Rules of Documentary Proof and Their Exceptions under Turkish Law
Rules of documentary proof brought under the Code of Civil Procedure No. 1086 are also existent in the new Code No. 6100. However some amendments are made regarding the exceptions of said rules. The most important one of these amendments is concerning commencement of proof. In order to be applied as commencement of proof, the documents need not be written anymore. All instruments suitable for evidential purposes and considered under the document definition set forth in the Code, may be used as commencement of proof provided that they carry the other two conditions. In this context, electronic documents may also be applied as commencement of proof. According to the Code, evidentiary agreements that eliminate or greatly curtail a party’s right to produce evidence are deemed invalid. Recent interpretations by the Court of Appeals that may create new exceptions to the rules documentary proof are not included in the making of the new Code. Number of cases requiring documentary proof may be decreased significantly since the monetary limit of the documentary rule is increased over fourfold the current limit.
