14.07.2023 Adana
The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu attended the “Judiciary and Business Symposium” organized by the Ministry of Justice, TOBB and Adana Chamber of Industry.
In his speech at the
symposium, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the segment where the
business world comes together the least is the judicial community and thanked
Minister Tunç for the organization.
Explaining that with
the support of the judicial community, they are endeavoring to spread methods
such as arbitration and mediation, which reduce the workload in the judiciary
and ensure that justice is administered in a timely manner, Hisarcıklıoğlu
said, “As TOBB, we say to all employers ‘try to solve the problem by using
these first’. In fact, as a nation, we are not foreign to this issue. Centuries
ago, our ancestors started practicing this and became a role model for the world.
It was solved in the akhi system, which forms the basis of our stock exchange
community. Then we forgot about it. The West took it from us and developed it.
Now we have just started to discover this ancient value of ours.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu, reminding
that they established the “Mediation and Dispute Resolution Center” (TOBBUYUM)
within TOBB, said: “Our chambers embraced this issue. They opened centers
within their own bodies and made mediation widespread. Today, there are 120
mediation and arbitration centers working under the coordination of harmony
within 120 chambers and exchanges in 65 provinces. Approximately 1200 personnel
work in these centers. In this way, the use of this system is increasing day by
day. To date, nearly 4 million files have been concluded with an agreement in
mediation in Türkiye. Since each file has at least two parties, 8 million of
our citizens shook hands and reached an agreement without going to court. In
fact, the ‘halalization’ that exists in our culture has been achieved. Can you
imagine, this is the most sublime part of this work. People come to an
agreement by saying goodbye. Normally, when you go to court, the losing side
says ‘I have been wronged’. Now the two sides, 8 million people, have come to
an agreement in this country. There cannot be a bigger phenomenon than this.
Lawsuits that used to take years are now over in days and weeks. In other
words, access to justice has also accelerated. Reconciliation was achieved in
70 percent of the incoming files, but 30 percent of them go to the courts. In
this way, a great burden on the judiciary has been reduced.”
- Singapore Convention
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that time is the most important capital in commercial life and continued as
follows: “Every regulation that will facilitate trade and strengthen the
economy and our judicial system is important and valuable for us. In developed
economies, 75 percent of commercial disputes are finalized with alternative
resolution methods. Only one out of 4 disputes goes to the standard judicial
system. Our government has also become a party to the Singapore Convention with
a great vision for the development of mediation. We thank them for this. Thus,
it has become possible to enforce the settlement agreements signed as a result
of mediation without the need for an additional court or arbitral decision. I
would like to take this opportunity to thank the Ministry of Justice and our
General Director Mr. Hakan Öztatar for the development of mediation.”
Explaining that they
ensured the widespread use of arbitration, which responds to the needs of
commercial life and offers a fast, specialized, flexible and less costly
judicial service, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “In the past, foreign direct investment
in Türkiye did not exceed 1 billion dollars. We always dreamed of reaching 10
billion dollars. Then our government added arbitration to our national
legislation. With the effect of this, the attractiveness of Türkiye increased
in the eyes of investors in Türkiye. Incoming foreign direct capital increased
from around 800 million dollars to 25 billion dollars. This is how we were able
to attract the foreign capital we dreamed of. We were able to reach the average
of 10 billion dollars.”
- “We must work for the right to be strong”
Stating that as the business
world, they believe that if the law is strong, people’s trust in each other,
institutions and the system will increase, Hisarcıklıoğlu said: “In fact, the
place of law is very important in our culture and belief. We are a nation that
believes that justice is the foundation of property. We want a Türkiye where
right makes might, not the opposite. That is why we must maintain the balance
of the scales of justice. We must work for the right to be strong. On the other
hand, from time to time we encounter a wrong approach. It is not justice to
take a stand on one side because ‘one side is weak and the other side is strong’.
We want a Türkiye where the right is strong.”
Emphasizing that one of
the most important elements of the business and investment environment is the
guarantee of contractual obligations, Hisarcıklıoğlu said
“For the market economy
to function fully, the state must guarantee the rights of individuals to life,
property and free enterprise.
