Expert witness (Ehl-i vukuf/expert witness) in Turkish Law in the Republican Era 1927-2016

After the proclamation of the Republic, innovations were made in Turkish law as well as in many other fields. In the thesis titled ehl-i vukuf in Turkish Law in the Republican Era (expert witness) 1927-2016; the process of how expert witness, which was included for the first time as an important element of the trial in the Code of Civil Procedure adopted in 1927, was discussed and applied in the laws enacted until 2016 was explained. In the thesis study, firstly, the expert witness in the legal system of the Ottoman Empire, which ruled before the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, was examined. There is no written regulation regarding expert witnesses in Ottoman law; however, it has been seen that they expressed their opinions with the names of ehl-i hibre and ehl-i vukuf in the cadi registers. It is understood that since the early 1970s, the terms of expert witness have been adopted and settled in place of the terms ehl-i vukuf and ehl-i hibre in the amendments made in the relevant laws and in the case law of the high court. There are provisions in many laws regarding the expert witness institution, which gained an institutional identity with the law dated 24.11.2016 and numbered 6754. With the regulation published by the Ministry of Justice in 2017, it is aimed that the expertise institution continues its activities in the best way.