The Cases Should Be Held Together And The Dispute Should Be Resolved By The Commercial Court Of First Instance, Which Is A Special Court, In Respect Of All Claims – Decision Determining The Commercial Court Of First Instance As The Jurisdiction
T.C. JUDICIARY
20th Civil Chamber
Basis: 2016/4846
Decision: 2016/6835
Date of Decision: 13.06.2016
INDEMNITY LAWSUIT – THE LAWSUITS SHOULD BE HEARD TOGETHER AND THE DISPUTE IN TERMS OF ALL CLAIMS SHOULD BE RESOLVED BY THE SPECIAL COURT, THE COMMERCIAL COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE – DETERMINATION OF THE COMMERCIAL COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE AS THE PLACE OF JURISDICTION
SUMMARY: The lawsuit is related to the claim for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages due to a traffic accident. Since both the defendant vehicle driver and the defendant … company’s liability arose from the same material event and the damage is single, the cases should be heard together and the dispute in terms of all claims should be resolved by the commercial court of first instance, which is a special court. The subsequent separation of the lawsuits that should be heard together does not change the rules regarding the duty.
(6102 S. Code Art. 4, 5, 1483)
Case: All documents in the file sent for the determination of the place of jurisdiction due to the fact that Kayseri Commercial Court of First Instance and Kayseri 3rd Civil Court of First Instance separately decided to dismiss the case regarding the compensation claim between the parties were examined and the necessity was considered:
The lawsuit is related to the claim for pecuniary and non-pecuniary compensation due to a traffic accident.
Kayseri Commercial Court of First Instance, after the case related to the defendant … company was separated, a decision of non-jurisdiction was made on the grounds that the general provisions should be applied for the other defendants.
Kayseri 3rd Civil Court of First Instance, on the other hand, ruled for lack of jurisdiction on the grounds that the decision of separation was not in accordance with the procedure and that the case against all defendants should be heard in the commercial court.
Article 1483/1 of the Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102, which is in force as of the date of the lawsuit, states that insurers cannot refrain from performing compulsory insurances within the scope of the branches in which they operate, without prejudice to the provisions of other laws; Article 4/1-a of the same Law stipulates that civil lawsuits arising from the matters stipulated in the TCC shall be deemed as commercial lawsuits, regardless of whether the parties are merchants or not. Article 5 of the TCC stipulates that, unless otherwise stipulated, the commercial courts of first instance are authorized to hear all commercial cases and non-contentious judicial proceedings of a commercial nature, regardless of the value of the thing sued.
In the concrete case, the plaintiff filed a lawsuit against the defendant, the driver of the vehicle, and the insurance company, which is the ZMMS insurer, regarding the claims for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages arising from the traffic accident that constitutes a tort. Although the court in charge of compensation cases arising from tort is the civil court of first instance, which is a general civil court, the lawsuit was filed against the insurance company that the other party has ZMMS together with real persons. The defendant … company was held liable for the insurance policy, and compulsory insurances are regulated under Articles 1483 et seq. of the TCC. Pursuant to Articles 4/1-(a) and 5 of the TCC, the commercial court of first instance has jurisdiction in this case, which is of absolute commercial nature.
In the event that the general court has jurisdiction over some of the defendants and the specialized special court has jurisdiction over the other defendants in the same case, if the dispute arises from the same incident and the damage is single or if the decision to be rendered in respect of one of the claims is of a nature that will directly concern the other; the dispute must be resolved by the specialized specially authorized court, which is specialized in respect of all parties and claims, provided that there are no fundamental differences between the special court in question and the general court regarding the “trial procedure”.
In that case, since the liability of both the defendant vehicle driver and the defendant … company arose from the same material event and the damage is single, the cases should be heard together and the dispute should be resolved by the commercial court of first instance, which is a special court, in terms of all claims. The subsequent separation of the cases that should be heard together does not change the rules regarding the duty.
Conclusion For the reasons explained above; In accordance with Articles 21 and 22 of the CCP No. 6100, it was unanimously decided on 13.06.2016 to determine Kayseri Commercial Court of First Instance as the Jurisdiction.
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