be justice for all.Another important point is related to the application of the law. It should not be forgotten that lawyers are also part of the society they live in. Stereotypes permeate both the investigation and trial processes, ultimately shaping court decisions, and can result in a sexist interpretation and application of laws. Although on paper, abstract and neutral rights rule on equal terms for everyone, these rule put women at a disadvantage with an underhanded gendered perspective. Whether the gender perception of lawyers in the implementation of the law has anything to do with legal education is a matter of exploration. Is it possible for law education to try to change the patriarchal understanding of gender, or is this field entirely up to the personal preferences of the lawyers? In other words, is law education at the level that would provide lawyers with an egalitarian perception of gender? The education of the “lawyer, who, due to his position, has a great share in the implementation and realization of justice” is of primary importance in the realization of gender equality across Turkey. Making the principle of equality in laws dominate all social life and, accordingly, breaking the traditionalist perception of gender through laws depends on the gender perception of those who are tasked with practicing the law. Legal education should be at a level that will provide lawyers with an egalitarian perception of gender. Identifying the situation regarding gender perception will also be an important step for the development of gender-sensitive education models. It is important for law students to have an egalitarian gender perspective in terms of reducing and eliminating the injustices and inequalities that women face, both in their professional and private lives. This study aims to measure the gender perceptions of students at the Istanbul University Faculty of Law. For this purpose, the Gender Perception Scale (GPS), developed and proven to be valid and reliable by Altınova and Duyan (2013), was used to determine and evaluate the gender perceptions of individuals. In addition to the 25-question survey (quantitative) of this scale, we prepared an eight-question survey (8 qualitative) specifically for law students.&nbsp;In this study, a survey (quantitative and qualitative) was conducted with the voluntary participation of 524 students in total (there is an “informed voluntary consent form” at the beginning of the survey text). As a result of the quantitative survey, it was concluded that the gender perception of law students in Istanbul University Faculty of Law ranked quite high in a positive direction. This result was also confirmed by the answers received from the qualitative questions.&nbsp;

Gender Perception Analysis of Istanbul University Law Faculty Students within the Framework  of Developing a Law Education Model Based on Gender Equality

Prof. Dr.

Veliye

Assist. Prof. Dr.

Restricting the general assembly’s power to dismiss members from the board of directors may have considerable functions, especially for the company itself. However, these regulations also have effects that may damage the absolute and inalienable nature of such power, block the decision-making process in a company, and limit the ability to terminate the trust-based legal relationship between the company and a board member, thus resulting in negative consequences. Under Turkish Law, the validity of provisions in the articles of association limiting the dismissal of board members is unclear. This paper seeks to answer to the questions of (i) whether the removal of board members can be tied to a certain period or the presence of justified reasons or certain conditions, and (ii) whether special quorums can be sought regarding a general assembly meeting and this type of decision. While the answer to the first question is generally negative in existing doctrine, the answer to the second question is positive.The paper first conducts a comparative study using a functional perspective. Hence, the research provides the responses and alternative solutions found in various legal systems to the questions at hand. In comparative law, the authority of the general assembly to dismiss members from the board of directors directly or indirectly (e.g., through a supervisory board as in German law) is understood to not be able to be limited as a rule. In this context, the authority of the general assembly to dismiss members from the supervisory board cannot be limited in German Law. However, the ability to aggravate quorums or to anticipate certain conditions regarding the decision-making procedure is accepted. In US law, the State of Delaware has the mandatory rule that, with two exceptions, board members can be removed from office without cause. In French law, the general assembly’s power to dismiss members from the board of directors is absolute: the use of this authority cannot be conditional, and the existence of any reason cannot be sought. Even though not as strict as French law, the United Kingdom regulates shareholders’ authority to dismiss members from a board of directors as a mandate. However, the procedural rules that are to be followed in terms of the general assembly’s decision to dismiss board members and the contractual rights granted to the members constitute the limits of their freedom in this matter.The purpose as well as the wording of Article 408/2(b) of the Turkish Commercial Code (TCC) No. 6102) and TCC 364 do not allow provisions to articles of association that limit the general assembly’s authority to dismiss members from a board of directors. Therefore, such regulations are concluded to constitute a legal deviation and are not explicitly allowed within the meaning of TCC 340. Provisions to the articles of association that limit the general assembly’s authority to dismiss board members, such as for just cause, additional conditions, time, or sanctions, would&nbsp;infringe upon shareholders’ right to supervise [TCC 447/1(b)], deter the basic structure of the company [TCC 447/1(c)], and violate TCC 364. Thus, these types of provisions should be accepted as null and void. A heavier quorum should not be included in the articles of association with regard to dismissing members from the board of directors. The articles of association that require a quorum higher than what is legally stipulated for dismissing board members should be deemed invalid. This conclusion is not generally applicable to all general assembly resolutions; due to its importance, however, it does apply to decisions about dismissing members from the board of directors.&nbsp;

Limitation of the General Assembly’s Authority to Dismiss the Members of the Board of Directors

Sevda

Behind every injustice and malpractice reflected in language and actions, there is an erroneous prejudice and a traditionalized cultural structure that make them sustainable. Likewise, egalitarian and fair practices. Discrimination starts with language, and the culture and social network shaped by language permeate the attitudes and behaviors of society. Unquestionably, legal texts are the most important texts that must be purified from sexist and discriminatory language. Art. 2/f of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) requires States Parties to the Convention to eliminate all words, concepts, expressions, and forms of expression that constitute discrimination against women in all types of legal regulations and legal practices, to replace them with concepts formulated in a more egalitarian and inclusive legal language, or to abolish such regulations altogether.When the Turkish Commercial Code (TCC) is analyzed in terms of sexist expressions that foster discrimination against women and cause inequality of opportunity, a sexist conceptual preference that implicitly refers to human beings but explicitly emphasizes being a man, such as businessmen, seamen, and men employed, stands out. The emphasis on being a “man” as opposed to a human being or a person renders the language of the law, and thus the practice of law, sexist because it focuses on men and marginalizes women. However, in Turkish commercial practice,&nbsp;women also manage companies, become merchants, work on ships, and engage in transportation. In lieu of masculine expressions such as businessman and seaman, expressions that are more egalitarian, inclusive, and inclusive should be preferred. In fact, considering the technological transformation and the development of trade, it may be prudent to consider that the framework concepts should not even refer to being human.The language must observe equality; however, it is a grave error to think that a perfect legal language will immediately eliminate inequalities in practice. In addition to recognizing and protecting rights in an egalitarian language, equal opportunities for the exercise and functioning of these rights must be secured. In order for this to occur, a social transformation and a mentality shift must be fostered. The implementation of egalitarian language is a necessary and prioritized step in initiating this transformation. However, it must be followed up, and equality must be protected and strengthened through social policies and support, not only in the text of the law but also in the application of the law.Sustainability, progress and development are only possible in societies where all individual traits are embraced with respect and understanding, and where differences can be carried without shame or pride, not as flaws but as wealth. A more just, egalitarian, and humane order must be agreed upon for not only women but also every element of society and the environment to be liberated and to receive their share of the culture of respect they deserve. Each member of society is responsible for contributing to the development of this egalitarian, mutually-respectful environment. Preferring egalitarian and fair concepts in language when speaking, focusing on the continuation of the activity without discriminating between men and women, and acting in a business-focused, not gender-focused, manner are important steps that can have a significant impact. The inclusion of women “as women” in the workforce, without masculinizing them, keeping them under pressure, or expecting them to behave like men, is crucial for the development of trade and society. The power of words for mindset transformation should not be ignored. Words should not be used to capitalize on women’s labor and productivity, but to emphasize the importance of equal representation and contribution of women and men, and to ensure respect for women’s differences. As activist Helen Todd emphasizes, “Bread for all, and Roses, too!”

An Evaluation of the Necessity to Modify Sexist Expressions in the Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102 in Light of Art. 2/f of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

Kemal

According to the Turkish Civil Code (TCC), a shared regime regarding acquired property is valid between spouses. However, spouses may also choose a different marital property regime regulated by law or make changes to the provisions of these regimes. The death of a spouse is one reason for terminating any type of marital property regime. In this case, the marital property regime that had been valid between spouses must be liquidated. Under Turkish Law, the surviving spouse can receive both the shared claim arising from the liquidation of the property regime as well as the inheritance right regarding the estate, which includes the remaining portion of the residual value in accordance with the characteristics of a tangible case. This is because the idea that the division of a property should be made only according to the provisions of the inheritance law in the event of the dissolution of a marriage by death is not accepted under Turkish Law. Therefore, both the choice of a different marital property regime and an amendment of the provisions of the existing marital property regime may affect the estate and thus the shares reserved for the heirs.The basic principle accepted by Turkish legislation is that marital property agreements concluded between spouses take precedence over the interests of heirs with reserved shares. Although this is the basic principle, two exceptional cases in Section II from Article 237 of the TCC and Section III of Article 276 of the TCC stipulate that marital property agreements must not adversely affect the reserved shares of specific heirs. Both provisions have been doctrinally criticized on the grounds that they disrupt the equality among heirs with reserved shares.Due to Swiss legislation having abolished parents’ reserved shares, the criticism that no discrimination must occur among heirs with reserved shares became unfounded under Section III of Article 241 of the Swiss Civil Code (SCC) and related to Section III in Article 276 of the TCC. Within the scope of the revision, a new paragraph was added to Article 241 of the SCC, and this paragraph regulates that agreements on a different method of division do not apply in the case of the death of a spouse when divorce proceedings are pending that would result in the surviving spouse losing their right to claim the statutory entitlement.On the other hand, the amendment to Article 216 of the SCC is incapable of finalizing any discussions doctrinally. The Draft Law stipulates an increase in the surviving spouse’s share claim arising from a marital property agreement should be added to the hypothetical estate while calculating the reserved shares. Accordingly, the reserved shares of both the common and non-common children are to also be calculated over the same estate. However, legislation makes a distinction again in terms of the possibility of filing an action in abatement for children who are unable to obtain their reserved shares. This amendment could be stated to be fairer compared to the previous situation but to also still be inadequate compared to de lege ferenda. However, during the enactment of the provision, an amendment was made at the last moment that accepted a contribution of more than half of the residual value to not be added to the estate when calculating the reserved shares for the surviving spouse, common children, and their descendants. According to this final version of the provision, which is currently in force, the reserved shares are to be calculated over two different estates.Moreover, legislation regarding Article 532 of the SCC counts an increase in the shares claim among inter vivos legal transactions and subjects it to abatement in the first place among the other inter vivos legal transactions. This situation is consistent with other legal regulations. On the other hand, recognizing the right to file an action in abatement against this acquisition for only certain persons would not be proper. While granting the right to file an action in abatement to non-common children against the same legal transaction, to deny this opportunity to one spouse’s children would be inequitable. In order to protect the non-common children against their parents and the other spouse, increasing the percentage of their reserved share by making a somewhat positive discrimination would be more appropriate.

