01/11
Worked flow: from service to the last day
Follow how a civil appeal period runs in 2026 in five steps. You can pause the animation and step through it yourself.
Service
Friday, 15 May 2026
The judgment is formally served
In civil appeals (istinaf) the period starts when the judgment is properly served on each party (Code of Civil Procedure, HMK art. 345).
Clock starts
Saturday, 16 May 2026
The day of service is not counted
The period starts running the day after service; the day of service is not counted (HMK arts. 91 and 92).
Two weeks
Friday, 29 May 2026
The two-week period runs out
A period set in weeks ends on the corresponding weekday (HMK art. 92/2). In 2026 this date falls in the Kurban Bayrami (Eid al-Adha) holiday.
Holiday rollover
30 and 31 May 2026
The holiday and the weekend are skipped
When the last day is an official holiday, the period ends at the close of working hours on the first working day after it (HMK art. 93).
Last day
Monday, 1 June 2026
File the petition by the end of this day
The appeal petition must be filed before working hours end on Monday, 1 June 2026.
Service
02/11
The short answer
In Turkish civil proceedings, the period to appeal to a regional court of appeal (istinaf) or to file a cassation appeal with the Court of Cassation (temyiz) is two weeks from proper service of the judgment (Code of Civil Procedure No. 6100, HMK arts. 345 and 361 (opens in a new tab)). In criminal proceedings both periods are also two weeks from service of the reasoned judgment (Criminal Procedure Code No. 5271, CMK arts. 273 and 291 (opens in a new tab)). In administrative proceedings the period for both is thirty days (Administrative Procedure Law No. 2577, İYUK arts. 45 and 46 (opens in a new tab)).
Counting starts without the day of service. If the last day of a period set in weeks falls on a weekend or an official holiday, the period ends at the close of working hours on the first working day after it. For cases subject to the judicial recess, a period that would expire during the recess is extended by one week from the day the recess ends (HMK art. 104 (opens in a new tab)).
This guide lists the main periods with their legal basis, explains service and holiday rules, walks through three worked examples and shows how a firm can reduce the risk of missing a deadline.
03/11
Deadline types and legal basis
The table below summarizes frequently used filing and response periods. Special statutes may set different periods; HMK art. 345 itself leaves special provisions on appeal periods untouched.
- 01
Civil appeal (istinaf)
- Period
- 2 weeks
- Starts
- Formal service of the judgment
- Legal basis
- HMK art. 345 (opens in a new tab)
- 02
Response to an appeal petition
- Period
- 2 weeks
- Starts
- Service of the appeal petition
- Legal basis
- HMK art. 347/2 (opens in a new tab)
- 03
Cross-appeal by joinder
- Period
- Within the response period (2 weeks)
- Starts
- Service of the appeal petition
- Legal basis
- HMK art. 348 (opens in a new tab)
- 04
Civil cassation appeal (temyiz)
- Period
- 2 weeks
- Starts
- Service of the regional court of appeal decision
- Legal basis
- HMK art. 361/1 (opens in a new tab)
- 05
Statement of defence (written procedure)
- Period
- 2 weeks; one extension of up to 1 month may be requested
- Starts
- Service of the statement of claim
- Legal basis
- HMK art. 127 (opens in a new tab)
- 06
Objection to an interim injunction granted without hearing the other side
- Period
- 1 week
- Starts
- Enforcement of the injunction, or service of the enforcement record if the party was absent
- Legal basis
- HMK art. 394/2 (opens in a new tab)
- 07
Restoration of the previous state (missed deadline)
- Period
- 2 weeks
- Starts
- The obstacle ends
- Legal basis
- HMK art. 96/1 (opens in a new tab)
- 08
Criminal appeal (istinaf)
- Period
- 2 weeks
- Starts
- Service of the reasoned judgment
- Legal basis
- CMK art. 273/1 (opens in a new tab)
- 09
Criminal cassation appeal (temyiz)
- Period
- 2 weeks
- Starts
- Service of the reasoned judgment
- Legal basis
- CMK art. 291/1 (opens in a new tab)
- 10
Objection to a judge's or court's order (criminal)
- Period
- 2 weeks
- Starts
- The party learns of the order
- Legal basis
- CMK art. 268/1 (opens in a new tab)
- 11
Filing an administrative action
- Period
- 60 days (30 days before tax courts)
- Starts
- Written notification or service
- Legal basis
- İYUK art. 7 (opens in a new tab)
- 12
Administrative appeal (istinaf)
- Period
- 30 days
- Starts
- Service of the decision
- Legal basis
- İYUK art. 45/1 (opens in a new tab)
- 13
Administrative cassation appeal (temyiz)
- Period
- 30 days
- Starts
- Service of the decision
- Legal basis
- İYUK art. 46/1 (opens in a new tab)
- 14
Objection to a payment order (enforcement proceedings)
- Period
- 7 days
- Starts
- Service of the payment order
- 15
Complaint against an enforcement office act
- Period
- 7 days
- Starts
- The party learns of the act
- Legal basis
- İİK art. 16/1 (opens in a new tab)
- 16
Appeal against an enforcement court decision
- Period
- 2 weeks
- Starts
- Service of the decision
- Legal basis
- İİK art. 363 (opens in a new tab)
Check the monetary thresholds as well: the appeal and cassation thresholds in HMK arts. 341 and 362 are raised at the start of every calendar year by the revaluation rate (HMK Additional Article 1 (opens in a new tab)); check the current text and case law for the date whose amount applies. Even with the period respected, an appeal against a final decision is rejected.
