Newsletter-21

374 NEWSLETTER 2016 ensure that the litigation proceedings are conducted within a reason- able time, in light of the jurisprudence of the court, and also, it has been underlined that the parties shall have a reasonable opportunity to present their claims to the courts, under conditions that would not place themselves in a disadvantageous position vis-à-vis the counterparty. Again, the principle to finalize the lawsuits with minimum cost, set forth under Article 141 of the Turkish Constitution, has been taken into consideration, and the right to submit evidence, and the limits thereof, have been evaluated in light of these principles. Analysis under the Articles of the TCCP Pertaining to Submitting Evidence Following the analysis of the articles referred to above, the GACC of the Court of Cassation has analyzed the articles of the TCCP pertaining to submitting evidence. Pursuant to Article 129/1/e of the TCCP, the statement of reply shall contain clarification on the evidence supporting each of the facts brought forward as a basis for the defense. Additionally, pursuant to Article 140/5 of the TCCP, a definitive time period of two weeks shall be granted in favor of the parties at the preliminary review hearing, in order to submit the documents referred to in their statements, but which have not been submitted to the court, or to make the necessary explanations so that the documents, which are required to be requested from third parties, may be submitted. If these obligations are unfulfilled within the definitive time period granted, the failing party shall be deemed to have waived its right to rely upon the relevant evidence. The TCCP, with regard to this article, emphasized that the phrase “referred to in their statements” has been used in the wording of the article. Again, pursuant to Article 145 of the TCCP, the parties may not submit evidence after the expiry of the time period prescribed by law. However, if the late submission of evidence does not aim to delay the litigation proceedings, or the failure to submit the evidence does not arise from the fault of the relevant party, the court may allow this evidence to be submitted later.