Protections for the Portion Reserved Against Marital Property Agreements and an Evaluation of the Amendments Relevant to the Swiss Civil Code

Doruk

Assoc. Prof. Dr.

A renunciation of inheritance agreement is a contract between the deceased and the deceased’s presumptive heir that deals with the partial or complete renunciation of the presumptive heir’s inheritance rights.In the event that a party waives their inheritance right by making a waiver agreement while also receiving some advantage in return for the waiver, the onerous inheritance waiver agreement comes into effect. An inheritance renunciation contract has positive aspects such as ensuring the liquidation of the presumptive heir’s inheritance rights while the heir is still alive. However, the inability of the estate to meet its debts at the time the inheritance proceedings begin may cause losses to creditors, for when the onerous waiver agreement has not yet been concluded, the agreed-upon benefit will remain in the estate instead of being used to pay the debts of the estate. However, concluding an onerous waiver agreement both eliminates the responsibility of the one waiving their inheritance from the debts of the estate and ensures that this individual still gains benefit from an estate that is unable to cover its debts.Thus, Article 530 of the Turkish Civil Code aims to eliminate this situation, which exists to the detriment of estate creditors. According to the provision, if the debts of the estate cannot be met by the estate at the time the inheritance proceedings begin and the debts are not paid by the heirs, the individual who has waived the inheritance right and that individual’s heirs become responsible to the creditors of the estate for the amount they had received within five years prior to the death of the deceased in exchange for the renunciation, as well as for the amount of wealth they receive at the time the inheritance proceedings begin.Accordingly, the conditions for applying Article 530 of the Turkish Civil Code and its results can be summarized as follows:<ul><li>At the time the inheritance proceedings begin, the estate must be unable to meet its debts. This situation often arises due to the liabilities of the estate being greater than its assets. However, the condition should be accepted as being fulfilled&nbsp;when debts are not met from the estate for any reason (if the estate is performing weakly), regardless of estate’s assets being greater than its liabilities.</li><li>The debts that are unable to be met from the estate must also not be paid by the heirs.</li><li>A gain must have been left to the person who had onerously waived the inheritance in accordance with the waiver agreement and within five years prior to the death of the deceased. This acquisition can have occurred by means of transferring movable, immovable, or receivables; by giving some sum of money; and/or by paying the debts of the one waiving their inheritance rights.&nbsp;</li><li>In the event these conditions are realized and the one who waived their inheritance is no longer alive, their heirs will become liable to the creditors of the estate.</li><li>These persons have limited liability to the creditors of the estate: 1) The creditors of the estate have the right to demand from these persons the part of their receivables that are unable to be met from the estate and from the heirs. 2) The responsibility of the one who waived their inheritance rights as well as of that person’s heirs to the creditors of the estate is limited to the wealth that is gained at the time the inheritance proceeding begin, as well as the wealth that person had received from the deceased for renouncing inheritance rights within the five years prior the death of the deceased. Thus, the protections provided to creditors by Article 530 of the Turkish Civil Code are seen to not be absolute. This is because even if some amount was found to have been received within the five years prior to the start of the inheritance proceedings, if a gain in wealth no longer occurred based on what was received from this contract regarding the assets at the time the inheritance proceedings began, then neither the one who signed the onerous waiver nor their heirs will be liable for the debts of the estate.</li><li>Unjust enrichment provisions are applied when determining the context of liability. However, the issue here is not a case of unjust enrichment. Within the context of renouncing a valid contract, any received benefits must be returned as per Article 530 of the Turkish Civil Code. A claim can be made against the one who renounced their inheritance rights and that individual’s heirs based on the benefits or revenues they have received and limited to the amount remaining in their hands at the time the inheritance proceedings begin.&nbsp;</li></ul>

Responsibility of the Onerous Inheritance Waiver and Its Heirs Against the Inheritance Creditors

Şehmus

It is the task of the ICC Prosecutor to conduct an initial examination of the available information to determine whether a given situation meets the threshold to warrant a formal ICC investigation. This preliminary examination process may be initiated by a) State Party referral; b) United Nations Security Council referral; or c) the ICC Prosecutor acting proprio motu (without a referral from a State Party or the Security Council). The focus of this study is the Prosecutor’s authority to open a preliminary examination into a situation and to seek the initiation of an investigation based on information on crimes that fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC.This study will first suggest that prosecutorial powers, including the authority to investigate crimes without a referral from a State Party or the Security Council, are not placed in the hands of the ICC Prosecutor without judicial checks. Article 15 of the Rome Statute provides some procedural safeguards such as the requirement to seek authorization from the Pre-Trial Chamber. The judicial scrutiny of the chambers of the Court ensures that the decisions of the ICC Prosecutor are subject to the high threshold criteria set out in the Rome Statute. Safeguards set out in the Rome Statute make it nearly impossible for unfounded or politically motivated accusations to reach the trial stage.&nbsp;The study will then draw attention to the political restraints placed on the ICC Prosecutor by the States whose cooperation is crucial in terms of gathering evidence, arrest of suspects, and accessing witnesses and defendants. As the effective functioning of the Court relies heavily on cooperation with the members of the international community, any reluctance on the part of the States to cooperate with the Office of the Prosecutor limits the ability of the Prosecutor to bring charges against the perpetrators. Consequently, the study will submit that the legal and political restraints placed on the Prosecutor should ally States’ fears about frivolous or political complaints. In this regard, the challenges the new ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan is facing (or is likely to face) will be studied accordingly.This study will claim that the ICC Prosecutor’s ability to initiate investigations proprio motu is in fact a requisite to ensure that the Court is truly effective and free&nbsp;from political interference. The prosecution of the most serious crimes committed in six situations, into which a formal ICC investigation was initiated by the ICC Prosecutor without any referral from a State Party or the Security Council, was possible thanks to the Prosecutor’s authority to act proprio motu. Furthermore, the Prosecutor’s authority to investigate crimes on her own initiative has been instrumental in encouraging national prosecutions. The procedure of examination of national proceedings by a Prosecutor who has the power to investigate complaints proprio motu often serves as an incentive for national authorities to investigate crimes more carefully and competently.&nbsp;Finally, this study will argue that the ICC Prosecutor’s authority to decide whether or not there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation, in fact, serves as an early filtering mechanism against politically motivated referrals and against referrals that fail to meet the high threshold of the Rome Statute. The role given to the Prosecutor under the Rome Statute thus prevents any politically motivated State Party or Security Council referrals from turning into formal investigations.

