Newsletter-21

372 NEWSLETTER 2016 Recent Decision of the Court of Cassation on the Forfeiture of the Right to Submit Evidence When the Respondent Fails to Submit its Statement of Reply* Att. Ezgi Babur von Schwander In its recent decision, the General Assembly of Civil Chambers, the Court of Cassation (“GACC”) has analyzed the possibility to submit evidence for a respondent who failed to submit its statement of reply, and a very important decision was granted. In the decision dated 20.04.2016 and numbered 2014/2-695 E., 2016/522 K. of the GACC, it has been decided that the request to submit evidence made by a respondent who failed to submit its statement of reply within the prescribed period cannot be granted. The relevant decision of the GACC of the Court of Cassation is analyzed in this article. In General The right of the parties to submit evidence, and the timing and scope of this right, are closely related to the right to due process and to submit its claims and defenses, as well as the principle to conduct and finalize the litigation efficiently and within a short time. Accordingly, when granting a decision within the scope of the right to due pro- cess set forth under Article 27 of the Turkish Code of Civil Procedure (“TCCP”), in addition to the right of proof, the principles pertaining to efficient conduct of the litigation proceedings shall be taken into consideration. Consequences of the Respondent’s Failure to Submit its Statement of Reply Pursuant to Article 127 of the TCCP, the prescribed period to submit the statement of reply is two weeks upon notification of the * Article of July 2016