The "Communiqué on the Procedures and Principles to be Followed at Foreign Notification and Rogatory Letters" published in the Official Gazette dated 17 December 2021 and numbered 31692 entered into force as of 1 January 2022.
In this Communiqué, the amount of expenses to be applied in 2022, which is adjusted due to inflation, has been regulated, individual regulations have been made for many countries in terms of notification requests, and regulations regarding rogatory requests for some countries are also included.
FOREIGN NOTIFICATION
Pursuant to the communiqué published in the Official Gazette, when a notification is requested, within the scope of Article 25/a of the Notification Law, 70 TL for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and 117 TL for other countries, postage will be charged. This postal expense should be deposited into the "Miscellaneous Income" account of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance. A copy of the receipt for the payment is attached to the document to be sent to the foreign representative office to which the document will be forwarded, or the date and number are indicated in the dispatch letter. In the notifications within the scope of Article 25/a of the Notification Law, these procedures will be followed. In other words, if the notification is made to Turkish citizens in a foreign country through a political representation, the above expenses will be applicable.
For notification requests that are not within the scope of Article 25/a of the Notification Law, the notification document will be sent directly to the competent authorities of the country. For the TRNC, it will be sent to the Presidency of the TRNC Supreme Court. In this case, the cost items to be charged also differ.
Accordingly, the notification costs and the procedures to be applied separately as requested by the relevant countries are as follows:
United States of America
The cost of US$ 95 is deposited to the bank account (for ABC Legal, Wells Fargo Bank, SWIFT No: WFBIUS6S account no: 2007107119 USA, ABA routing no: 121000248) by specifying the name of the addressee to whom the notification will be made, or by online at abclegal.com.. A copy of the receipt is sent to the address “ABC LEGAL, 633 Yesler Way, Seattle, WA 98104, USA” along with the notification document. It is not necessary to deposit a fee of US$ 95 in notifications to the US Government.
Australia
For Australia, costs will differ depending on the address to which the documents will be sent.
AU$ 70 if the postal code at the address to be served starts with 2 (NSW),
AU$ 378 for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT),
AU$ 155 for distances up to 25km from the authorized officer's office if the postal code starts with 08 or 09 (Northern Territory); AU$ 0.90 per km,
If the postal code starts with 4 (Queensland State), the charge for one hour's notice service for one person is AU$ 112, with an additional charge of AU$ 395 for each additional km traveled beyond 8 km. On behalf of the Consulate General of Sydney, the charge is AU$ 35.10 per additional hour if the service time exceeds 1 hour, or AU$ 20.15 if the service is for two or more persons,
For other postcodes: AU$ 110 for Melbourne and surrounding areas; AU$ 170 for areas outside Melbourne and its environs in the State of Victoria; and AU$ 40 for capital centers in states outside of Victoria (i.e South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania. For places not farther than km, AU $200 AUD checks will be issued in the name of the Consulate General of Melbourne.
Bahamas
If the addressee is a natural person US$ 80, or if the addressee is a company US$ 160 dollars, or the equivalent Turkish lira, is deposited as an advance to the court cashier, and the cost requested by the Bahamas authorities is paid as a result of the notification process.
Belgium
The Belgian authorities are requesting an advance payment of 165 euros. In addition, the bank account to which the expense will be deposited and the language in which the notification document will be issued vary according to the address. For this reason, before issuing the notification document, the name and address of the addressee to whom the notification is requested, the language to which the document will be issued and the bank account number to which the expense will be deposited, an e-mail should be sent to the address “dh1965@just.fgov.be”, with the subject line as “new request for bank details and transaction reference. The cost is deposited to the account to be notified. and a copy of the receipt is attached to the document.
Estonia
As a rule, fulfillment of notification requests is free of charge. However, if the requesting authority requests that the notification be made through the judicial officer, 60 euros or the equivalent Turkish lira is deposited to the court cashier as an advance, and the cost requested by the Estonian authorities is paid as a result of the notification process.
Philippines
For each addressee, US$ 100 is deposited to the “Land Bank of the Philippines” Bank Account No: 3472-1010-39, SWIFT: TLBPPHMM, by specifying the addressee's name, surname and file number. Only one fee is paid for more than one addressee residing at the same address. The receipt is sent with the documents to "The Office of the Court Administrator, Third floor, Old Supreme Court Building, Padre Faura Street Ermita, Manila 1000 Philippines".
France
On behalf of “Chambre Nationale des Huissiers de Justice”, by writing the file number and the identity of the person making the transfer and the name of the addressee to whom the notification will be made, to the account "BNP Paribas IDF Institutions (02837) RIB: 30004 02837 00011021524 94 IBAN: FR76 3000 4028 3700 0110 2152 494 BIC: BNPAFRPPXXX", 48.75 euros will be deposited, with receipt document “Ministère dela Justice Direction des Affaires Civiles et du Sceau Bureau du droit de l'Union, du droit international privé et de l'entraide civile (BDIP) 13, Place Vendôme 75042 Paris Cedex 01 France".
Canada
Without adding the phrase "Canada" to the recipient section, a check with the inscription "Ministry of Finance" in the amount of 100 Canadian dollars is sent to our foreign representative office together with the documents. If the address to be served is within the borders of the Province of Alberta, "Government of Alberta" is written without adding the expression "Canada" to the recipient of the 100 Canadian dollar check, and "Ministry of Finance of Ontario" is written if the address is within the borders of the Province of Ontario.
It should be noted that Checks issued for service to Canada are not processed by Canadian authorities if they are dated more than 6 months old. The Province of Quebec (https://sites.justice.gouv.qc.ca/SPEI/SPEI/en) accepts online payment by credit card, and a sample of the payment is sent with the document.