A Critique of the Concerns on the Proprio Motu Powers of the ICC Prosecutor

Trial-avoidance procedures have functioned significantly in varying scopes and degrees in diverse criminal justice systems in common law and civil law countries, particularly over the last three decades. Among such practices, plea-bargaining and its functional equivalents have expanded across the globe. Plea-bargaining shakes the foundations of traditional criminal trials more than any other form of accelerated adjudication. Conventionally, criminal trials aim to establish the material truth through comprehensive inquiries into facts. Yet, recourse to plea-bargaining or institutes that share its fundamental principle of du ut des continues to expand. The substance of such bargains generally entails an exchange of confession or admission of the procedure for a more lenient punishment.The particularities of such procedures are apparently based on the principle of consensus or consent between the parties and differ significantly among jurisdictions. However, a common element unites all variants: the defendant waives the right to a traditional trial and receives a more lenient sentence in return. Such a seemingly appealing exchange would reduce case backlogs and help the judiciary if the inherent inequality of the negotiating parties is disregarded. Dispensing with truth also generally implies a lenient punishment for the guilty but a harsh adjudication for innocent individuals or offenders who could have availed of the opportunity at their trials to tender valid justifications or excuses for their criminal acts. Unsurprisingly, therefore, generations of lawyers have voiced their disagreement with the ascent of plea-bargaining comparatively or in the context of a particular jurisdiction.The present study examines the roots and current state of the German version of plea-bargaining (Verständigung). This practice allows defense counsel to negotiate with a judge so that the defendant can confess to an offense cited in the indictment in exchange for a more lenient sentence than would be meted if the defendant were to contest the charge in a traditional contested trial. The prosecutor holds the right to veto such an agreement. Specifically, the defendant undertakes to confess the cited charges in court, and the court assures in return that it will not exceed an agreed-upon sentence. In the German model, the judge initiates the plea-bargaining procedures, not the prosecutor. Germany is unique in Europe in the implementation of this model of judicial plea-bargaining. The present study begins with a brief overview of the core principles of the 1877 German Criminal Procedural Code. The basic structure of the Code has remained intact despite numerous subsequent amendments. The Code is founded on the principle of immediacy and the notion of the search for truth at a public trial. Indeed, according to para 244 sec. 2 of the Code, the court is charged with ascertaining that all evidence required to discover the truth about a case is produced at trial. The court calls and interrogates witnesses and experts and introduces documentary and real evidence. The German criminal justice system&nbsp;was once dubbed a framework without plea-bargaining because of its dedication to truth in adjudication. Yet, the German version of plea-bargaining developed from the grassroots since the mid-1970s. It was initially shaped by the judiciary as a clandestine practice unknown to legal scholarship. This practice was first illuminated at the beginning of the 1980s. Since then, it indubitably remains the most contested issue of German criminal procedure jurisprudence because the institute of bargaining shakes the fundamental tenets of the German criminal procedural model.&nbsp;Nevertheless, the negotiation of criminal judgments between the court and the parties was acknowledged under specific rules in the jurisprudence of the Federal Court of Germany. Subsequently, the German legislature authorized such negotiations by passing an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code in 2009. The new provisions of the Code systemized the existing jurisprudence to a great extent and were upheld by the German Constitutional Court in 2013. The Court’s decision attempted to regulate and delimit the practice of bargaining through a set of criteria pertaining principally to rules concerning the transparency and documentation of proceedings. Remarkably, a recent empirical study revealed a decline in the practice of plea-bargaining as enshrined in the Code since the 2013 judgment of the Constitutional Court. Thus, the present study probes into the reasons for ongoing informal negotiations conducted outside the ambit of the codified procedures of pleabargaining stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Code.&nbsp;Overall, the current article sequentially discusses the roots of German pleabargaining, the scope of the current legislation, doctrinal debates surrounding the institute, the 2013 judgment of the Constitutional Court, the most recent empirical studies regarding formal and informal bargaining practices, and future probabilities.

Plea-Bargaining in German Criminal Procedure Law

Muzaffer

Lysander Spooner (1808-1887) is an important though oft-neglected figure in 19thcentury American political philosophy. He was an individualist anarchist, political essayist, and entrepreneur known for setting up a private post office in competition with the American government’s public postal services and for writing abolitionist essays. He was also a lawyer and natural law theorist. He developed forceful arguments on behalf of an individualistic conception of natural law philosophy and private property rights in opposition to authoritarian governments, interventionism, legislative and taxative activities, and all forms of paternalism, whether moral, legal, or political.Spooner’s ideas on law are found dispersed among his various writings. One of the best known of these works is The Unconstitutionality of Slavery (1860). Spooner began his argument on the unconstitutionality of slavery with a question: “What is Law?” He answered this by defining law as the “natural, permanent, unalterable principle, which governs any particular thing or class of things” (p.4) “The natural, universal, impartial and inflexible principle, which, under all circumstances, necessarily fixes, determines, defines and governs the civil rights of men” (p. 5) was “simply the rule, principle, obligation or requirement of natural justice” (p. 5). According to Spooner, any so-called legal rules and regulations that are contrary to natural justice have no validity. Spooner reiterated these naturalist views in the following works, one conspicuous one that will be dwelt on here being his pamphlet titled “Natural Law or the Science of Justice: A Treatise on Natural Law, Natural Justice, Natural Rights, Natural Liberty, and Natural Society; Showing That All Legislation Whatsoever is an Absurdity, a Usurpation, and a Crime” (1882). As can be seen in the title, he also generated some radical ideas in this pamphlet against all legislative activities in the context of the formation of a legal system.Another pamphlet he published titled “Vices Are Not Crimes: A Vindication of Moral Liberty” (1875), Spooner drew the line around a behavioral area insusceptible to legislative intervention. In this pamphlet, he objected to criminal legislation that interfered with the inviolable core area of individual liberty, especially those that criminalized vices, moral corruption, or the self-harm actions of an individual such&nbsp;as drunkenness, addiction to gambling, smoking, and idleness. Spooner stated therein (p. 2), “Vices are simply the errors which a man makes in his search after his own happiness. Unlike crimes, they imply no malice toward others, and no interference with their persons or property.” In other words, while crimes are related with infringement on others’ natural rights (e.g., life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness), vices are the errors a man makes in the search for one’s natural right to pursue one’s own happiness. In this way, this viewpoint offers insight into a libertarian conceptualization of the separation of law and morality and of an acceptable form of criminalization regarding some human actions. This also had similarly become apparent in Anglo-Saxon legal philosophy through the Mill-Stephen and Hart-Devlin debates.Some contemporary libertarians and anarcho-capitalists regard Spooner as one of their most influential philosophical predecessors because of his substantial arguments in support of private property rights and natural liberty. However, placing him at the central point of libertarian thought is not easy because of some his skeptical views on contemporary capitalist practices. However, he was a follower of Locke’s natural right philosophy and individual property rights as a natural right, he was also a hard opponent to all forms of involuntary servitude, not just to slavery and other coercive public obligations but also to the wage labor dependencies regarding oligarchic capitalist exploiters. Consistent with these thoughts and doubts, he became an exponent of a private property regime that supports intellectual labor and free entrepreneurship. For an understanding of his conception of property rights in this manner, this article will look at his book titled “The Law of Intellectual Property” (1855).In short, the purpose of this work was to bring Spooner’s concept of law into view through some of his book chapters and pamphlets and by dwelling on Spooner’s previously mentioned theory of natural law. In order to analyze his thoughts regarding law as a holistic term, this article will then examine his views regarding certain fundamental legal concepts involving legality and illegality, such as rights, crimes, misdemeanors, the Constitution, and property rights, which he defined here and there among his various works. Consequently, the article will then try to reveal Spooner’s theory of law, which prioritized the individual as a unique moral being in opposition to all collective bodies such as the state and other authoritative societal institutions. In this way, an anarcho-individualist conception of natural law will be shown to emerge through Spooner’s thoughts and critical works.

An Anarcho-Individualistic Remark on Natural Law: Lysander Spooner and His Theory of Law

Halil

Both administrative and judicial system courts in principle may only decide on matters requested from them. According to this principle, known as the principle of the binding effect of a petition and as a general principle of law, administrative jurisdictions can only make a judgment regarding the matter whose annulment the petition requests. However, administrative courts in practice make exceptions to this rule for zoning plans in particular. Accordingly, if the plan in a lawsuit filed against a zoning plan changes while the lawsuit is still ongoing and the new plan contains the same illegalities that are the subject of the first lawsuit, then the court that hears the case will also assess the legality of the new plan in its proceedings. The Council of State decides whether the zoning plan that is the subject of the lawsuit will change while the lawsuit is ongoing. An expert examination of the new plan should also be made, and whether the reason a lawsuit was filed in the first case occurs in the same way in the new plan should be investigated. The lack of any examination in this direction should be considered a reason for annulment.Administrative jurisdictions examine whether the sole purpose of establishing a new zoning plan is to eliminate the subject in the current case or whether the first and second plans have the same content. After this examination, if the court detects the illegality from the first plan to still exist in the second plan in the same way, then the court will make an exception to the principle of the binding effect of a petition and also declare the illegality of the second plan.In this case, the second plan can be said to not have been annulled; rather, the court has confined itself to evaluating the legality of the second plan, with the principle of the binding effect of petitions not preventing an evaluation of the legality of other acts related to the administrative act in dispute. This situation also does not constitute an exception to the principle of the binding effect of petitions. However, the administrative jurisdictions’ evaluation of the regulatory and individual acts that form the basis of the act under dispute and their inclusion in the ongoing proceedings of a zoning plan that emerged after the plan in dispute and that is not based on it are quite different from each other. In other words, the inclusion of the second plan in the case is not because it involves the subject that is the basis of the dispute. Therefore, while the evaluation of the acts that form the basis of the act under dispute is not an exception to the principle of the binding effect of a petition, the purpose of this&nbsp;judicial practice that has been specifically developed for zoning plans is to determine whether the second plan is actually a new plan or a continuation of the first plan. In this way, it forms an exception to the principle of the binding effect of a petition.A contrario interpretation of this practice for when the content of the second plan is different from that of the first plan (i.e., the issues affecting the plaintiff’s interest in the first plan are resolved in the second plan) involves the purpose of change being accepted and thus leaving the case with no valid subject. In this case, the courts should give a decision of “no need to provide judgment” regarding the first plan. In addition, the second action should be accepted as no continuation of the first plan should other illegalities apart from those alleged in the petition occur, or should an illegality that violates some interest of the plaintiff other than that the first lawsuit.&nbsp;Despite administrative courts including the second plan in the proceedings, if they are going to give an annulment decision, they are to confine themselves to declaring an annulment of the act that is the subject of the lawsuit regarding the operative provisions of judgment. Of course, although the annulment of the second plan is not clearly stated in the judgment, it is clearly understood from the trial and the reasoning of the decision that the second action is also unlawful. This is because the courts have included the second plan into their evaluations based on the second plan essentially being a continuation of the first plan, the contents of the plan being the same in terms of the subject matter of the case, and its inability to accept the abolishment of the first plan. In case of unlawfulness, the courts will also decide to annul this second plan.However, in such a case, difficulties are quite likely to occur regarding how the defendant administrations are to implement the annulment decision. This is because the defendant administrations will claim the annulled plan to have already been repealed, a new zoning plan to have already been found, and no annulment judgment to exist regarding this second zoning plan. For this reason, having the courts declare explicitly the illegality of the second plan by mentioning it in the operative provisions of the judgment is important for the applicability of the court decision.