Deadlines change with judicial reform packages. The civil cassation period is two weeks. Law No. 7499 (2024) replaced the seven-day and fifteen-day criminal appeal and cassation periods, which ran from the pronouncement of the judgment, with a two-week period running from service of the reasoned judgment. Do not rely on older sources without comparing them with the current text.
04/11
When does the period start? Service and counting
In civil proceedings, periods start from the date of service on the parties or, where the law says so, from the date of pronouncement (HMK art. 91 (opens in a new tab)). The appeal period starts not with pronouncement but with proper service of the judgment on each party (HMK art. 345/1 (opens in a new tab)). In the same case the start date can therefore differ per party, so never rely on the other side's service date.
For periods counted in days, the day of service or pronouncement is not counted (HMK art. 92/1 (opens in a new tab)). In criminal procedure, periods set in days start on the day after service (CMK art. 39/1 (opens in a new tab)); in administrative proceedings they start on the day after service, publication or announcement (İYUK art. 8/1 (opens in a new tab)).
Electronic service
Service on lawyers registered with a bar association is made electronically (Notification Law No. 7201, art. 7/a (opens in a new tab)). Under the statute, electronic service is deemed made at the end of the fifth day after the document reaches the addressee's electronic address. Confirm the date to rely on from the notification record in UYAP, the national judiciary information system; details such as earlier opening of the document depend on the implementing regulation.
Paper service
If the addressee is not at the address, the document is handed to the neighbourhood head (muhtar), a member of the council of elders or a municipal police officer, and the day the notice is posted on the door counts as the service date (Notification Law art. 21 (opens in a new tab)). That date can differ from the day you actually learn of the judgment; count from the date on the service record, not from the day you found out.
Periods set in weeks and months
A period set in weeks, months or years ends at the close of working hours on the day that corresponds to the day it started, in the last week, month or year (HMK art. 92/2 (opens in a new tab)). If the judgment is served on a Friday, a two-week period ends on the Friday two weeks later. If there is no corresponding day, for example the 31st, the period ends on the last day of that month.
05/11
When the last day is a holiday
Official holidays are counted inside the period; they are not skipped while counting. But if the last day falls on an official holiday, the period ends at the close of working hours on the first working day after it (HMK art. 93 (opens in a new tab)). The same approach applies in administrative proceedings (İYUK art. 8/2 (opens in a new tab)) and in criminal procedure (CMK art. 39/4 (opens in a new tab)).
In practice weekends are treated as non-working days too. If the last day is a Saturday or Sunday, the period ends on Monday; if Monday is also an official holiday, it rolls on to the next working day.
Religious holidays last several days: Ramazan Bayrami (Eid al-Fitr) is three and a half days and Kurban Bayrami (Eid al-Adha) four and a half days, and holiday eves (arife) are off from 13:00 (Law No. 2429 on National Holidays and Public Holidays (opens in a new tab)). When the last day is a holiday eve, filing in the morning avoids any argument. Do not treat administrative leave days as holidays either; if a deadline falls on them, file earlier.
