One of the first questions for a person who has been served with an act or decision of a public authority concerning them is the period within which an action can be brought against it. This note briefly explains the relevant provisions of the Administrative Procedure Law No. 2577 (İYUK); special laws may contain different rules depending on the type of act.
In brief: Under Article 7 of the İYUK, where special laws do not provide a separate period, the time limit for bringing an action is 60 days before the Council of State (Danıştay) and the administrative courts, and 30 days before the tax courts. In administrative disputes, the period starts on the day following the date of written notification of the act. A 30-day response period applies to an application to the administration (Article 10) and to an application to a superior authority (Article 11); an application to a superior authority suspends a time limit that has already begun to run. Missing the time limit may result in dismissal of the action at the preliminary examination of the petition.
General time limit for bringing an action
Article 7/1 of the İYUK provides that, where special laws do not provide a separate period, the time limit for bringing an action is sixty days before the Council of State and the administrative courts and thirty days before the tax courts. For this reason, one first looks at which court has jurisdiction over the act, and then at whether the law on which the act is based provides a separate period.
- The general period is 60 days before the administrative courts and the Council of State.
- In tax disputes, the general period is 30 days.
- If a special law provides a different period, that period applies; periods in special laws are not covered in this note.
When does the period start?
Under Article 7/2 of the İYUK, in administrative disputes the periods start on the day following the date on which written notification was made. For disputes arising from taxes, duties, fees and similar financial liabilities, the same paragraph lists separate starting points; for example, where notification is made, the date of notification is the basis.
Other provisions on the starting point are as follows:
- Calculation of periods (Article 8): Periods begin to run from the day following the date of notification, publication or announcement. Holidays are included in the periods; however, if the last day of the period falls on a holiday, the period is extended until the end of the working day following the holiday.
- Announcement for persons whose address is unknown (Article 7/3): Unless a special law provides otherwise, where notification is made by announcement, the period begins to run fifteen days after the day following the last announcement date.
- Regulatory acts (Article 7/4): For regulatory acts that must be announced, the time limit for bringing an action starts on the day following the date of announcement. Upon the application of these acts, the persons concerned may bring an action against the regulatory act, the act applied, or both.
The method by which written notification is made is a separate matter. Under Article 60 of the İYUK, service of court documents is carried out in accordance with the Notification Law. For how the date of electronic service is determined, see the note UETS, date of electronic service and notifications. Separating the dates of service, learning of the act and application by means of documents is one of the general points checked in the field of administrative law.
Application to the administration (Article 10)
Under Article 10 of the İYUK, persons concerned may apply to administrative authorities for an act or action that could be the subject of an administrative action concerning them to be carried out. Paragraph 2 of the article, as amended by Law No. 7331, provides for the following consequences:
- If no response is given within thirty days, the request is deemed rejected (implied rejection, “zımni ret”).
- The persons concerned may bring an action within the time limit for bringing an action, starting from the date on which the thirty days end.
- If a response given within the thirty-day period is not final, the person concerned may treat this response as a rejection of the request and bring an action, or may wait for the final response. If they wait, the time limit for bringing an action does not run; however, the waiting period cannot exceed four months from the date of application.
The law’s transitional article separately states that the former periods apply to applications made to the administration before the amendment.
Application to a superior authority (Article 11)
Under Article 11/1 of the İYUK, before bringing an action, persons concerned may, within the time limit for bringing an action, ask the superior authority — or, if there is no superior authority, the authority that made the act — to withdraw, revoke or amend the act or to make a new act. This application suspends the time limit for bringing an action that has already begun to run.
- If no response is given within thirty days, the request is deemed rejected.
- If the request is rejected or deemed rejected, the time limit for bringing an action starts to run again, and the time that elapsed up to the date of application is also taken into account (Article 11/3).
In other words, Article 11 does not restart the period but suspends it; the number of days that elapsed up to the date of application is deducted from the subsequent period.
Petition and competent court
- Petition (Article 3): Administrative actions are brought by signed petitions addressed to the presidencies of the Council of State, an administrative court or a tax court. Among other elements, the petition states the date of written notification of the administrative act that is the subject of the action; the originals or copies of the act and documents are attached to the petition.
- Place of filing (Article 4): Petitions may be submitted to the presidencies of the court to which they belong, or to the presidencies of an administrative or tax court for transmission to them. The action is deemed to have been brought on the date on which the petition is registered (Article 6).
- Separate act, separate action (Article 5): A separate action is brought against each administrative act; acts that have a material or legal connection with one another may also be made the subject of an action in a single petition.
- Competent court (Article 32): Without prejudice to the provisions on subject-matter jurisdiction, where the law or special laws do not designate the competent administrative court, the competent court is the administrative court at the place where the administrative authority that made the act under challenge is located. Territorial jurisdiction is a matter of public order.
Legal consequence of missing the time limit
Article 14/3 of the İYUK provides that petitions are also examined at the preliminary examination with regard to “expiry of the time limit”. Under Article 15/1-b, if expiry of the time limit is established as a result of this examination, the action is dismissed. Details concerning the last day of the period, closing hours or holidays, as well as different periods in special laws, are checked separately in the relevant legislation with regard to the particular act.
Because the preliminary examination looks at the date of written notification stated in the petition and at the attached documents, the consistency of the date stated in the petition with the service documents is a decisive piece of information in assessing the time limit. The law provides separate consequences for deficiencies other than expiry of the time limit; for example, Article 15/1-d, which allows thirty days to correct petitions that do not comply with Articles 3 and 5, falls within this scope.
The texts of the laws can be viewed in their current form in the legislation database listed on the Official Resources page.
This information note is for general information purposes and does not contain a legal opinion specific to any individual.
Sources
- Sources 1 (opens in a new tab) — Accessed: October 7, 2026