The Effect of Subjecting Zoning Plan Changes to Annulment During an Active Lawsuit

Hatice

This study aims to examine the disinheritance for criminal reasons comprehensively in accordance with the opinions of doctrine and judicial decisions.According to article 510 of the Turkish Civil Code, for an heir with a reserved share to be disinherited, s/he must either commit a grave crime against the heir or one of his/her relatives, or significantly fail to fulfill his/her obligations arising from family law against the heir or his/her family members.Since neither the article nor its preamble adequately explains what should be understood from these two conditions, it is necessary to refer to judicial decisions and doctrine on issues such as who should be understood as the relative or family member of the heir, which crimes should be considered grave crimes, and what should be understood as the significant nonfulfillment of obligations arising from family law.However, there is no consensus on these issues. Considering the legislator’s attitude about extending the legator’s freedom to disposition, superiority should always be given to the interpretation that facilitates disinheritances in these issues.We can summarize our conclusions based on this principle as follows.In cases where both the reserved shared heir and the legator or his/her relatives are equally defective, the validity of the disinheritance should be accepted by giving precedence to the legator’s will.Even if the victim does not know that the heir with a reserved share is a relative or family member of the benefactor, it should be accepted that the heir with a reserved share can be excluded from the inheritance.The disinheritance should be possible based on the possibility that a reason that has not yet been occurred will occur in the future.For the disinheritance to have a result, the reason must be stated in the disposition mortis causa. Otherwise, the dispositions are fulfilled except for the reserved share&nbsp;of the heir. According to Article 6 of the Turkish Civil Code, if a person has been disinherited objects to the disinheritance decision, the proof of the existence of the reason stated in the disposition falls to the heirs who benefit from the disinheritance.&nbsp;In cases where the existence of the reason cannot be proven, the disposition mortis causa is carried out with the exception of the heir’s reserved share. Likewise, if the reason given in the disposition is insufficient, the same outcome should occur. However, in cases where the inheritor makes a mistake about the reason for disinheritance, the heir with the reserved share can obtain the entire inheritance by proving the error.If the legator, who does not make a new disposition mortis causa, forgives the person s/he disinherited from the inheritance, the heir may obtain his/her reserved share in an action for reduction by proving that the legator has forgiven him/her.Even if the legator forgives the heir, but removes the heir from the inheritance through a disposition mortal causa, the heir’s reserved share is not affected by the disinheritance.If the legator makes a will or designates the disinherited heir as an heir, it must be determined whether these dispositions constitute a remission of the disinheritance.It would not be incorrect to assert that disinheritance for criminal or similar reasons produces different results within and outside inheritance law.&nbsp;

Reasons For Criminal Disinheritance

Mehmet

What must be a child legal statute in contemporary law? Should this limited legal personality apprehended as an “object” that naturally needs protection be considered a legal “subject” within the capacity to realize fully its legal existence? Answers given to this question in contemporary French law reveal that the minors’ legal personality is placed somewhere between these two edges: protection as an object of law and acceptance as a total legal subject. Historically, French law treated the child as a “familial object” from the middle ages to the 19th century. Following the industrial revolution, the emergence of a proletarian class and the rights of juveniles in society and civil law continue to expand, thanks to the profound conceptual and social changes in French Family Law. In addition, the rapid development of international law in the 20th century accelerated this movement and granted teenagers additional rights under public law. Children are protected by several international legal warranties, including those provided by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the European Social Charter, the Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote Convention), the European Convention on the Exercise of Children’s Rights, and most importantly, the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In addition, France’s membership in the European Union has given rise to directly invocable legal rights, such as the rights to free movement, to be heard, and to family reunification. Thanks to an effective judicial review in administrative, civil, and constitutional law as well as to a strong judicial dialogue between European and French jurisdictions established since the beginning, the objectivation of children’s legal statute has reached an important degree in its implementation today. However, this notable evolution remains limited, and the legal statute of minors in French law is still mostly characterized by the lack of directly invocable personal rights today. The child is largely apprehended by legal order as a matter of protection rather than a complete legal person fully capable of deploying his or her own rights. Submitted to parental authority, tutors, or other types of guardianship; children’s rights do not totally belong to them, their use is conditional, and their effects are restrained mostly by age limits. Even if this specific treatment of children’s legal personality is not discriminating and morally legitim, the permanent evolution of society, impressive progress of technologies, and undeniable acceleration of young people’s maturity (e.g., in the ecological field) necessitates a modification of contemporary legal thinking regarding children’s rights. Moreover, particularly in France, several deficiencies of domestic law exist, such as the lack of political rights for children; restrictions on their access to the labor market; limitations on their contractual rights, judicial and processual rights; their direct proceedings before a tribunal; and their right to be heard and to consent. Furthermore, the official statistics show the defects in the protection against sexual abuse. In addition, the national law has deficiencies in filiation rules&nbsp;discriminating against children of different types of parents and in the field of family violence, as illustrated by the European Court of Human Rights and the Social Rights Committee’s condemnations of France. Lastly, foreign children residing in France may be deprived of their social rights due to administrative irregularities in the status of their parents under French law, or they may be detained in inhumane conditions. The French immigration laws do not provide sufficient protection for unaccompanied minors. In conclusion, even if the child’s legal statute is still changing and children rights’ content and effectiveness are progressively growing in French domestic law thanks to internal evolution and international guarantees, the French legislator still has a long way to go to improve both the protection of these rights and the modification of handling child legal personality by national law. Children must be increasingly considered as a legal subject of law equal to an adult in terms of their fundamental rights.

Children Rights in France

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Ayşe

One of the principles that Civil Procedure Law based on is the “dispositional control of the parties principle”. Under this principle, parties’ have the right solve private law disputes according to their dispositions. Under the principle, dispute parties are free to decide choose or not to choose litigation as way of resolution. Principle also covers to end the dispute by an settlement (in principle). One of the dispute ending options under the principle is the parties settlement agreement. Settlement agreement, generally, is an agreement in which parties agree to ending the dispute with mutual compromise. In other words, it can be also defined as an agreement in which parties completely or partially ending the dispute mutually. Settlement agreement, regulated as an stand alone regulation for the first time in the Article 313/1 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) numbered 6100. Under the Article, settlement agreement means that the parties agreement on to ending the dispute completely or partially in an outstanding case. This definition only covers the in-judicial settlement. Because the definition requires a settlement in front of the court. Out of judicial/court settlement is not regulated under the CCP. Because, this kind of settlement fall in the area of the Turkish Code of Obligations. Out of judicial settlement is an agreement out of the court in which the parties agreed to end the dispute completely or partially at mutual interest point they considered. There is no necessity of an outstanding ongoing case process at this point. Additionally, an ongoing trial process would not affect the out of judicial settlement. It is needed a transformation of the out of judicial settlement to an in-judicial settlement to affect an ongoing trial at the same dispute. Out of judicial settlement is an substantive law agreement. This agreement is fall in the provisions (General Provisions) of the Turkish Code of Obligations. Out of judicial settlement agreement is not be need to be made in written because of the “freedom as to form” principle of the Turkish Code of Obligations. If the out of judicial settlement transformed to an in-judicial settlement it could affect an ongoing trial at the same dispute. Parties convey the out of judicial settlement to the court and then court get in record the agreement. After that moment, out of judicial settlement is evaluated as an in-judicial settlement. It is not needed that the whole provisions of the out of judicial settlement to get in recorded in the trial documents. Article 315/1 of the CCP regulates the provisions on effects and solutions of settlement agreements. Under this provisions when the out of judicial settlement transformed to an in-judicial settlement it would has the same legal power and&nbsp;solutions of it. The first solution of this transformation is the ending of existing dispute, in other words ending of the existing court trial. The second important outcome of the in-judicial settlement agreement is that it would have the same legal effect of final court decision. In-judicial settlement has an important another legal effect that it would has the power of the final court decisions under the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Code Article 38. If the out of judicial settlement transformed to an in-judicial settlement it would has the same affect as well.