06/11
How the judicial recess affects deadlines
The judicial recess (adli tatil) starts on 20 July every year and ends on 31 August (HMK art. 102 (opens in a new tab)). In cases subject to the recess, if a statutory period would expire during the recess, it is deemed extended by one week from the day the recess ends, without any court order (HMK art. 104 (opens in a new tab)).
The cases that proceed during the recess are listed in HMK art. 103: provisional protection such as injunctions and attachments, maintenance claims, employee claims, bankruptcy and concordat matters, among others. The extension does not apply to them. Before treating any period falling in the recess as extended, check whether your file falls within these exceptions.
Petitions can still be filed and documents served during the recess: appeal and cassation petitions, responses to them and all service of documents continue (HMK art. 103/3 (opens in a new tab)). A document served during the recess can therefore still start a period.
Administrative proceedings have a similar rule: if a statutory period expires during the court's break, it is deemed extended by seven days from the day after the break ends (İYUK art. 8/3 (opens in a new tab)). The Criminal Procedure Code, however, contains no provision extending periods during the judicial recess, so do not count on an extension for criminal appeals.
07/11
Civil, criminal and administrative differences
If your firm works across all three branches, keep these differences in mind so the rules do not blur together.
- Start: In civil proceedings the appeal and cassation periods start with service. In criminal proceedings, since Law No. 7499, they start with service of the reasoned judgment. In administrative proceedings service or written notification is what counts.
- Length: Two weeks in civil and criminal proceedings, thirty days in administrative proceedings. In enforcement proceedings many steps, such as an objection to a payment order or a complaint, are subject to a seven-day period.
- Holiday rule: In civil cases the last day rolls to the first working day (HMK art. 93) and the judicial recess adds a one-week extension (HMK art. 104). Administrative proceedings have their own rules on holidays and the court break (İYUK art. 8). In criminal procedure a period whose last day is a holiday ends on the day after the holiday (CMK art. 39/4).
- Detained defendant: A detained defendant can lodge a legal remedy by a statement to the court clerk or the prison director (CMK art. 263 (opens in a new tab)); check the text of the article for how this route affects the period.
08/11
Three worked examples
The examples use the 2026 calendar. The dates are illustrative; in your own file use the date on the service record.
Example 1: an appeal period that meets a holiday
A civil court judgment was served on Friday, 15 May 2026. The two-week period would run out on Friday, 29 May 2026. In 2026 Kurban Bayrami (Eid al-Adha) falls on 27-30 May, followed by the weekend.
The period therefore ends at the close of working hours on Monday, 1 June 2026, the first working day after the holiday.
Example 2: a regional court decision served on a Saturday
A decision of a civil chamber of the regional court of appeal that can be taken to cassation was served on Saturday, 10 October 2026. The two-week cassation period would run out on Saturday, 24 October 2026.
Because the last day falls on a weekend, the period ends at the close of working hours on Monday, 26 October 2026.
Example 3: a period that meets the judicial recess
In a case subject to the recess, the judgment was served on Friday, 10 July 2026. Two weeks would run out on Friday, 24 July 2026, inside the recess. Under HMK art. 104 the period is extended by one week from the day the recess ends, Monday, 31 August 2026; the calculation points to Monday, 7 September 2026.
There can be doubt whether 31 August itself is counted in the extension. Where a one-day difference could cost a right, act on the earliest reasonable date.
09/11
Common mistakes
The same errors recur whenever a deadline is missed. Run through this list when you open a file.
- 01Confusing the date of pronouncement with the date of service: the civil appeal period starts with service.
- 02Using the other side's service date as the start of your own period: each party's period starts with its own service.
- 03Counting two weeks as fourteen working days: a week is a calendar period, and the holiday rule only matters when the last day falls on a holiday.
- 04Applying the judicial recess extension to every file or to none: check the HMK art. 103 exceptions.
- 05Expecting an extension of a fixed period: statutory periods are fixed and cannot be extended (HMK art. 94/1 (opens in a new tab)). If a period is missed without fault, restoration of the previous state can be requested within two weeks of the obstacle ending (HMK art. 96 (opens in a new tab)).
- 06Drafting the petition without checking the monetary threshold and the type of remedy.
- 07Leaving it to the last day: technical problems, missing court fees or authority documents can make you miss the period.
