Those Whose Land Has Been Confiscated Will Receive Their Compensation Faster
Official titleDecision of the Constitutional Court Dated 13/5/2026 and Numbered E: 2026/24, K: 2026/106
The Constitutional Court annulled the statutory provision allowing the administration to request a stay of enforcement (tehir-i icra) without providing security in lawsuits for de facto expropriation without expropriation procedures, finding it contrary to the right to property.
Details of the Regulation
In the objection application made by the Bursa 4th Civil Court of Enforcement, it was argued that the second paragraph of Additional Article 4 added to the Expropriation Statute No. 2942 was contrary to the constitution. The rule in question provided that the administration could file a request to halt enforcement 'without depositing security' against a citizen who puts a court judgment into enforcement in compensation lawsuits filed due to de facto expropriation without expropriation procedures.
In its examination, the Constitutional Court recalled that the right to property can only be restricted in the public interest and by statute. Emphasizing that the phenomenon of de facto expropriation without expropriation procedures is already an unlawful act of the administration, the court decided that granting an additional privilege to the administration against the citizen who is the creditor in such lawsuits disrupts the balance between the right to property and the public interest.
As a result of the decision, it was stated that the interference with the right to property was disproportionate and constituted a violation of Articles 13, 35, and 46 of the constitution, and it was ruled that the relevant provision be annulled. With this annulment decision, if the administration wishes to halt such enforcement proceedings henceforth, it will be obliged to provide security within the framework of general provisions.
Questions You Might Have
- Will the administration now provide security in every enforcement proceeding?
- The exemption from security has only been abolished in enforcement proceedings related to compensation lawsuits filed due to 'de facto expropriation without expropriation procedures'.
- What is the citizen's gain from this judgment?
- The citizen can collect the awarded compensation faster or, if the administration wishes to halt enforcement, knows that their claim is guaranteed (thanks to the security).
- Was the judgment rendered unanimously?
- No, the decision was rendered by a majority of votes, with the dissenting vote of one member (Yıldız Seferinoğlu).
Key Terms
- Kamulaştırmasız El Atma
- It is the administration's actual confiscation of a person's immovable property or building a structure on it without carrying out a due expropriation procedure.
- İcranın Geri Bırakılması (Tehir-i İcra)
- It is the procedure of halting enforcement proceedings after a court judgment is put into enforcement, until a decision is rendered by a higher court.
- Teminat
- It refers to guarantees, such as money or a bank letter of guarantee, submitted to the court by a debtor who wishes to halt enforcement proceedings in order to cover the creditor's potential damages.
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REGAS Commentary
This judgment is a historic gain for citizens whose immovable property has been unlawfully confiscated. In the past, administrations could freeze the enforcement process for years by saying 'I am the state' without depositing any guarantee. The administration and the citizen are now placed on equal footing at the enforcement table; the administration that wishes to delay paying the money is obliged to submit a security covering the debt to the court.