Out of Judicial Settlement and Its Effect on Trial

Involvement of persons with disabilities in business life is extremely important – just as much as in their access to education and health services - and in their enjoyment of social protection because unemployment makes individuals becoming unemployed feel like they are useless. Involvement of persons with disabilities in business life, and pursuing the same eliminates the social effects caused by the risk of unemployment. In addition, working persons with disabilities benefit from social insurance protection based on their work, and thus a decrease occurs in the expenses made for persons with disabilities from the social security budget. While the policies relevant to persons with disabilities started with passive policies such as protecting persons with disabilities, today they have transformed into active policies such as ensuring the complete participation of persons with disabilities in employment. In Turkey, the number of persons with disabilities recorded on the National Database on Persons with Disabilities is 2.461.828 for the first half of the year 2019. And the rate of participation of persons with disabilities in employment is 22.1 percent. When compared with the data for the EU and OECD, this number is very low. Thus, increasing the participation in employment of persons with disabilities is also among the objectives relevant to business life. When the legal regulations in Turkey are examined, it can be observed that rules relevant to the protection of persons with disabilities have taken place in Constitutional Law for the first time. According to Article 17 of Constitutional Law, everyone has the right to live, and to preserve and improve their material and moral presence. And, according to Article 49 of Constitutional Law, working is everyone’s right and obligation. The government takes the required measures to increase the standard of living of employees, protect the unemployed, and support working. The government’s actualization of this obligation is especially important in terms of persons with disabilities who are experiencing many difficulties in involvement in business life. For this reason, it is required that the government should take special measures for persons with disabilities, and to provide the work environment for them. Hence, in Article 50 of Constitutional Law, it has been emphasized that no one could be employed in works not conforming to their strength, and the rule of “the ones having physical and psychological insufficiency are distinctively protected in terms of working conditions” has been established. And the most basic law regarding persons with disabilities is the Law on Persons with Disabilities no 5378. This law intends that persons with disabilities should benefit from fundamental rights and freedoms, and to ensure their participation in social life under equal conditions with other individuals. Article 30 of Labour Law no 4857 regulates the details relevant to the liability of employers to employ persons&nbsp;with disabilities. Article 30 was regulated again in 2008, and new principles were established regarding the employment of persons with disabilities. In accordance with this, employers employing fifty or more employees in the workplace have to employ a specific number of persons with disabilities. When Article 30 of Labour Law is examined, it is observed that the straightforward quota method has been adopted regarding the employment of persons with disabilities. The quota determined within this scope is three percent for workplaces in the private sector, and four percent for workplaces in the public sector. It is required that the following conditions are present for liability of the employer to employ persons with disabilities to arise : i) The workplace’s inclusion in the scope of Labour Law, or Maritime Labour Law, ii) Employment of fifty or more employees in the workplace. In case of the presence of these conditions, the employers are required to employ persons with disabilities whose rate of disability is at least 40 percent. Persons with disabilities should be employed through the Turkish Employment Agency. But the employer may also employ a person with disabilities through his own means. In this case, it is required to inform the Turkish Employment Agency, and to have the person with disabilities recorded at the Agency. An administrative fine is imposed on the employer acting against the liability of employing persons with disabilities. Another method regarding the employment of persons with disabilities is the concept of sheltered employment. Briefly, this method is ensuring the employment of persons with disabilities – for whom it is difficult to bring them in business life - within the frame of special conditions. In this system, there are sheltered workplaces where the working environment is specifically arranged in order to ensure the employment of persons with disabilities. In Turkish Law, the principles of this subject have been regulated in the Law on Persons with Disabilities, and in a certain regulation issued on this subject. That Regulation first came into force in 2006, and it was renewed in 2013. Persons with disabilities who will be employed at sheltered workplaces, are not only persons with physical disabilities but persons with mental and psychological disabilities. In terms of acquiring the status of a sheltered workplace, some conditions have been sought by the Regulation. Above all, it is required that the workplace is one which holds the qualifications determined by the Regulation, and where at least eight persons with disabilities are employed. In addition, the ratio of the number of persons with disabilities who will be employed at a sheltered workplace to the number of total employees shouldn’t be less than seventy five percent. In the Regulation, the physical conditions and equipment that the sheltered workplace has to have (safety, traffic safety, fire protection etc.) were also specified. A specific part of the remunerations&nbsp;of the persons with disabilities being employed at sheltered workplaces is paid by the government. In Turkish law, amendments made in time in Article 30 of Labour Law being the basis of the liability of employing persons with disabilities, and especially the increase in incentives for the employers in private sector are deemed as proper regulations. Again, allowing the employers to find workers who will be employed by their own means is also among those steps which would facilitate employment. Certainly, considering the measures ensuring employment as incentives rather than a quota and fine method would be a more constructive approach.

The Liability of the Employer to Employ Disabled Employee

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Night work has been the subject of many discussions due to its contradictory nature to the biological structure of the human body. This attribute of night work requires that night work and day work should not be handled in the same way in the legal order. The developments in the field of Occupational Health and Safety Law, and the researches regarding the effects of night work on the human health, constantly demand the review and improvement of the regulations regarding night work. In this regard, the most important protective provision regarding the workers working at night could be the limit on the night working time. In accordance with the Article 69 (I) of the Labour Law No. 4857, “night” is defined as the period starting at the latest at 20.00 in the evening, and lasting at the earliest until 06.00 in the morning, which in any case lasts maximum eleven hours. Furthermore, in accordance with Article 69 (III), night work shall not exceed seven and a half hours. However, significant exceptions have been recently adopted to this rule. The amendment, enacted in 2015, allows employers in some sectors (private security, tourism and jobs related to healthcare) to demand night work in excess of seven and a half hours by obtaining written approval from the worker. It should be noted that the regulations concerning night work are particularly important regarding the work carried out by shift work. Taking into consideration the need for governing special procedures and principles on this subject, a regulation specifically on shift work has been issued, and exceptions to the rule on the limit of the night working time are also included in this regulation. In my opinion, the propriety of this change amendment is highly debatable. It can be argued that the service should continue uninterruptedly in the sectors mentioned in the Article (private security, tourism and jobs related to healthcare). However, the employment of the workers for longer periods is not the only way to ensure the continuity of the service. Although written approval of the worker enabling the night work in excess of seven and a half hours is stipulated, the worker-protective approach of the Labour Law which protects the workers even from themselves, especially on the issues regarding occupational health and safety should not be disregarded. It should also be noted that the Regulation on shift work also includes a statement which is not included in the text of the Labour Law. In the Regulation; it is prescribed that the workers employed by the subcontractor in the workplaces, where private security, tourism and health services are carried out, also fall under this scope. If the letter of the statement is followed; it could be concluded that all workers employed by the subcontractor in the health, tourism and private security sectors may be employed at night for more than seven and a half hours. However, it is clear that such an interpretation would be incompatible with the exception regulated in the Labour&nbsp;Law. The provision of the regulation should be interpreted in a manner to cover subcontractor workers who are employed in the sectors referred to in the Labour Law, specifically in cases where subcontracted work is carried out with respect to these sectors. It has been concluded that the recent changes in the field of night work constitute a reversal in terms of workers’ rights. It is clear that the continuity of the services without disruption can be also maintained by increasing the number of shifts. Furthermore, I would like to draw attention to the fact that the regulations regarding night work are quite disorganized. In this regard, it may be suggested that all the rules regarding night work should fall into a single regulation. As a result, it may be stated that there is a need for the review of the regulations on night work in our legislation.

Night Work and The Evaluation of the Amendments Regarding the Limit of Night Work Period

Cemile

This article deals with multi-tier dispute resolution clauses incorporating both mediation and arbitration together under Turkish Law. I use the terminology of “med-arb” not only for the situation where the mediator acts as an arbitrator, but rather in a general meaning covering all instances where the arbitration is commenced following an unsuccessful mediation. The purpose of this article is to discuss the validity of the med-arb agreements, the consequences of starting arbitration before the mediation fails, the effects of the mediation proceedings and of the mediator acting as an arbitrator on the arbitration that follows the mediation as well as the admissibility of the documents and factual evidence exchanged at the mediation. For the purpose of this article, the comparative laws, international ethics rules, international guidelines on the conflict of interest and admissibility of evidence are reviewed along with Turkish law. Turkish Code on Mediation in Civil Law Disputes stipulates some provisions related to the med-arb. These provisions shall apply equally to both domestic and international arbitrations where the place of arbitration is Turkey. Following the jurisprudence of the Turkish Supreme Court, a med-arb agreement is valid only if it reflects, without doubt, both parties’ consents to the arbitration following the failure of the mediation proceedings. Therefore, a multi-tier dispute resolution clause subject to Turkish law needs to be drawn carefully. In this respect IBA Guidelines for Drafting International Arbitration Clauses are of assistance. In cases where one of the parties commences arbitration without a recourse to mediation first, the arbitral tribunal should make a decision on the admissibility of the claim. There is no direct provision related to the question of admissibility under Turkish law. Under Turkish law, in parallel with the practice of international arbitration, the tribunal has to interpret the med-arb agreement to make a decision on the question of whether the recourse to mediation is a pre-condition of the arbitration. If the mediation is a pre-condition, then the tribunal should suspend the arbitral&nbsp;proceedings and direct the parties to the mediation. However, in the case that the mediation fails, the tribunal may resume the arbitral proceedings. There is nothing under Turkish law suggesting that a precondition of arbitration is a jurisdictional issue rather than an admissibility issue. The advantages of the med-arb are subject to heated debates among people holding different perspectives. Such advantages are controversial since when a dispute arises and the arbitration starts without a recourse to mediation, the respondent may object to the jurisdiction of the tribunal or to the admissibility of the claim relying on the fact that the pre-condition to try mediation first is not met. Such an objection may cause arbitration to be delayed and/or the costs of arbitration to increase. Therefore, before opting for a med-arb agreement the parties should evaluate the possibility of settling their dispute at the Med-arb. The parties who are able to consider their commercial interests do not need a med-arb agreement as they are able to settle the disputes without the assistance of a mediator. They first try to settle the dispute, in some cases for years, and to avoid adjudication by an arbitral tribunal. They only start arbitration when there is no possibility of settlement of their dispute and of saving their commercial alliance. In such cases, med-arb agreements become a tool to delay the proceedings and increase the costs for the claimant to force him or her to give up his or her claim. Having said that, for the parties who are unable to consider their commercial interest and unable to avoid adjudication, med-arb agreement may be the right dispute resolution clause. In a med-arb agreement, the parties may wish the mediator to act as their arbitrator if the mediation fails. Neither the Turkish Code of Mediation in Civil Disputes nor the Turkish International Arbitration Code prevents a mediator to act as an arbitrator. Turkish Ethics Rules for Mediators stipulate that a mediator may act as an arbitrator only if the parties have agreement in writing. Therefore, any mediator to act as arbitrator needs to have the parties’ written consent. In international mediation and arbitration practices, the scholars and practitioners widely accept that having an arbitrator who previously acted as a mediator generates a number of serious risks and concerns. First of all, the mediator-arbitrator may not protect his or her impartiality in the arbitration because of the facts that she or he became aware of during the mediation. Secondly, the mediator-arbitrator may rely on the confidential information exchanged in caucus while making the award. Thirdly, the mediator may be too willing to act as an arbitrator and as a result the mediation may prematurely fail. Finally, the mediator may abuse his or her powers and force the parties to settle their disputes as the mediator suggests. The parties may feel that if they are not able to settle their dispute and proceed to the arbitration, the mediator-arbitrator would make an arbitral award in parallel of the recommendations at the mediation phase. Considering the severity of the consequences, if the parties agree to have an arbitrator&nbsp;who previously acted as their mediator, they need to be aware of such consequences and they need to make an informed decision accordingly . The Turkish Code of Mediation in Civil Law Disputes restrains the ability of the mediator-arbitrator to rely on the documents produced during the mediation for the purpose of settlement and defines which documents are in this category. In the case where the mediator-arbitrator relies on these documents while making the award, depending on the extent the document or information has a bearing on the award, the arbitral award may be cancelled, or its enforcement may be refused. In November 2019, Istanbul Arbitration Center (ISTAC) introduced its Medarb Rules. ISTAC Med-arb Rules are the first published institutional Med-arb rules. ISTAC Med-arb Rules reflect the best practices in international mediation – arbitration. I believe that ISTAC Med-arb Rules will be welcomed in the field of international dispute resolution.

