In some disputes you cannot go directly to court: you first apply to the mediation office at the courthouse, meet the mediator appointed by the office and, if no agreement is reached, file the case with the final report drawn up. If this preliminary step is skipped, the case is dismissed on procedural grounds for lack of a condition of action (Law No. 6325 Art. 18/A-2). In this article we explain, as of October 2026, which disputes mediation as a condition of bringing proceedings covers, where the offices in Istanbul are and how the process works.
In which disputes is mediation compulsory? #
| Dispute | Scope | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | Employee or employer receivables and compensation based on the law or on an individual or collective labour agreement, and reinstatement; related actions for annulment of objection, negative declaratory actions and actions for restitution. Excluding compensation for occupational accidents and occupational diseases | Law No. 7036 Art. 3 |
| Commercial | Actions for receivables, compensation, annulment of objection, negative declaration and restitution whose subject is a sum of money | TTK Art. 5/A |
| Consumer | Disputes heard by consumer courts; excluding exceptions such as disputes within the jurisdiction of the consumer arbitration committee and disputes arising from rights in rem over immovable property | Law No. 6502 Art. 73/A |
| Rental | Disputes arising from the tenancy relationship; excluding eviction by enforcement without a judgment | Law No. 6325 Art. 18/B-1-a |
| Partition | Division of movable and immovable property and termination of co-ownership | Art. 18/B-1-b |
| Condominium | Disputes arising from the Condominium Law No. 634 | Art. 18/B-1-c |
| Neighbour law | Disputes arising from the law of neighbours | Art. 18/B-1-ç |
Divorce, maintenance and custody cases are not on this list; there is no obligation to apply to a mediator before filing a case in the family court.
Mediation offices in Istanbul #
According to the list published by the Ministry of Justice Mediation Department, there are mediation offices in the following courthouses in Istanbul:
| Courthouse | Location of the office in the building |
|---|---|
| Istanbul Courthouse (Çağlayan) | Block C1, floor -2 |
| Istanbul Anatolian Courthouse (Kartal) | Block B, ground floor |
| Bakırköy Courthouse | Ground floor |
| Küçükçekmece Courthouse | Floor -1 |
| Büyükçekmece Courthouse | Entrance floor |
| Gaziosmanpaşa Courthouse | Ground floor |
| Beykoz Courthouse | 3rd floor |
| Silivri Courthouse | 2nd floor |
The Çatalca, Şile and Adalar courthouses are not on this list. Where no mediation office has been set up, applications are made to the registry of the civil court of peace designated by the justice commission (Art. 18/A-4). The full addresses and extension numbers of the offices are in the Mediation Department’s contact list; since the numbers can change, they are not repeated here.
Which office do you apply to? #
- General rule: The application is made to the mediation office at the place of the court that has jurisdiction according to the subject of the dispute (Art. 18/A-4). You can find which district is attached to which courthouse on the Istanbul courthouses page.
- Labour disputes: The application is made to the office at the other party’s place of residence or at the place where the work is performed; if there is more than one other party, the place of residence of one of them is sufficient (Law No. 7036 Art. 3/5).
The mediator does not examine the office’s jurisdiction of their own motion. The other party may raise an objection to jurisdiction, with supporting documents, at the latest at the first meeting; the file is sent to the civil court of peace, and the court determines the competent office definitively within one week. If the objection is accepted, an application may be made to the competent office within one week of service of the decision, and the date of the first application is preserved (Art. 18/A-8).
What is needed for the application? #
- Identity details and a short description of the dispute
- Any contact details you hold for the other party; the office may also search official records (Art. 18/A-6)
- If you will attend with a lawyer, a power of attorney containing special authority for mediation
The office selects the mediator from the list notified to the justice commission; if the parties agree on a mediator on the list, that person is appointed (Art. 18/A-5).
Time limits #
| Dispute | Time for the mediator to conclude |
|---|---|
| General (rental, partition, condominium, neighbour law, consumer) | 3 weeks from appointment; may be extended by at most 1 week where necessary (Art. 18/A-9) |
| Labour | 3 weeks + at most 1 week (Law No. 7036 Art. 3/10) |
| Commercial | 6 weeks + at most 2 weeks (TTK Art. 5/A-2) |
From the application to the office until the final report is drawn up, the limitation period is suspended and time-bar periods do not run (Art. 18/A-15). However, in applications with short time limits such as reinstatement, care should be taken in calculating this period; for details, see our article on the reinstatement case.
Fee: the application is free, the meeting fee is subject to rules #
- No fee is charged for applying to the mediation office.
- If the parties cannot be reached, the parties do not attend, or no agreement is reached at the end of a meeting lasting less than two hours, a two-hour fee is paid from the Ministry of Justice budget; this amount counts as a litigation cost (Art. 18/A-13).
- If the parties reach agreement, the fee is paid by the parties in equal shares unless otherwise agreed (Art. 18/A-12).
- In consumer disputes, the mediation fee payable by the consumer is met from the Ministry budget in the cases listed in the law (Law No. 6502 Art. 73/A-3).
A party who is unable to meet the fee may benefit from legal aid by decision of the civil judge of peace at the place where the office is located; for the general rules, see our article on applying for legal aid in Istanbul.
Consequence of not attending the first meeting #
A party who does not attend the first meeting without a valid excuse is noted in the final report. In a case filed later, this party, even if partly or wholly successful, is held liable for half of the litigation costs that the other party is obliged to pay, and only half of the attorney’s fee under the tariff is awarded in its favour (Art. 18/A-11). This sanction is not applied against the consumer (Law No. 6502 Art. 73/A-2).
If there is agreement, and if there is not #
If no agreement is reached, the mediator draws up the final report; the claimant must attach the original of this report or a copy certified by the mediator to the statement of claim (Art. 18/A-2). If agreement is reached, an agreement document is drawn up. In rental, partition, condominium and neighbour-law disputes, obtaining an annotation of enforceability on the agreement document is compulsory; for documents concerning immovable property, the annotation is obtained from the civil court of peace at the place where the property is located (Art. 18/B-3).
Related articles by subject: rent determination case, ways of evicting a tenant, partition case, how severance pay is calculated and defective goods and the consumer arbitration committee.
