Draft Compulsory Enforcement Law Published: A New Law on the Way

The amendment of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law No. 2004 (“Previous Law”), which has been in force since 1932 and has undergone partial changes from time to time to meet evolving needs, has long been on the agenda. In this context, the “Draft Compulsory Enforcement Law” (“Draft Law”), prepared by the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law Scientific Commission and published on the website of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Türkiye, represents a significant step toward the anticipated reform.

The deadline for submitting the opinions and suggestions by lawyers, judges and other related persons to the Draft Law has been set as 31 January 2026, and it has been announced to the public that, following the receipt of these opinions, the Draft Law text will be discussed in the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye. We have compiled for you the main innovations of the new law, which have attracted great public interest across the country.

First, one of the notable aspects is the renaming of the Previous Law to “Compulsory Enforcement Law.” Whether this change in terminology is appropriate from a legal technical and practical perspective has already become a topic of debate.

Under the Draft Law, for a first-instance court decision to be subject to enforcement proceeding with judgment, it must be final at the time it is issued, with no appeals lodged, or the appeal must have been rejected by the regional court of justice. Accordingly, if the draft becomes law in its current form, first-instance court decisions can no longer be enforced without undergoing appeal review as a general rule. This is expected to bring significant changes to enforcement practices and has already drawn criticism for potentially delaying creditors from recovering their claims.

In enforcement process without judgment, it is now mandatory to rely on a document in order to initiate enforcement proceedings. Accordingly, the creditor must possess either an official document evidencing the claim subject to enforcement or a promissory instrument capable of proving the grounds of the claim. Consequently, the agreements concluded verbally or through e-mail will increasingly lose reliability. Moreover, the procedure of annulment of objection by applying to the enforcement courts, where the evidentiary requirements were in favor of the creditor, has been abolished; in such cases, the objection may only be revoked by filing an action for annulment of objection before the general courts.

The Draft Law also foresees fundamental changes in bankruptcy and concordat procedures, with the bankruptcy courts being reinstated. These courts will be responsible for handling all claims, matters, complaints, and lawsuits arising from bankruptcy and concordat, including enforcement through bankruptcy and the annulment or closure of bankruptcy. This aims to accelerate processes under a centralized court system, enhance specialization, and ensure consistency in practice.

Additionally, as part of regulations aimed at protecting the public interest and third parties not involved in enforcement, transactions contrary to mandatory provisions of the law will be considered null and void automatically.

Finally, the Draft Law does not include provisions specific to negotiable instruments or collecting bank claims. In this regard, procedures for enforcing negotiable instruments and bank receivables are entirely removed, and such claims will now be subject to the general rules of enforcement proceeding without judgement. This change is considered one of the most radical structural reforms introduced by the Draft Law.