Official Gazette agenda review from 12punto columnist Attorney Ozan Can Karahan: Here are the developments of the past week...

Notable developments occurred among the regulations published in the Official Gazette between September 30 and October 6, 2024. Attorney Ozan Can Karahan examined these developments in detail and evaluated the potential future impacts of the relevant regulations.

Here is Attorney Ozan Can Karahan's Official Gazette review:

The "Free Trade Agreement between the Republic of Turkey and Ukraine," signed in Kyiv on July 3, 2022, was published in the Official Gazette and entered into force. This agreement aims to develop economic cooperation between the two countries and to liberalize trade in goods and services by raising the living standards of the people of both nations.

In its decision dated 27.06.2024 (2023/136 and 2024/127), the Constitutional Court annulled the last sentence of Article 20, Paragraph 2, clause (g) of the Petroleum Market Law. The sentence in question prevented the granting of a license to another real or legal person for facilities under investigation for the crimes of issuing or using forged documents under the Tax Procedure Law until the investigation was completed. The High Court annulled the regulation on the grounds that it disproportionately restricted the freedom of enterprise and the right to property. The decision, published in the Official Gazette on October 2, 2024, will enter into force 9 months after its publication.

The Council of Judges and Prosecutors appointed 8 Judges/Prosecutors as members of the Court of Cassation and 3 Judges as members of the Council of State.  

In another decision dated 04.07.2024 (2020/38783), the Constitutional Court rejected an application by a defendant who was detained throughout the trial and participated in hearings via the SEGBİS (Audio and Visual Information System) from the detention center, claiming that their right to be present at the hearing had been violated. The High Court, which has both favorable and unfavorable rulings regarding SEGBİS, concluded in this decision that the defendant had implicitly waived their right to be present at the hearing because no objection regarding audio and visual issues during the SEGBİS connection was recorded in the hearing minutes, and there was no request to participate in person during the hearings or between sessions. In line with the High Court's current decision, in order to avoid being subjected to the SEGBİS process—which allows online participation in criminal hearings from other courts or prisons but overshadows the right to participate in the hearing—it is considered necessary for defendants and their defense counsel to request that the SEGBİS system not be used and to file a request for personal participation in the hearing.

By Presidential Decree (8993), it was decided to approve Board of Governors Resolutions No. 259 and 260 regarding amendments to the Articles of Agreement of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Of these decisions taken on May 18, 2023; Resolution No. 259 paved the way for the limited and gradual expansion of the EBRD's geographical scope toward Sub-Saharan Africa and Iraq. In Resolution No. 260, an amendment was made to remove the legal capital limitation for the EBRD's ordinary activities.

The General Communiqué of Law No. 7440 on the Restructuring of Certain Receivables was published by the Revenue Administration of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance. With the regulation governing the procedures and principles for the collection of public receivables owed to institutions such as special provincial administrations and municipalities, the application deadline for tax base and tax increases and other public payments due to the force majeure situation in the earthquake zone has been extended until 28.02.2025.

The Office of the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) decided to establish a Parliamentary Research Commission to "determine the steps to be taken regarding the gains of artificial intelligence, to establish the legal infrastructure in this field, and to determine measures to prevent the risks posed by the use of artificial intelligence." The commission will consist of 22 members and will conduct studies and examinations across the country for 3 months following the completion of the selection of its members.

The Regulation on Amending the Regulation on Renewable Energy Resource Areas (YEKA) by the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources was published in the Official Gazette and entered into force. Following many changes to the 2016 regulation, which was designed for large-scale investments, the way was cleared for small and medium-scale investments, and the specifications, production, and use of domestic components to be used in electrical energy production were made subject to a contract.