LEGAL AID REGULATIONS OF THE UNION OF BAR ASSOCIATIONS OF TURKEY

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LEGAL AID REGULATIONS (*)
OF THE UNION OF BAR ASSOCIATIONS OF TURKEY


PART ONE
Purpose, Scope, And Basis

Purpose
Article 1 – The purpose of these Regulations is to establish the procedures and principles pertaining to legal aid as per Articles 176 through 181 of the Attorneyship Law, number 1136, dated 19 March 1969.
The purpose of legal aid is to make attorneyship services available to those who lack the wherewithal to pay attorneyship fees and jurisprudence costs with a view to overcoming the obstacles to the right of the individual to seek justice and to ensure equality in exercising the right to seek justice.

Scope
Article 2 – These Regulations cover the divison among bar associations and the utilization of the moneys transferred to the account of the Union of Bar Associations of Turkey in accordance with Article 180 of the Attorneyship Law, number 1136, dated 19 March 1969; as well as the establishment, duties, and responsibilities of the Legal Aid Office; the identification of the attorneys to be assigned and the determination of their fees; and the operation and inspection of legal aid.

Legal basis
Article 3 – These Regulations have been prepared in accordance with Articles 176 through 181 of the Attorneyship Law, number 1136, dated 19 March 1969.
PART TWO
General Provisions

Legal Aid Office and Representative
Article 4 – A Legal Aid Office consisting of an adequate number of attorneys to be identified and assigned by thr board of directors of the bar association  will be established in every bar association area. The board of directors of the bar association  may also designate an attorney as the representative of the Legal Aid Office in jurisdictional areas outside the location of the bar association where more than five attorneys are available. An adequate number of assistant representatives will also be assigned when necessary.
The Legal Aid Office and the representatives perform the duties prescribed in the Attorneyship Law, number 1136, dated 19 March 1969 and the duties to be assigned by the boards of directors of the bar associations in accordance with the Attorneyship Law and regulations.
The Legal Aid Office and the representatives operate under the responsibility and supervision of a member of the board of directors of the bar association who is charged with managing legal aid affairs.
Adequate space, office equipment, and staff will be provided to the Legal Aid Office and the representatives for the performance of their duties, the costs being paid out of the legal aid allowance.
Bar associations may assign attorneyship apprentices with tasks to be performed with Legal Aid Offices and representatives on a temporary basis for the purposes of training.

Request for legal aid
Article 5 – A request for legal aid will be made to the Legal Aid Office or its representatives where the services will be rendered. A Judicial Aid Application Form is completed and registered in the Legal Aid Merits Book upon a request being made.
The Legal Aid Office or the representatives will request the necessary information and documents from the requestor, conduct an investigation as they deem appropriate on the rightfulness of the request, and make a decision if required. Public and private organizations and agencies will provide assistance to the Legal Aid Office and the representatives during this investigation.
If the request for legal aid is rejected, the requestor may apply to the president of the bar association verbally or in writing within fifteen days as of the date of notification. The president of the bar association will make a decision within seven days. This decision will be final.

Rendering of legal aid
Article 6 –
a) If the request for legal aid is accepted, the fact will be recorded in a memorandum. The requestor will be made to furnish a letter of commitment to the effect that the requestor will reimburse the bar association with the fee paid to the attorney and five percent of the material gains, if any, the requestor will receive upon completion of the job; and that the requestor will return twice the amount of the fee paid to the assigned attorney and any expenditures incurred including legal interest thereon if it is subsequently discovered that the request for legal aid was not rightful.
Judicial aid will be requested in accordance with Articles 465 through 472 of the Code of Civil Procedure, number 1086, dated 18 June 1927, for those who cannot pay the jurisprudence costs. If this request is rejected, the person concerned will be required to pay any jurisprudence costs other than the attorneyship fee. Otherwise, the request for legal aid may be rejected.
However, in the event it becomes clear that the jurisprudence costs cannot be paid, and a firm conviction or a strong impression arises as to the rightfulness of the person requesting legal aid, payment will be effected out of the legal aid funds upon the recommendation of the Legal Aid Office or the representatives and by a decision of the board of directors of the bar association.
If the case is dismissed, the charges to be returned will be transferred to the legal aid fund.
b) Upon the acceptance of the request for legal aid, one or several attorneys will be assigned to do the work and conduct the actions necessary. A copy of the letter of assignment will be given to the requestor with instructions to contact the attorney assigned together with the required information, documents, and the power of attorney. The attorney assigned will be under the obligation to render attorneyship services upon the receipt of the letter of assignment; the information, documents, and the power of attorney pertaining to the job and the requestor; and the amount advanced for obligatory expenditures for the job if the request for legal aid has been rejected.
The obligation of the assigned attorney will cease when and if the requestor fails to furnish the documents and information required for the performance of the job, and to pay the obligatory jurisprudence costs other than the attorneyship fee, or refrains from giving a power of attorney. The assigned attorney will report the fact without delay to the Legal Aid Office or the representatives that gave him the assignment.
c) Attorneys' declared fields of specialization will be taken into consideration in making assignments.
d) If the assigned attorney wishes to abstain from performing the job for a rightful excuse, he/she may retire from the assignment by paying to the bar association the fee indicated for that job in the tariff within fifteen days as of the date he/she received notice of the assignment.
e) An assigned attorney is under the obligation to see the job through to its completion in accordance with the provisions of the Attorneyship Law, number 1136, dated 19 March 1969. Other lawsuits and execution proceedings or similar legal actions may not be considered as falling under the scope of the job at hand albeit they may be connected and related therewith.
f) The Legal Aid Office or the representatives will monitor the progress of the services being rendered by the assigned attorney. The attorney will be under the obligation to furnish the information and documents requested by the latter at any stage of the job.
Upon completion of his/her services, the attorney will submit a report on the job performed and the documents attesting to the completion of services to the Legal Aid Office or the representatives.