10/11
Frequently asked questions
- 01
How long is the appeal period in Turkey?
In civil proceedings the appeal (istinaf) period is two weeks, not a number of days, and starts with service of the judgment (HMK art. 345). It is also two weeks in criminal proceedings (CMK art. 273) and thirty days in administrative proceedings (İYUK art. 45).
- 02
How long is the cassation period?
In civil proceedings it is two weeks from service of the regional court of appeal decision (HMK art. 361). In criminal proceedings it is two weeks from service of the reasoned judgment (CMK art. 291), and in administrative proceedings thirty days (İYUK art. 46).
- 03
Is the day of service counted?
No. For periods counted in days the day of service is not counted (HMK art. 92/1). For a period set in weeks, the period ends on the corresponding weekday; if service is on a Friday, the last day is the Friday two weeks later.
- 04
What happens if the last day is a Saturday or a holiday?
If the last day is an official holiday or a weekend, the period ends at the close of working hours on the first working day after it (HMK art. 93). For religious holidays the whole holiday and the afternoon of the eve from 13:00 are taken into account.
- 05
Does the judicial recess extend an appeal deadline?
In cases subject to the recess, a period that would expire between 20 July and 31 August is extended by one week from the day the recess ends (HMK art. 104). The cases listed in HMK art. 103 are excluded, and the Criminal Procedure Code has no equivalent rule.
- 06
Is the calculator result legally binding?
No. The calculator applies the day, week and month rules, the holiday rollover and the judicial recess extension as a convenience. The date of service, the effect of holiday eves and file-specific conditions require legal judgement, and the lawyer makes the final call.
11/11
Deadline tracking in a law firm
Missed deadlines are among the most visible sources of professional liability. The fix is not one person's memory but a record kept with the file. In HukukBis, legal deadline tracking stores appeal, cassation, objection, response and evidence periods against the case record, calculates the end date under the day, week and month rules, the holiday rollover and the judicial recess extension, and shows the deadline in the calendar and agenda.
Upcoming deadlines stand out on the dashboard, and notifications reach the responsible lawyer in the app, by email, SMS, WhatsApp and push. Because deadline records sit under the file in the case management module, the information stays with the file rather than the person during hand-overs and holiday periods.
Verify the last day with the calculator
The legal deadline calculator applies the rules of this guide in order. It first finds the raw end of the period under HMK art. 92: in a period set in days the start day is not counted, and a period set in weeks or months ends on the day that corresponds to the start day. If the last day then falls on a weekend or public holiday, it rolls over to the first working day after the holiday under HMK art. 93, using its 2024-2030 table of Turkish public and religious holidays.
For matters subject to the judicial recess the tool also applies the HMK art. 104 extension: if the end falls between 20 July and 31 August, the period is extended by one week from the day the recess ends. The "This matter is subject to the judicial recess" option can be switched off for the urgent matters in HMK art. 103. If the last day falls on a half-day holiday eve the tool does not roll the date over but shows a warning; in that case file before noon on the eve.
Do not enter a period such as two weeks as business days: pick a ready-made period such as "Civil appeal" or enter the period in weeks. The legal assessment of the date of service is not part of the tool and remains with the lawyer. For business-day periods such as internal target dates, use the tool's business-day mode.
A worked calculator example
- Start date
- 15 May 2026
- Period
- 2 weeks (civil appeal)
- Subject to judicial recess
- Yes
- Result
- Monday, 1 June 2026
Official sources
The periods and article numbers in this guide were checked against the current texts in the official Legislation Information System (Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi) on 6 October 2026.
- 01Code of Civil Procedure No. 6100 (HMK) (opens in a new tab): arts. 91-94, 96, 102-104, 127, 341, 345-348, 361-362, 394 and Additional Article 1
- 02Criminal Procedure Code No. 5271 (CMK) (opens in a new tab): arts. 39, 263, 268, 273 and 291
- 03Administrative Procedure Law No. 2577 (İYUK) (opens in a new tab): arts. 7, 8, 45 and 46
- 04Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law No. 2004 (İİK) (opens in a new tab): arts. 16, 62 and 363
- 05Notification Law No. 7201 (opens in a new tab): arts. 7/a and 21
- 06Law No. 2429 on National Holidays and Public Holidays (opens in a new tab)
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