Multi-Tier Dispute Resolution Clauses Incorporating Both Mediation and Arbitration Together Under Turkish Law

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Istanbul Law Review is a publication of Istanbul University, Faculty of Law.  

Istanbul Law Review is a quarterly, academic, peer reviewed journal which publishes articles in Turkish and English. Istanbul Law Review publishes articles, judicial reviews, legislation analysis’, publication criticism, translations which involves in law and law related subjects, and are based on genuine theoretical and practical academic research and suitable for national and international scale.

Istanbul Law Review involves in publications which are (i) capable of expanding theory and enhancing theoretical basis, (ii) analyzing either academic or judicial methodology, (iii) scrutinizing legal theory, practice, process, symbols etc. effecting society on private or public levels, (iv) exploring the subject in legal, sociological, political, psychological, philosophical, ethical, geographical and historical manner.

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Istanbul Law Review is a quarterly, academic, peer reviewed journal which publishes articles in Turkish and English. Istanbul Law Review publishes articles, judicial reviews, legislation analysis’, publication criticism, translations which involves in law and law related subjects, and are based on genuine theoretical and practical academic research and suitable for national and international scale.Istanbul Law Review involves in publications which are (i) capable of expanding theory and enhancing theoretical basis, (ii) analyzing either academic or judicial methodology, (iii) scrutinizing legal theory, practice, process, symbols etc. effecting society on private or public levels, (iv) exploring the subject in legal, sociological, political, psychological, philosophical, ethical, geographical and historical manner.In this frame, primary fields of interest are listed as follows:• Human rights law,• Criminal law,• Financial and fiscal law,• Civil law,• Commercial law,• Obligations law,• Execution and bankruptcy law

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Web of Science - Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI)TÜBİTAK-ULAKBİM TR Index EBSCO Central &amp; Eastern European Academic SourceEBSCO Legal SourceDOAJERIH PLUSSOBİAD

Indexing and Abstracting

The journal is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and pays regard to Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing published by the <a href="https://publicationethics.org/" target="_blank">Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)</a>, the <a href="https://doaj.org/apply/transparency/#principles-of-transparency-and-best-practice-in-scholarly-publishing" target="_blank">Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)</a>, the <a href="https://oaspa.org/" target="_blank">Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)</a>, and the <a href="https://www.wame.org/" target="_blank">World Association of Medical Editors (WAME)</a> on <a href="https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines-new/principles-transparency-and-best-practice-scholarly-publishing" target="_blank">https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines-new/principles-transparency-and-best-practice-scholarly-publishing</a> The subjects covered in the manuscripts submitted to the Journal for publication must be in accordance with the aim and scope of the Journal. Only those manuscripts approved by every individual author and that were not published before in or sent to another journal, are accepted for evaluation.Changing the name of an author (omission, addition or order) in papers submitted to the Journal requires written permission of all declared authors.Plagiarism, duplication, fraud authorship/denied authorship, research/data fabrication, salami slicing/salami publication, breaching of copyrights, prevailing conflict of interest are unethical behaviors. All manuscripts not in accordance with the accepted ethical standards will be removed from the publication. This also contains any possible malpractice discovered after the publication. Plagiarism Submitted manuscripts that pass preliminary control are scanned for plagiarism using iThenticate software. If plagiarism/self-plagiarism will be found authors will be informed. Editors may resubmit manuscript for similarity check at any peer-review or production stage if required. High similarity scores may lead to rejection of a manuscript before and even after acceptance. Depending on the type of article and the percentage of similarity score taken from each article, the overall similarity score is generally expected to be less than 15 or 20%. Double Blind Peer-Review After plagiarism check, the eligible ones are evaluated by the editors-in-chief for their originality, methodology, the importance of the subject covered and compliance with the journal scope. The editor provides a fair double-blind peer review of the submitted articles and hands over the papers matching the formal rules to at least two national/international referees for evaluation and gives green light for publication upon modification by the authors in accordance with the referees’ claims.

Policies

The journal is an open access journal and all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Except for commercial purposes, users are allowed to read, download, copy, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the <a href="https://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read" target="_blank">BOAI</a> definition of open access.The open access articles in the journal are licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.en" target="_blank">CC BY-NC 4.0</a>) license.

All expenses of the journal are covered by the Istanbul University. Processing and publication are free of charge with the journal. There is no article processing charges or submission fees for any submitted or accepted articles.

Authors publishing with the journal retain the copyright to their work licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license (<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/" target="_blank">CC BY-NC 4.0</a>) (<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/</a> ) and grant the Publisher non-exclusive commercial right to publish the work. CC BY-NC 4.0 license permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Editor should consider publishing correction if minor errors that do not effect the results, interpretations and conclusions of the published paper are detected. Editor should consider retraction if major errors and/or misconduction that invalidate results and conclusions are detected.Editor should consider issuing an expression of concern if there is evidence of research or publication misconduct by the authors; there is evidence that the findings are not reliable and institutions of the authors do not investigate the case or the possible investigation seems to be unfair or nonconclusive. The guidelines of <a href="https://publicationethics.org/resources/flowcharts/complete-set-english" target="_blank">COPE</a> and <a href="https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/" target="_blank">ICJME</a> are taken into consideration regarding correction, retractions or expression of concern.

To guarantee that all papers published in the journal are maintained and permanently accessible, articles are stored in Dergipark which serves as a  national archival web site and at the same time permits LOCKSS to  collect, preserve, and serve the content.Additionally, authors are encouraged to self-archive the final PDF version of their articles in open electronic archives with  that conform to standards of Open Archives Initiative (<a href="https://www.openarchives.org/" target="_blank">https://www.openarchives.org/</a>). Authors should provide a link from the deposited version to the URL of IUPress journal website.

Istanbul Law Review is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and pays regard to Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing published by the <a href="https://publicationethics.org/" target="_blank">Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)</a>, the <a href="https://doaj.org/apply/transparency/#principles-of-transparency-and-best-practice-in-scholarly-publishing" target="_blank">Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)</a>, the <a href="https://oaspa.org/" target="_blank">Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)</a>, and the <a href="https://www.wame.org/" target="_blank">World Association of Medical Editors (WAME)</a> on <a href="https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines-new/principles-transparency-and-best-practice-scholarly-publishing" target="_blank">https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines-new/principles-transparency-and-best-practice-scholarly-publishing</a>All parties involved in the publishing process (Editors, Reviewers, Authors and Publishers) are expected to agree on the following ethical principles.All submissions must be original, unpublished (including as full text in conference proceedings), and not under the review of any other publication synchronously. Each manuscript is reviewed by one of the editors and at least two referees under double-blind peer review process. Plagiarism, duplication, fraud authorship/denied authorship, research/data fabrication, salami slicing/salami publication, breaching of copyrights, prevailing conflict of interest are unnethical behaviors.All manuscripts not in accordance with the accepted ethical standards will be removed from the publication. This also contains any possible malpractice discovered after the publication. In accordance with the code of conduct we will report any cases of suspected plagiarism or duplicate publishing.