- “The stronger our country and economy will become”
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that the accumulation in the expert witness system causes the judicial process
to become longer and more costly:
“For this reason,
importance should be given to the development of human capital and
specialization of our judges. The personal rights of our judicial community
should be improved as much as the physical conditions. Independence and
impartiality of the judiciary is a prerequisite for ensuring justice. When
there is no justice, there is no strong government, especially in a country. It
is justice that sustains all these. The scales of justice must weigh correctly,
the sword of justice must cut correctly and on time. Then it will strengthen
the belief in seeking and obtaining rights, in other words, the trust in the
system. The more successful we are in making our legal system healthier, the
stronger our country and economy will become. Therefore, as the real sector, we
have supported every regulation that will strengthen the judicial system and
increase its capacity and effectiveness. We will continue to support it.”
- Justice Minister Tunç
Minister of Justice
Yılmaz Tunç reminded that Adana was also affected by the earthquakes centered
in Kahramanmaraş on February 6, and stated that the efforts to heal the wounds
of the earthquake and to get the cities back on their feet are continuing
unabated. Yılmaz Tunç stated that the judiciary showed great efforts in
collecting evidence in the earthquake zones.
Pointing to the
importance of the relationship between law and economy, Tunç noted that
investors want predictability and that the most prominent feature of the rule
of law is the principle of legal security and legal efficiency.
Minister Tunç stated
that investors would also want an environment in which they would feel safe and
not face arbitrary practices, and that the main pillar on which the economy is
based is trust.
Stating that they will
continue to develop mediation, Tunç reminded that the compulsory mediation
practice in rent, condominium ownership, partnership elimination and
neighborhood disputes will start on September 1st. Yılmaz Tunç
reported that an agreement was reached in 70 percent of the files that went to
mediation.
Stating that they will
endeavor to raise confidence in justice even higher, Tunç said: “The reform process
will continue in the sense that the judiciary can function more fairly,
effectively and quickly. We are currently preparing a Human Rights Action Plan.
We will prepare the Human Rights Action Plan for the Century of Türkiye. We
want the Century of Türkiye to be the century of justice. As the Ministry of
Justice, we will continue to provide technical support to the Grand National
Assembly of Türkiye in legislative arrangements in order to create an
environment where legal predictability and legal security can be fully ensured
in an effort to further increase confidence in justice.”
- Adana Chamber of Industry President Zeki Kıvanç
Zeki Kıvanç, President
of Adana Chamber of Industry, stated that law means trust, production and
investment.
Explaining that when
the real sector has a sense of confidence, it can take risks more easily and
make investments and production, and that this will contribute to the welfare
of the country with the employment it will create, Kıvanç said: “The
relationship between the judicial system and the business world plays a
critical role in strengthening society’s understanding of justice and the rule
of law. Business confidence in an effective and fair judicial system is one of
the cornerstones of economic growth and sustainable development. It is
therefore extremely important that we come together to further strengthen the
relationship between the judiciary and the business community and find common
solutions. In this symposium, we will discuss current problems in the judicial
system, evaluate legislative arrangements and focus on the challenges faced by
the business world. At the same time, we will explore how to respond to the
needs of the business world by taking into account new developments and create
an opportunity to increase mutual understanding.”
- Ministry of Justice General Director of Legal Affairs
Hakan Öztatar
Hakan Öztatar, General
Director of Legal Affairs of the Ministry of Justice, said that the meeting was
organized in order to identify the problems of the business world and develop
solutions.
Stating that they took
the first step in Adana with the support of Adana Chamber of Industry (ADASO),
Öztatar said: “We attach importance to the coming together of the judiciary and
the business world with the participation of all parties, the mutual exchange
of ideas, the prolongation of judicial processes and the discussion of
solutions, the determination of the actions to be taken to increase the use of
alternative dispute resolution methods such as mediation and arbitration in
legal disputes and the discussion of solution proposals, and the elimination of
these in order to identify the problems experienced due to legislation or
practice. With this in mind, while creating the symposium program, it was aimed
to bring all stakeholders together directly and, more importantly, to ensure
that all stakeholders communicate and understand each other by creating an
environment where academics who have carried out valuable studies in order to
identify the mutual problems of the judiciary and the business world and to
find solutions to these problems, as well as law enforcement officers and
valuable actors who are the interlocutors of the issue can share their
opinions, knowledge and experiences.”