Studies on the determination of specialized courts in the courts of original jurisdiction have been completed by the First Chamber of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors as of the date of 25.11.2021, and have been promulgated in the Official Gazette dated 30 November 2021 and numbered 31675. (https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2021/11/20211130-2.pdf)
It has been acknowledged that should there be no other provisions in special laws, the distribution of work between the chambers can be determined by the Council, taking the intensity and nature of the work into consideration, in order to ensure specialization. These holdings have been promulgated in the Official Gazette.
In ordinary jurisdiction, the jurisdiction of the courts of the first instance is principal, while the jurisdiction of specialized courts and the civil courts of peace is exceptional. All litigation and matters that are not expressly declared to be heard by a court other than the court of the first instance by a special legal provision shall be heard in the civil court of the first instance.
New legal disputes and crimes have also emerged in the face of a thriving economy in international relations and cutting-edge technology. The existence of the above-mentioned specialized courts for these disputes has become a necessity, and new specialized courts were established with the aforementioned holding of the Council dated 30.11.2021.
Although it has been extensively debated whether the Specialized Courts contradict the principle of a "natural judge", it is not considered as a violation in terms of the principle of natural judge, as long as it is based on the law and fulfills the other conditions of Article 6, therefore, it is accepted that the right to an independent and impartial tribunal established by law is not violated within the scope of paragraph 1 of article 6 of ECHR.
The most significant reason for this is that the specialized courts are not especially established as extraordinary courts. In fact, these courts are a practice of division of labor in ordinary jurisdiction. Some of the existing courts are authorized to hear certain cases. Thus, faster and more accurate holdings are aimed in disputes that require specialty. From this aspect, it can be underlined that specialized courts also serve the requirements of a fair trial by increasing the efficiency of the judiciary.
Specialized courts have been mentioned as a need for a long time, especially in the fields of IT, Finance and Tax, it can be stated that the existing holding is appropriate and accurate.
Within this scope;
1. The specialized holding numbered 1227 on the crimes regularised in the Tax Procedure Law
(Criminal Courts of First Instance of Istanbul numbered 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 respectively )
2. The specialized holding numbered 1228 on the juvenile heavy criminal court and places where juvenile courts are not established
3. The specialized holding numbered 1229 on crimes related to informatics (Criminal Courts of First Instance of Istanbul numbered 20, 21 and 22, and Heavy Penal Courts numbered 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 respectively) regarding the determination of courts to hear the cases to be filed.
4. The specialized holding numbered 1230 on the crimes regularised in the Law on Payment and Securities Settlement Systems, Payment Services and Electronic Money Institutions
(Because of the fact that the Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul numbered 3, 6th Heavy Penal Court of Ankara, 8th Heavy Penal Court of Istanbul have been determined as specialized courts for banking crimes, 6th Heavy Penal Court of Ankara and 8th Heavy Penal Court of Istanbul shall hear related cases,
5. The specialized holding numbered 1231 on the determination of the criminal judgeships of peace regarding the applications to be made against the holdings of administrative sanction, (the Criminal Judgeships of Peace of Istanbul numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4 and the Criminal Judgeships of Peace of Istanbul Anatolian numbered 6 and 7)
6. The specialized holding numbered 1232 on the determination of courts to hear cases to be filed regarding Finance (Commercial Courts of First Instance numbered 6, 7, 8 and 9 in Istanbul, Commercial Courts of First Instance numbered 6 and 7 in Istanbul Anatolia)
7. The specialized holding numbered 1233 on the determination of the courts to hear the cases regularized in the law of Trade Unions and Collective Bargaining Agreements, (4th Labor Court in Istanbul and Anatolia)
8. The specialized holding numbered 1234 on the determination of the courts to hear the cases to be filed regarding expropriation, (Civil Courts of First Instance of Istanbul numbered 3, 10, 11 and 12 and Civil Courts of First Instance of Istanbul Anatolia numbered 10,11 and 12)
9. The specialized holding numbered 1235 on the determination of the courts to hear the cases falling under the jurisdiction of the commercial court of the first instance in places where the commercial court of the first instance is not established or the jurisdiction is not connected to districts where these courts are located,
10. The specialized holding numbered 1236 on the determination of the courts to hear the cases falling under the jurisdiction of the Consumer Court in places where the Consumer Court is not established or the jurisdiction is not connected to the districts where these courts are located,
Hereby above-mentioned specialized holdings shall be implemented as of the date of 15.12.2021.