Halt from the Constitutional Court to the Cancellation of Documents by Regulation!
Official titleDecision of the Constitutional Court Dated 24/2/2026 and Application No. 2022/6576
The Constitutional Court has ruled that there was a violation of rights, finding the sanction of cancelling the D2 transport authorization certificate based solely on a regulation without a clearly established statutory framework to be contrary to the principle of legality in crime and punishment.
Details of the Regulation
The applicant company was penalized while carrying out commercial and unscheduled passenger transport activities under a D2 authorization certificate, on the grounds that during an inspection, it operated outside the specified conditions by carrying passengers through collecting individual fares as if it were scheduled. On the grounds that it repeated similar violations five times within the same calendar year, the company's D2 authorization certificate was ex officio cancelled pursuant to the relevant article of the Road Transport Regulation. The company filed a lawsuit in the administrative court, arguing that there was no statutory basis for the cancellation process and that such a severe sanction could not be introduced by regulation; however, its lawsuit was dismissed. Thereupon, the company filed an individual application with the Constitutional Court, claiming that the principle of legality in crime and punishment was violated.
In its examination, the General Assembly of the Constitutional Court stated that administrative sanctions such as the cancellation of authorization certificates, which result in the total termination or severe restriction of commercial activity, must be evaluated within the scope of the principle of "legality in crime and punishment" guaranteed under Article 38 of the Constitution due to the severity of their punitive dimension. The Court emphasized that although flexibility may be granted in administrative offenses and penalties, the minimum limits and principles of the acts subject to sanction and the penalties to be applied must be directly indicated in the law.
In the concrete case, it was determined that a basic legal framework regarding the cancellation of authorization certificates was not drawn in the relevant articles of the Road Transport Law No. 4925, and which concrete acts would lead to a severe sanction such as document cancellation was left entirely to the regulation, which is a regulatory act of the administration. Due to the lack of the element of legal certainty, it was decided by a majority of votes that the applicant's right protected under Article 38 of the Constitution was violated, and the file was sent to the relevant administrative court for a retrial in order to eliminate the violation. In addition, it was decided to inform the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) for the resolution of the structural problem.
Questions You Might Have
- Will the Ministry no longer be able to cancel the documents of carriers who do not comply with the rules?
- It can cancel them, but for this to happen, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) must first enact a law that explicitly writes into the text of the law which concrete violations will lead to document cancellation. A penalty cannot be imposed merely through an amendment to a regulation.
- Will the applicant company's document be returned immediately?
- The decision does not directly return the document. However, since the file has been sent to the Istanbul 6th Administrative Court, the court will rehear the case based on the Constitutional Court's violation decision and will highly likely annul the cancellation action.
- What did the dissenting members argue?
- The dissenting members argued that in dynamic fields such as transportation, the administration should be able to make flexible regulations through administrative rules, that the current statutory regulation provided a sufficient framework, and that there was no violation.
Key Terms
- Suçta ve Cezada Kanunilik İlkesi
- The fundamental legal principle regulated in Article 38 of the Constitution, which stipulates that no one shall be punished for an act that is not explicitly defined as a crime by law.
- D2 Yetki Belgesi
- According to passenger transport legislation, the type of document issued to those who will engage in commercial passenger transport with occasional or shuttle services according to group passenger status, without being bound to a specific time and fare schedule.
- Belirlilik İlkesi
- The requirement that legal regulations must be clear, precise, and understandable enough for individuals to orient their conduct accordingly and foresee in advance what kind of consequences which acts will entail.
- Engel Kriterleri
- The set of criteria (legal classification, nature of the offense, severity of the penalty) developed by the ECtHR to determine whether an administrative sanction is actually of a 'punitive/criminal' nature.
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REGAS Commentary
This decision reinforces the constitutional guarantee of commercial enterprises and the transport sector against administrative penalties. Administrations (Ministries, Municipalities, etc.) will not be able to cancel companies' licenses, permits, or activity certificates based solely on regulations or circulars without their powers and limits being clearly delineated in law. The decision is of great importance in terms of bringing the administration's regulatory authority within the constitutional framework.