Product liability in Turkish law with current developments

Product liability aims to compensate for the damages caused by a defective [non-compliance – UGTDK art. 3/1 (r)] product placed on the market. As a matter of fact, the products offered to the use of people today may frequently cause damages, considering their quantity and variety. For this liability to arise, the manufacturer is not required to be at fault; rather, there must be a defect (non-compliance) in the product, damage and a causal link between the damage and the defect. Therefore, product liability is non-contractual strict liability. In Turkish law, product liability regulated by a special law with the UGTDK, which came into force in 2021. In case of damages arising from products placed on the market after this date, the injured parties may apply to the manufacturer without the existence of a contractual relationship between them. In the preamble of Article 6 of the UGTDK titled "Product liability compensation", Directive 85/374/EEC is cited as the reference regulation. To adapt this directive, which has an implementation history of more than thirty years, to the requirements of the age, the EU prepared Proposal dated 28.09.2022 and numbered COM/2022/495. In the Proposal, amendments are envisaged in many articles, especially regarding the concepts such as product, defect and damage, in line with the developments in technology. In this study, firstly, the historical development of product liability and its status in Turkish law are discussed in general terms. Then, the conditions of product liability are analyzed in comparison with the UGTDK and the Product Liability Directive. Subsequently, the legal nature of the liability, the grounds for release from liability and the periods of liability are discussed. Finally, the amendments introduced by the Proposal have also been put under the spotlight, as it is envisaged that they will guide the current/future discussions in the field of product liability in Turkish law and the changes that are likely to be made to the UGTDK.