ISSUING A POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR TURKISH LAWYER
ISSUING A POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR TURKISH LAWYER
Power of Attorney in Turkey
Format and Procedure of Issuing a Power of Attorney ( PoA ) for Turkish Lawyer
According to the Turkish Procedural Law, the lawyer shall be appointed and granted with a power of attorney in order to represent either Turkish or foreign client before the court in Turkey, the lawyer shall be appointed and granted with a power of attorney .
In Turkish Law, the power of attorney for law suits and any court representation can be solely issued on behalf of an attorney who is registered at the Bar Association and Turkish Unions of Bar and who is practicing law in Turkey.
Meaning of Power of Attorney
Here in Turkey, the lawyers use PoA a lot due to requirements by authorities. This is to save our clients from having to come to Turkey, often at inconvenient times, to do things that might be just procedural. The process is quite simple for Turkish citizens who speak Turkish but unfortunately, for foreign clients who are not in Turkey, the process consumes a bit time and money.
We, the lawyers at Kaya & Patner use PoA mainly to represent clients either companies and/or real persons , individuals before courts tribunal and arbitrator / mediator. Sometimes granted powers mainly for people setting up businesses or buying houses in Turkey and for dealing with any type of legal actions /cases in Turkey. However, they can be used for lots of other purposes.
Transferring the authority of the power of attorney to third person is regarded as unilateral legal transaction in Turkish Law. Power of attorney for legal case representation cannot be regarded as a contract. PoA is not a service contract in Turkish law, it is only a document transferring client’s will to an attorney for representation.
Granting and signing the Power in Turkey
The lawyers are usually working with a local Notary Public, and prepare the context of Power of Attorney in accordance with client/s requirements. . They will make sure it contains all the necessary clauses, powers to allow client’s transaction and representation to proceed smoothly.
The client can issue PoA at any notary in Turkey no matter her / his lawyer is located and member of which Bar Association. The client or lawyer could make an appointment to attend at the Notary’s office to sign the document. Afterwards, the Notary will register a copy of the PoA in his/her archive and give client an original copy of it. The PoA can be valid for a certain period of time e.g. for one/two years or validity period may be unlimited until grantor withdraws the authority. Most of PoA does not have time limit. The Power must be in Turkish. However, the certified sworn translator should be present at Notary to translate the contains of PoA in the client mother language that client will understand clearly.
However, the lawyer can be retained via POA even without its consent. Because, authorization for representation is a transaction which can be carried out one-sided. This does not mean that attorney approves providing a service on behalf of a client. Issuing a power of attorney is regarded as an offer at last but not a mutual offer. On the other hand, attorney is not obliged to accept that offer. There are sort of power of attorneys which can be issued under Turkish Law.
PoA for Specific Law Suit
PoA for General Law Suit
PoA for Representation other than before Turkish courts / tribunals
Before Other Institutions such as buying / selling property, cars,
- Special lawsuit PoA is used only to enable the lawyer for representation of a specific matter/ case. There must be photos of grantor on such PoA
- General lawsuit PoA enables Turkish attorney to represent the client in any case. The general procedural rule of PoA for validity is to be approved by a notary. Unlike in many countries, the only way to follow a case on behalf of a client is possible with a POA approved by a notary in Turkey.
- PoA for non-Legal Representation: PoA for Representation at other Institutions others than before Turkish courts / tribunals, such as buying / selling property, cars. There must be photos of grantor on such
Granting And Signing The Power In Another Country
It might not be convenient or possible for foreign client to be in Turkey to sign a Power of Attorney at Turkish Public Notary.
Turkey is a signatory to The Hague Convention of 1961 – ‘The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents’. If the client lives in a country that is also a signatory (and most are), the process of granting a Power of Attorney is quite straightforward.
It can be found as a full list of the Hague Convention signatories / countries on the relevant Wikipedia page.
If You Live In a Hague Convention Country
There are two options to get a PoA for Turkish lawyer in foreign country. First option is to be prepared by a local notary. In order to have a proper PoA, it shall be issued by a notary in foreign county in the local official language then needs to have apostil seal on it. The public notary in foreign country of course will also need certain information about grantor including proof of identity, proof of your address etc. Or if the client is a company, it needs to be proved that the person is legally have right to represent company for singing PoA.
Once the document has been signed, it has to be ‘legalized’. This process involves sending it to the appropriate body in the country. They certify that the Notary is qualified to deal with this document and that his signature on the document matches that in their records.
As the second option, PoA’s can be approved by Turkish embassies/ consulates in foreign countries. By this way, PoA’s are also valid without notary stamp and apostil seal. In other words, Turkish Embassies’ and / consulates are entitled to prepare and approve whether the PoA is given to a Turkish attorney in accordance with Turkish procedural laws or not.
If Client Does Not Live in a Hague Convention Country
The process is more complicated. The client should ask the local notary exactly what is required.
They will be familiar with the requirements. In none- the Hangue Convetion countries, PoA’s can be prepared and approved by Turkish embassies/ consulates, these PoA’s are also valid without notary stamp and apostil seal. In other words, Turkish Embassies’ and / consulates are entitled to prepare and approve whether the PoA is given to a Turkish attorney according to Turkish procedural laws.
The cost of preparing Powers of Attorney is much in Turkey due to translation of passport and interpretation services .If client decides to sign in person and, having come to Turkey, for some reason the client cannot remain until the documents and translation is finally ready at public notary.
Submission of Power of Attorneys Delivery To Court
It is not obligatory to submit the original PoA to the court. Turkish lawyer have authority to convert copied version of the PoA as certified as original with signature or stamp pertaining to the lawyer.
As mentioned above, it is general rule to file a case with PoA. However, there are some exceptional situations that the applicant can file a case without PoA. In case that occurrence of a damage is imminent and delay of filing a case due to lack of PoA might lead a damage, the court agrees to initiate the case on the condition that the PoA shall be deliver to the court as soon as possible in the course of proceedings.
Context Of Power of Attorney
Context of PoA are the authorities which can be used on behalf of a lawyer. Therefore, the client can limit the authorities of the lawyer. For instance, the client may insert a provision to the PoA in order to limit settlement capabilities of the lawyer.
In divorce cases, it is compulsory to have photo of the client on the POA. The case can be followed-up with more than a lawyer. In that case, it is possible to write lawyer’s name to PoA in order to retain more than a lawyer. In case of retaining more than one, the court correspondences and documents must be served to a lawyer selected by the court.
Resigning a Turkish Lawyer
The client certainly has right to expulse a lawyer by notifying the court with a petition. From that moment, the lawyer’s capability to follow the case is terminated.
The lawyer is also able to resign from the case by stating a sensible reason.
Av. A. Vahit KAYA LLM, MBA
Kaya & Partner Hukuki Danışmanlık
Lawyers – Rechtsberatung
Istanbul / Turkey
www.kayapartner.com info@kayapartner.com