THE 11ᵗʰ JUDICIAL PACKAGE: REGULATIONS AFFECTING COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES AND COMPANIES
Law No. 7571 on Amendments to the Turkish Criminal Code and Certain Laws and Decree Law No. 631 (the “Law”), publicly referred to as the “11th Judicial Package,” was published in the Official Gazette dated 25 December 2025 and numbered 33118 and entered into force on the same date. Although the Law primarily introduces amendments in the fields of criminal law and enforcement law, it also contains significant provisions that directly or indirectly affect commercial enterprises and companies.
The amendments introduced by the Law in areas such as enforcement and bankruptcy law, public procurement procedures, supervision of the financial system, electronic communications, and tax practices are closely related to the functioning of commercial life and the legal obligations of companies. In this respect, the 11th Judicial Package has a broad scope of impact extending beyond individuals to encompass commercial enterprises and companies. This article examines the regulations affecting commercial enterprises and companies within the scope of the 11th Judicial Package, with reference to the relevant statutory provisions.
Amendments within the Scope of Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law
Article 1 of the Law amends Article 134 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law No. 2004 (“EBL”), which is of particular importance with respect to company assets and commercial goods sold through enforcement proceedings. Under the amendment, the persons entitled to request the annulment of an enforcement auction have been limited, and it has been stipulated that applications submitted by persons outside this scope shall be rejected by the court without examination on the merits.
This regulation aims to prevent bad-faith annulment requests that frequently prolong enforcement auctions and create uncertainty in practice. Accordingly, it is intended to establish a faster, more predictable, and secure process for the sale of assets belonging to debtor companies.
Furthermore, Article 2 of the Law introduces amendments to Article 278 of the EBL regarding the annulment of dispositions, imposing a stricter scrutiny mechanism with respect to transactions carried out with shareholders, group companies, and related parties. Gratuitous transactions or transactions carried out below their actual value within a certain period prior to the debtor’s insolvency may now be more easily challenged by creditors through annulment actions. This development requires companies to exercise greater caution in asset transfers conducted with shareholders or affiliated entities.
Amendments Relating to Public Procurement Procedures
Article 11 of the Law amends Article 53 of the Public Procurement Law No. 4734.
The amendments introduced under the Public Procurement Law have direct financial implications for companies participating in public tenders. It has been stipulated that application fees paid in objection and appeal applications shall be refunded in proportion to the degree of justification where the application is found wholly or partially justified.
In addition, where the tender process is cancelled by the administration or the contract is terminated, refunds shall be made based on the proportion of uncompleted work, and statutory interest shall be applied in the event of delays in the refund process.
These regulations encourage the effective exercise of the right to seek remedies and reduce financial risks for companies participating in public procurement processes.
Amendments in the Financial System and Information Technologies Sector
Article 22 of the Law introduces Article 128/A into the Criminal Procedure Law No. 5271.
The provisions added to the Criminal Procedure Law are of particular importance for legal entities operating in the financial sector, including banks, payment institutions, electronic money institutions, and crypto-asset service providers. Pursuant to the relevant article, bank accounts, payment accounts, and electronic money accounts with strong suspicion of being related to criminal proceeds may be temporarily suspended by a decision of the public prosecutor.
Banks, payment service providers, electronic money institutions, and crypto-asset service providers are obliged to submit the requested information and documents within the prescribed period. Administrative fines ranging from TRY 50,000 to TRY 300,000 have been introduced for non-compliance with this obligation. Conversely, it has been explicitly stipulated that no legal liability shall arise for the relevant institutions due to the implementation of suspension decisions issued by the competent authorities.
Amendments in the Field of Electronic Communications
Articles 30, 31, and 32 of the Law introduce significant amendments to the Electronic Communications Law No. 5809.
Within this framework, limitations have been imposed on the number of mobile lines that may be registered in the name of legal entities, along with obligations to conduct periodic checks and to deactivate such lines upon termination of the legal entity. In the event of non-compliance, substantial administrative fines have been introduced on a per-line and per-device basis, with the annual amount of such fines potentially reaching a certain percentage of the undertaking’s net sales.
These amendments are expected to require companies to restructure their information technologies, human resources, and internal audit processes.
Amendments within the Scope of Tax Law
Article 34 of the Law adds Provisional Article 37 to the Tax Procedure Law No. 213.
Pursuant to this regulation, taxpayers maintaining books on a balance sheet basis shall not be subject to inflation adjustment for the fiscal years 2025, 2026, and 2027. The President has been granted the authority to extend this period.
While this regulation reduces companies’ accounting and reporting burdens in the short term, the absence of inflation-adjusted financial statements may necessitate the use of alternative methods in financial analysis and valuation processes.
CONCLUSION
Although the amendments introduced by the Law primarily relate to criminal law, such amendments create a broad impact for commercial enterprises and companies, ranging from enforcement and bankruptcy proceedings to public procurement, financial compliance obligations, and tax practices.
In this context, it is of critical importance for commercial enterprises and companies to assess the changes introduced by the 11ᵗʰ Judicial Package not only from a criminal law perspective, but also in terms of the sustainability of commercial activities and legal risk management, and to update their internal compliance and audit mechanisms accordingly.