Ethics

<div>The journal adheres to the highest standards in research ethics and follows the principles of international research ethics as defined below. The authors are responsible for the compliance of the manuscripts with the ethical rules.- Principles of integrity, quality and transparency should be sustained in designing the research, reviewing the design and conducting the research.- The research team and participants should be fully informed about the aim, methods, possible uses and requirements of the research and risks of participation in research.- The confidentiality of the information provided by the research participants and the confidentiality of the respondents should be ensured. The research should be designed to protect the autonomy and dignity of the participants.- Research participants should participate in the research voluntarily, not under any coercion.- Any possible harm to participants must be avoided. The research should be planned in such a way that the participants are not at risk.- The independence of research must be clear; and any conflict of interest or must be disclosed.- In experimental studies with human subjects, written informed consent of the participants who decide to participate in the research must be obtained. In the case of children and those under wardship or with confirmed insanity, legal custodian’s assent must be obtained.- If the study is to be carried out in any institution or organization, approval must be obtained from this institution or organization.- In studies with human subject, it must be noted in the method’s section of the manuscript that the informed consent of the participants and ethics committee approval from the institution where the study has been conducted have been obtained.</div>

It is authors’ responsibility to ensure that the article is in accordance with scientific and ethical standards and rules. And authors must ensure that submitted work is original. They must certify that the manuscript has not previously been published elsewhere or is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere, in any language. Applicable copyright laws and conventions must be followed. Copyright material (e.g. tables, figures or extensive quotations) must be reproduced only with appropriate permission and acknowledgement. Any work or words of other authors, contributors, or sources must be appropriately credited and referenced.All the authors of a submitted manuscript must have direct scientific and academic contribution to the manuscript. The author(s) of the original research articles is defined as a person who is significantly involved in “conceptualization and design of the study”, “collecting the data”, “analyzing the data”, “writing the manuscript”, “reviewing the manuscript with a critical perspective” and “planning/conducting the study of the manuscript and/or revising it”. Fund raising, data collection or supervision of the research group are not sufficient roles to be accepted as an author. The author(s) must meet all these criteria described above. The order of names in the author list of an article must be a co-decision and it must be indicated in the <a href="https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/BD7F3551BBE543F7A0E7628427A827AE" target="_blank">Copyright Agreement Form.</a> The individuals who do not meet the authorship criteria but contributed to the study must take place in the acknowledgement section. Individuals providing technical support, assisting writing, providing a general support, providing material or financial support are examples to be indicated in acknowledgement section.All authors must disclose all issues concerning financial relationship, conflict of interest, and competing interest that may potentially influence the results of the research or scientific judgment.When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published paper, it is the author’s obligation to promptly cooperate with the Editor to provide retractions or corrections of mistakes.

Editor-in-Chief evaluates manuscripts for their scientific content without regard to ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, citizenship, religious belief or political philosophy of the authors. He/She provides a fair double-blind peer review of the submitted articles for publication and ensures that all the information related to submitted manuscripts is kept as confidential before publishing.Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the contents and overall quality of the publication. He/She must publish errata pages or make corrections when needed.Editor-in-Chief does not allow any conflicts of interest between the authors, editors and reviewers. Only he has the full authority to assign a reviewer and is responsible for final decision for publication of the manuscripts in the Journal.Reviewers must have no conflict of interest with respect to the research, the authors and/or the research funders. Their judgments must be objective.Reviewers must ensure that all the information related to submitted manuscripts is kept as confidential and must report to the editor if they are aware of copyright infringement and plagiarism on the author’s side.A reviewer who feels unqualified to review the topic of a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.The editor informs the reviewers that the manuscripts are confidential information and that this is a privileged interaction. The reviewers and editorial board cannot discuss the manuscripts with other persons. The anonymity of the referees must be ensured. In particular situations, the editor may share the review of one reviewer with other reviewers to clarify a particular point.

Only those manuscripts approved by its every individual author and that were not published before in or sent to another journal, are accepted for evaluation.Submitted manuscripts that pass preliminary control are scanned for plagiarism using iThenticate software. After plagiarism check, the eligible ones are evaluated by editor-in-chief for their originality, methodology, the importance of the subject covered and compliance with the journal scope.The editor hands over the papers matching the formal rules to at least two national/international referees for double-blind peer review evaluation and gives green light for publication upon modification by the authors in accordance with the referees’ claims.

Peer Review

Only those manuscripts approved by its every individual author and that were not published before in or sent to another journal, are accepted for evaluation.Submitted manuscripts that pass preliminary control are scanned for plagiarism using iThenticate software. After plagiarism check, the eligible ones are evaluated by Editor-in-Chief for their originality, methodology, the importance of the subject covered and compliance with the journal scope. Editor-in-Chief evaluates manuscripts for their scientific content without regard to ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, citizenship, religious belief or political philosophy of the authors and ensures a fair double-blind peer review of the selected manuscripts.The selected manuscripts are sent to at least two national/international referees for evaluation and publication decision is given by Editor-in-Chief upon modification by the authors in accordance with the referees’ claims.Editor-in-Chief does not allow any conflicts of interest between the authors, editors and reviewers and is responsible for final decision for publication of the manuscripts in the Journal.Reviewers’ judgments must be objective. Reviewers’ comments on the following aspects are expected while conducting the review.- Does the manuscript contain new and significant information?- Does the abstract clearly and accurately describe the content of the manuscript?- Is the problem significant and concisely stated?- Are the methods described comprehensively?- Are the interpretations and consclusions justified by the results?- Is adequate references made to other Works in the field?- Is the language acceptable?Reviewers must ensure that all the information related to submitted manuscripts is kept as confidential and must report to the editor if they are aware of copyright infringement and plagiarism on the author’s side.A reviewer who feels unqualified to review the topic of a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.The editor informs the reviewers that the manuscripts are confidential information and that this is a privileged interaction. The reviewers and editorial board cannot discuss the manuscripts with other persons. The anonymity of the referees is important.

1. Istanbul Law Review is a peer reviewed Journal that is published four times a year (in March, June, September and December) and indexed by ESCI and ULAKBİM.2. The articles sent to be published in our journal should not be published elsewhere, not be submitted to other journals simultaneously even with the purpose of evaluation. In this purpose, the authors shall also be reguired to sign a letter of undertaking. 3. Articles that are considered as unsuitable with the publication principles by the Editorial Board are sent back to the author without review. It is sufficient for the article to be rejected by the Editorial Board if the spelling errors are extraordinary, the domestic and foreign resources required for the subject being examined are not utilized, the scientific criteria academic ethical principles are not complied with, the article subject does not have an up-to-date significance in terms of theory and-or practice. 4. Before the article is sent to the referees, it is subjected to plagiarism examination withthe help of special computer programs. If the digital similarity rate is above 20%, it is sufficient for the rejection of the article within the scope of the editorial review of the related software report. 5. The article to be published in the journal must be written following the highest academic standards. In this context, intellectual background and effort at the level of doctoral or associate professorship thesis are expected from the authors. 6. Papers that are approved by the Editorial Board are submitted to reviewers in line with blind peer review principle. Authors are not informed about the identity of the referees. According to the assessments of the referees, the paper may be approved for publication, required to resubmission with amendments or rejected on the basis of inadequate quality. The referee phase does not have a minimum or maximum duration. The follow-up of this issue is a duty and authority exclusively belonging to the Editorial Board. 7. As a result of the referee reports, the final discretion and responsibility regarding whether the article will be finally published and if it will be published, in which issue of the Journal, the editorial board is responsible. The existence of a single rejectionnegative referee report is sufficient to prevent the article from being published. 8. The completion of the referee stage does not give authors the authority to request a private or official document indicating that the article will be published. The authors, with the awareness and responsibility of this issue, apply for their articles to be published in Istanbul Law Review and to be subjected to peer review. 9. Authors, must provide their titles, institutions, correspondence address, phone number and e-mail address. 10. The Review accepts and publishes articles written in Turkish and English. The articles must include Turkish and English abstracts consisting of at least 250 and at most 300 words and at least five and at most fifteen keywords must be added to the paper in Turkish and English languages. Following the abstracts, there must also be an extended summary of 600-800 words for all the articles both in English and Turkish. The article subject to the publication application must contain a maximum of 20,000 words, including footnotes. There is no minimum word limit. 11. The main text and footnotes must be written in Times New Roman. Font size for the main text should be 12 with 1,5 line spacing while footnotes are written in font size 10 with 1 line spacing. Footnotes are to be shown at the bottom of the page. Citations must be made based on the OSCOLA citation system. Otherwise, the article is sent back to the author to make corrections without a referee assignment. Abbreviations and other issues in Turkish articles must be made following the announced spelling rules. The mentioned citation rules can be accessed at https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/ihm. 12. Author’s name must be written bottom right of the Turkish and English title of the paper and should end with a star symbol. Star footnote should consists of title and institution of the author and correspondence address, phone number and e- mail address. 13. The article must consist of a bibliography at the end and references need to be arranged in alphabetical order.14. To be limited with the copies published by the Faculty; financial rights regarding reproduction, distribution, public performance, derivative works and translation of the papers which are approved for publication are to be transferred to the faculty to be used on the print, auditory, digital etc. media, nationwide and worldwide. Authors accept not to receive any royalty payment.15. Besides articles, also translations may be published in the accepted languages. These papers might be approved or rejected by the Editorial Board. Original text of the translation and consent of the rightful owner are also should be enclosed with the translation. Translations are also subject to the assessment of reviewers.16. Papers should be sent to iuhfdergiler@istanbul.edu.tr in Microsoft Word (*.doc, *.docx) file type.17. Only one article of an applicant in the same publication year (4 issues) could be subject to peer review.18. The Editorial Board determines the articles to be included in one issue of the journal by considering criteria such as the purpose of maintaining the balance of Private LawPublic Law, the date of submission of the article to the Journal, the date of completion of the referee stage, the timeliness of the article subject, and the proportional balance on whether the authors are members of Istanbul University.19. The Editorial Board makes the utmost effort to publish all issues with the same number of articles as possible. An article that has completed all the necessary steps for publication, including the layout stage, as of the date of publication of an issue, could not be published in the relevant issue in terms of the number of articles, however, after a certain period after the relevant issue, within the framework of the system called Online-First it is published digitally before the issue is released.

