Yargıtay, the Court of Cassation or Supreme Court of Appeals, is Türkiye’s court of final review for civil and criminal judgments that fall within its statutory jurisdiction. Its role is to examine legal errors and promote consistent application of the law. Its duties are set out in Article 13 of the Court of Cassation Law (Law No. 2797).
Yargıtay reviews judgments through the cassation procedure known as temyiz. This should be distinguished from istinaf, review by a regional court of appeal. The available route depends on the court, the type of decision and the applicable procedural rules.
For ordinary civil and criminal appeals, Yargıtay examines whether the challenged judgment complies with the law. A cassation appeal is not a new trial in which all the evidence is presented again. The legal grounds for review are addressed in CMK Article 288 and HMK Article 371.
Review of legal errors: cassation review can address errors in the application of substantive or procedural law.
Guidance for similar disputes: published judgments help readers understand how the court interprets a legal provision. A decision must be read in the context of its facts, reasoning and subsequent legal developments.
Unification of case law: ordinary judgments should be distinguished from içtihadı birleştirme decisions. Article 45 of Law No. 2797 makes the latter binding on Yargıtay’s general assemblies, chambers and the ordinary courts in similar legal matters. Official statutory source.
No. Appeal eligibility and procedural requirements depend on the type of proceedings and the decision being challenged. Filing within the applicable time limit is not, by itself, sufficient.
Criminal proceedings: the Code of Criminal Procedure (Law No. 5271, CMK) regulates which judgments may be appealed. Article 294 requires the appellant to state the grounds for seeking reversal. Article 298 provides for rejection where the petition does not contain grounds of appeal. CMK Articles 286, 294 and 298.
Civil proceedings: the Code of Civil Procedure (Law No. 6100, HMK) has separate rules on appealable decisions, exclusions and the appeal petition. The category of dispute and, where applicable, the statutory monetary threshold must be checked. HMK Articles 361, 362 and 364.
Time limits and transitional provisions also matter. Law No. 7499 amended criminal appeal procedure in 2024; an older version of a procedural code should not be used to calculate a current filing deadline. See Law No. 7499, Articles 19–22. For an introduction to the earlier civil appeal stage, see our guide to challenging a civil court decision.
The court first considers whether the appeal meets the procedural requirements. Depending on the proceedings and the legal issue, an appeal may be rejected, the judgment may be upheld, or it may be quashed in whole or in part. The procedural codes also provide for correction without a retrial in specified circumstances.
After quashing, the next step depends on the applicable procedure. A court may follow the quashing decision or, where the law permits, maintain its judgment through a direnme decision. The rules are addressed separately in HMK Article 373 for civil proceedings and CMK Article 307 for criminal proceedings. It is therefore inaccurate to describe every quashing decision as requiring immediate and unconditional compliance by the lower court.
The reasoned judgment identifies the court’s conclusions and their legal basis. An individual application to the Constitutional Court is a separate remedy with its own admissibility requirements, rather than another ordinary cassation appeal.
Workload, chamber composition and case-processing statistics should be associated with a specific reporting year. Historical figures do not describe the court’s current structure or predict the duration of an individual case. Yargıtay publishes official annual activity reports, including its 2025 report, for readers examining changes over time.
For a person considering an appeal, the starting points are the reasoned judgment, the available remedy, the notification date and the applicable procedural requirements. Relevant Yargıtay judgments can help explain the legal issues; citing a previous decision does not guarantee the result of another case.
Yargıtay decisions are important for understanding the interpretation and application of Turkish civil and criminal law. Appeal eligibility, grounds and the consequences of quashing must be assessed under the rules governing the particular proceedings. Readers seeking representation can consult our guide to choosing a lawyer in Türkiye.
The links above identify the relevant statutory provisions. The TBMM links for Laws No. 5271 and 6100 are their enactment texts, not continuously consolidated editions. Read them with subsequent amendments and applicable transitional rules; Law No. 7499 is linked separately for the 2024 criminal procedure changes.
Updated 11 September 2026: clarified appeal eligibility and grounds, distinguished civil and criminal procedure after quashing, removed unsourced institutional figures and outcome claims, and added official sources.