Fees
Article 7 – An attorney assigned with legal aid will be paid the fee indicated for the job at hand in the minimum attorneyship fee tariff. In the event of more than one attorney being assigned, each will separately incur the same fee. Allowances permitting, the rule is to pay the attorney's fee in advance upon his/her documentation of the commencement of his/her services.
An attorney who fails to complete the legal aid services for an assignment without a rightful excuse will be under the obligation to pay twice the amount of the fee he/she has received to the bar association.

Revenues of the Legal Aid Office
Article 8 – The revenues of the Legal Aid Office are the following:
a) Judicial aid allowance extended to bar associations by the Union of Bar Associations of Turkey.
b) Financial aid granted to the bar association by public and private agencies and organizations and from the budgets of provincial governments and municipalities.
c) All donations made for the purpose of legal aid.
d) The money to be recovered from attorneys abstaining from legal aid services or failing to complete their services without a rightful excuse.
e) Moneys received from requestors as per the letters of commitment.
f) Ten percent of the fee received by the attorney assigned with legal aid and five percent of the value adjudged in favor of the beneficiary of legal aid, to which charges are applicable.

Expenses of the Legal Aid Office
Article 9 – The expenditures of the Legal Aid Office are the following:
a) Fees to be paid to attorneys assigned with legal aid and travel expenditures connected therewith.
b) Salaries to be paid to personnel to be employed in the office.
c) Office equipment, stationery, and other expenses.
The funds for legal aid will be used exclusively for legal aid services and indicated in separate parts in the budget of the office. The surplus revenue will be carried over to the following year as is.

The division of legal aid funds between bar associations
Article 10 – The Union of Bar Associations of Turkey will transfer the money collected in accordance with Article 180 of the Attorneyship Law, number 1136, dated 19 March 1969, to the legal aid chapter of its budget and allow the funds to accumulate in a separate bank account. Twenty-five percent of these funds will be earmarked for the legal aid expenditures and the Judicial Aid Balancing Fund of the Union of Bar Associations of Turkey, and the remainder will be sent to the bar associations.
Each bar association will be allocated five basic points. Extra points will be added to the basic points as follows in order to calculate the Judicial Aid Allocation Point:
a) 1 extra point for every 25 attorneys in membership.
b) 1 extra point for every 50,000 in population.
c) 3 extra points to each bar association in the areas with priority in economic development efforts.
Fractional increments less than 0.5 points will be disregarded in the calculation. Fractional increments greater than 0.5 will be rounded to the next higher whole number.
The legal aid funds to be allocated to bar associations will be calculated according to the following formula:


         
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The allocations sent to bar associations during the year will be reported separately to each bar association at the end of the year.
Bar associations which deplete their share of the legal aid allocation before the end of the year may request additional funds from the Judicial Aid Balancing Fund of the Union of Bar Associations of Turkey by submitting a report indicating the expenditures effected by their respective Legal Aid Office, the justification for the request for additional funds, and the legal aid jobs pending. Additional funds will be extended by the board of directors of the Union of Bar Associations of Turkey if the request is considered appropriate.
Allocations not spent during the year will be carried over to the following year. Allocations not spent in two consecutive years will be deducted from the allocation for the new year.
Bar associations will prepare a Judicial Aid Year's End Report at the end of every year and submit it to the Union of Bar Associations of Turkey. Accounts will be settled at the Union of Bar Associations of Turkey on the basis of these reports.
The funds allocated to bar associations will be paid in four installments. Bar associations will prepare quarterly reports after the first installment and submit them to the Union of Bar Associations of Turkey.
The next installment will be paid after the reports and the spending have been determined to be in compliance with the Regulations. The same procedure will be applied in the subsequent installments.

Inspection of Legal Aid Offices
Article 11 – The board of directors of the bar association may always inspect the operations of the Legal Aid Office and the representatives. The Legal Aid Office will submit a report covering its activities, including those of the representatives, to the board of directors of the bar association at the end of every year.

Provisional Article 1 – The boards of directors of bar associations will make the assignments of the attorneys to serve in their respective Legal Aid Offices and, if necessary, of the representatives, and report the completion of the establishment of their Legal Aid Office to the Union of Bar Associations of Turkey by a letter. Bar associations not reporting the establishment of their Legal Aid Office will be denied allocations.

Entry into effect
Article 12 – These Regulations will enter into effect on the date of their publication.

Enforcement
Article 13 – The provisions in these Regulations will be enforced by the board of directors of the Union of Bar Associations of Turkey.


(*)  The present Regulations prepared by the Union of Bar Associations of Turkey have been published in the Official Gazette issue 24583 dated 14 November 2001.