Author Guidelines

Before beginning the online submission process please read the Information for Authors and make sure you have the followings available:Article submissions should be submitted directly to the e-mail address <a href="mailto:iuhfdergiler@istanbul.edu.tr" target="_blank">iuhfdergiler@istanbul.edu.tr</a>Cover letter to the editor<ul type="disc"> <ul type="circle"> <li>The category of the manuscript</li> <li>Confirming that “the paper is not under consideration for publication in another journal”.</li> <li>Including disclosure of any commercial or financial involvement.</li> <li>Confirming that the statistical design of the research article is reviewed.</li> <li>Confirming that last control for fluent English was done.</li> <li>Confirming that journal policies detailed in Information for Authors have been reviewed.</li> <li>Confirming that the references cited in the text and listed in the references section are in line with OSCOLA.</li> </ul> </ul><a href="https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/BD7F3551BBE543F7A0E7628427A827AE" target="_blank">Copyright Agreement Form</a>Permission of previous published material if used in the present manuscript<a href="https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/6444C75BA6B344EBB1496510B0BAF8A3" target="_blank">Title page</a><ul type="disc"> <ul type="circle"> <li>The category of the manuscript</li> <li>The title of the manuscript both in the languge of the manuscript and in English</li> <li>All authors’ names and affiliations (institution, faculty/department, city, country), e-mail addresses</li> <li>Corresponding author’s email address, full postal address, telephone and fax number</li> <li>ORCIDs of all authors.</li> </ul> </ul>Main Manuscript Document<ul type="disc"> <ul type="circle"> <li>The title of the manuscript both in the language of manuscript and in English</li> <li>Abstracts: 250-30 words</li> <li>Key words: 5-15 words </li> <li>Extended Abstract (600-1000 words) in English (for the articles which are not in English)</li> <li>Main article sections</li> <li>Grant Support (if exists)</li> <li>Conflict of Interest (if exists)</li> <li>Acknowledgement (if exits)</li> <li>References</li> <li>All tables, illustrations (figures) (including title, description, footnotes)</li> </ul> </ul>

Although references to review articles can be an efficient way to guide readers to a body of literature, review articles do not always reflect original work accurately. Readers should therefore be provided with direct references to original research sources whenever possible. On the other hand, extensive lists of references to original work on a topic can use excessive space on the printed page. Small numbers of references to key original papers often serve as well as more exhaustive lists, particularly since references can now be added to the electronic version of published papers, and since electronic literature searching allows readers to retrieve published literature efficiently. Papers accepted but not yet included in the issue are published online in the Early View section and they should be cited as “advance online publication”. Citing a “personal communication” should be avoided unless it provides essential information not available from a public source, in which case the name of the person and date of communication should be cited in parentheses in the text. For scientific articles, written permission and confirmation of accuracy from the source of a personal communication must be obtained.Reference Style and FormatIstanbul Law Review offers referencing style OSCOLA. OSCOLA (Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities) is published by the University of Oxford and detail and examples about the style can be found at https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/research-subject-groups/publications/oscolaOSCOLA Reference ExamplesPrimary SourcesDo not use full stops in abbreviations. Separate citations with a semi-colon.CasesGive the party names, followed by the neutral citation, followed by the Law Reports citation (eg AC, Ch, QB). If there is no neutral citation, give the Law Reports citation followed by the court in brackets. If the case is not reported in the Law Reports, cite the All ER or the WLR, or failing that a specialist report.Corr v IBC Vehicles Ltd [2008] UKHL 13, [2008] 1 AC 884.R (Roberts) v Parole Board [2004] EWCA Civ 1031, [2005] QB 410.Page v Smith [1996] AC 155 (HL).When pinpointing, give paragraph numbers in square brackets at the end of the citation. If the judgment has no paragraph numbers, provide the page number pinpoint after the court.Callery v Gray [2001] EWCA Civ 1117, [2001] 1 WLR 2112 [42], [45].Bunt v Tilley [2006] EWHC 407 (QB), [2006] 3 All ER 336 [1]–[37].R v Leeds County Court, ex p Morris [1990] QB 523 (QB) 530–31.If citing a particular judge:Arscott v The Coal Authority [2004] EWCA Civ 892, [2005] Env LR 6 [27] (Laws LJ).Statutes and statutory instrumentsAct of Supremacy 1558.Human Rights Act 1998, s 15(1)(b).Penalties for Disorderly Behaviour (Amendment of Minimum Age) Order 2004, SI 2004/3166.EU legislation and casesConsolidated Version of the Treaty on European Union [2008] OJ C115/13.Council Regulation (EC) 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings(EC Merger Regulation) [2004] OJ L24/1, art 5.Case C–176/03 Commission v Council [2005] ECR I–7879, paras 47–48.European Court of Human RightsOmojudi v UK (2009) 51 EHRR 10.Osman v UK ECHR 1998–VIII 3124.Balogh v Hungary App no 47940/99 (ECHR, 20 July 2004).Simpson v UK (1989) 64 DR 188.Secondary SourcesBooksGive the author’s name in the same form as in the publication, except in bibliographies, where you should give only the surname followed by the initial(s). Give relevant information about editions, translators and so forth before the publisher, and give page numbers at the end of the citation, after the brackets.Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (first published 1651, Penguin 1985) 268.Gareth Jones, Goff and Jones: The Law of Restitution (1st supp, 7th edn, Sweet &amp; Maxwell 2009).K Zweigert and H Kötz, An Introduction to Comparative Law (Tony Weir tr, 3rd edn, OUP 1998).Contributions to edited booksFrancis Rose, ‘The Evolution of the Species’ in Andrew Burrows and Alan Rodger (eds),Mapping the Law: Essays in Memory of Peter Birks (OUP 2006).EncyclopediasHalsbury’s Laws (5th edn, 2010) vol 57, para 53.Journal articlesPaul Craig, ‘Theory, “Pure Theory” and Values in Public Law’ [2005] PL 440.When pinpointing, put a comma between the first page of the article and the page pinpoint.JAG Griffith, ‘The Common Law and the Political Constitution’(2001) 117 LQR 42, 64.Online journalsGraham Greenleaf, ‘The Global Development of Free Access to Legal Information’ (2010)1(1) EJLT &lt; http://ejlt.org//article/view/17 &gt; accessed 27 July 2010.Command papers and Law Commission reportsDepartment for International Development, Eliminating World Poverty: Building our Common Future (White Paper, Cm 7656, 2009) ch 5.Law Commission, Reforming Bribery (Law Com No 313, 2008) paras 3.12–3.17.Websites and blogsSarah Cole, ‘Virtual Friend Fires Employee’ (Naked Law, 1 May 2009)&lt;www.nakedlaw.com/2009/05/index.html&gt; accessed 19 November 2009.Newspaper articlesJane Croft, ‘Supreme Court Warns on Quality’ Financial Times (London, 1 July 2010) 3.

<div><a href="https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/2BB9074E09174E55BE3CA4941309A672" target="_blank">Copyright Agreement Form</a><a href="https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/F6FB8940C9B54CC08CDC740CCFC6B8F3" target="_blank">Title Page</a></div>

<div>Ensure that the following items are present:● Cover letter to the editor<ul><li>The category of the manuscript</li><li>Confirming that “the paper is not under consideration for publication in another journal”.</li><li>Including disclosure of any commercial or financial involvement.</li><li>Confirming that the statistical design of the research article is reviewed.</li><li>Confirming that last control for fluent English was done.</li><li>Confirming that journal policies detailed in Information for Authors have been reviewed.</li><li>Confirming that the references cited in the text and listed in the references section are in line with OSCOLA</li></ul>● <a href="https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/BD7F3551BBE543F7A0E7628427A827AE" target="_blank">Copyright Agreement Form</a>● Permission of previously published copyrighted material if used in the present manuscript● <a href="https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/D4FC914AF17F43D6A40E18412A5E6731" target="_blank">Title page</a><ul><li>The category of the manuscript</li><li>The title of the manuscript</li><li>All authors’ names and affiliations (institution, faculty/department, city, country), e-mail addresses</li><li>Corresponding author’s email address, full postal address, telephone and fax number</li><li>ORCIDs of all authors.</li></ul>● Main Manuscript Document<ul><li>The title of the manuscript</li><li>Abstract: 250-300 words</li><li>Extended Summary (600-1000 words) in English for the articles which are not in English </li><li>Key words: 5-15 words</li><li>Main article sections</li><li>Grant support (if exists)</li><li>Conflict of interest (if exists)</li><li>Acknowledgement (if exists)</li><li>References</li><li>All tables, illustrations (figures) (including title, description, footnotes)</li></ul>​</div>

Issue Type	Regular
Editor(s)	Ömer Ekmekçi, Ali Paslı
Cover (PDF)
Front Pages (PDF)

Istanbul Law Review

VOLUME 80, ISSUE 4, 2022

Smart Contracts and the Problems Likely to Appear in the Field of Private Law Regarding Its Possible Implementation

Evaluation of Infancy Vaccine Applications within the Scope of Custodial Right

Transferring Benefits and Damages in Certain Bequeathed Property (Art. 518/I of the Turkish Civil Code)

Employee’s Use of Social Media as a Reason for Termination by Employer

The Conditions of Heirship Qualification in Roman Law

Can One Claim Compensation for Nervous Shock?

The Approach of The Court of Justice of the European Union Towards the Protection of Three-Dimensional Marks

Difficulties Regarding the Requirement of Indicating the Reason for Appeal in Criminal Procedural Law

Human Rights Education: A Historical, Methodological and Critical Analysis

Gender Perception Analysis of Istanbul University Law Faculty Students within the Framework of Developing a Law Education Model Based on Gender Equality

INFORMATION

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