International jurisdiction of courts in case of non-contractual violation of personal data on the internet

The need for protection of personal data is increasing with digitalization of the world. Because of this mentioned need, EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been come into effect by European Union (EU) member states on May 25 May 2018. GDPR has brought several amendments in the field of privacy law and data protection. In addition to this, it not only provides an insight to EU law but it has also provided an insight to Personal Data Protection Law which was adopted on 24 March 2018 in Turkey. GDPR has a regulation which does not completely clarify the questions or uncertainties regarding jurisdiction of courts. Therefore, both the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and doctrine have tried to resolve issues related to jurisdiction. In EU law, Brussels I Bis Recast Regulation No.1215/2012 (Brussels I Bis Regulation) is in force to determine the international jurisdiction of the courts. Therefore, on one hand, the general and special jurisdiction rules in the Brussels I Bis Regulation implemented during the period of the Data Protection Directive No. 95/46/EC, on the other hand, the existence of the international jurisdiction rules in Article 79 of the GDPR included into implementation by GDPR have led to confusion as which member state has jurisdiction over the cases. It should be particularly noted that neither the Law No.5718 on International Private and Procedural Law (MÖHUK) nor the Brussels I Bis Regulation has brought special regulation to the field of personal data. The issue of international jurisdiction of the courts in case of a non-contractual violation of personal data on the internet in the field of data protection law will be discussed within the context of the International Private and Civil Procedure Law No. 5718, Law on Protection of Personal Data, Brussels I Bis Regulation and the GDPR.