Northern Ireland
70 GBP or the equivalent Turkish lira is deposited as an advance with the court cashier, and the cost requested by the Northern Ireland authorities is paid as a result of the notification process.
Latvia
In the name of the “Council of Sworn Bailiffs”, with the name of the addressee and the file number are written and the account designation “Registration No. 90001497619 Registered office: 82-3 Brivibas Street, Riga, LV-1001, Latvia Bank: Swedbank AS Account No: LV93HABA0551038096742 SWIFT code: HABALV22”; the amount of the deposit is 113.97 Euros; and the receipt is provided with the documents "Council of Sworn Bailiffs Lacplesa Street 27 -32 Riga, LV-1011 Latvia".
Lithuania
In the name of “Chamber of Judicial Officers of Lithuania”, with the name of the addressee and the file number, 110 euros is deposited to the account “IBAN: LT92 4010 0424 0031 5815, AB "DnB Bankas", code of legal entity 126198978”, together with the receipt documents, "Ministry" of Justice, Lietuvos Respublikos Teisingumo Ministerija, Gedimino ave. 30, LT-01104 Vilnius LITHUANIA”.
San Marino
In the name of “Ufficio Registro e Ipoteche della Repubblica di San Marino”, 50 euros are deposited to the “IBAN: SM44 A032 2509 8000 0001 0005 403 SWIFT CODE: ICSMSMSMXXX” account by writing the name of the addressee and the file number, together with the receipt document “Tribunale Unico of the Republic of San Marino, Via 28 Luglio n. 194, 47893 Borgo Maggiore, Repubblica di San Marino”.
Singapore
A fee of 80 Singapore dollars is required. Since the Singapore dollar is not in circulation in our country, the equivalent in US dollars or Turkish lira is deposited as an advance with the court cashier, and the cost requested by the Singapore authorities is paid as a result of the notification process.
Thailand
A charge of 500 baht is required. Since the Thai baht is not in circulation in our country, the equivalent in US dollars or Turkish lira is deposited as an advance with the court cashier, and the expenses requested by the Thai authorities are paid as a result of the notification process.
Greece
In the name of “Hellenic Ministry of Justice, Transparency & Human Rights”, 50 euros are deposited to the account of “Bank of Greece, Bank Account Number: 23/2341147896, IBAN: GR9101000230000002341147896, Swift Code: BNGRGRAA” by writing the name of the addressee and the file number, receipt document together with "Ministry of Justice Directorate of Legislative Work, International Legal Relations and International Judicial Cooperation Department of International Judicial Cooperation in Civil and Criminal Cases 96 Mesogeion Av. Athens 11527 Greece".
In accordance with the relevant communiqué, we also include the regulations concerning foreign rogatory letters below in this article.
IN TERMS OF FOREIGN JURISDICTION BY ROGATORY LETTERS
In the Fourth Section of the " Communiqué on the Procedures and Principles to be Followed in Foreign Notification and Rogatory Letters " published in the Official Gazette dated 17 December 2021 and numbered 31692, the regulations regarding the rogatory requests are published, and the individual regulations regarding Germany, Denmark, Canada, and the Democratic Republic of Congo are specified.
In every rogatory request in which the Ministry or foreign representative offices are made intermediary, the charge is:
70 TL for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC); and
117 TL for other countries.
Postal expenses should be deposited to the "Miscellaneous Revenues" account of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, and the copy of the receipt must be attached to the document sent to the Ministry, or the date and number must be specified in the letter of dispatch written to the Ministry.
In addition, as regulated in Article 11 of the relevant Communiqué, certain amounts must be deposited in the court cashier according to different situations in foreign rogatory requests. According to this;
1,000 TL for rogatory letters requesting expert examination;
4.000 TL in cases where DNA test is requested;
1.500 TL, in cases where blood analysis is required; and
1,000 TL, in cases where blood or tissue samples are requested to be taken from abroad, as a basis for the analysis and DNA test procedures to be carried out in Turkey
must be deposited as an advance with the court cashier to be paid when requested by the foreign country authorities.
In addition, in all rogatory requests, a Turkish letter of undertaking must be obtained from the person concerned, stating that the costs will be paid, if requested by the foreign country's authority. A copy of the undertaking is attached to the dispatch letter without having it translated; it does not need to be specified as an attachment in the letter of request.
On the other hand, the expenses requested by the authorities of some foreign countries are regulated in this communiqué and specified separately:
Germany
The amount to be deposited at the court cashier for each witness to be heard in Germany is 2,200 TL. For Germany, the amount to be deposited varies between 11 and 13 euros in case of address determination by rogatory letter.
Denmark
According to the regulations brought in terms of Denmark, a minimum of 8,953 Danish kroner is required to be deposited with the court cashier for DNA detection. Apart from this, 115 Danish kroner should be deposited as an advance with the court cashier for address determination issues.
Canada
In Canada, British Columbia and the Province of Quebec require an advance deposit of 3,500 TL with the court cashier for each witness to be heard.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an advance of US$ 100 must be deposited with the court cashier.
Except for the seldomly occuring demand of expenses of states in terms of rogatory requests, there is no need to deposit any further advances other than 70 TL for the TRNC and 117 TL for other countries, which are postal expenses.
Pursuant to the regulations of the "Communiqué on the Procedures and Principles to be Complied with in Foreign Notifications and Rogatory Letters" published in the Official Gazette dated 17 December 2021 and numbered 31692, the postal expenses requested in the cases that are in the nature of a public lawsuit and that request legal aid can be provided from the treasury. In such a case, the relevant expense should be deposited to the "Miscellaneous Income" account of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, and the receipt is attached to the dispatch letter or the date and number are specified in the letter. In the amounts that need to be deposited with the cashier as an advance, there is no need to provide the payment in advance. After the transaction is completed, the relevant expense is paid.
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