Mandatory mediation in consumer disputes

Mediation, to which the parties apply voluntarily and which has a very important function in reducing the workload of the courts, is an alternative dispute resolution mechanism that became a part of the Turkish Legal System in 2013. The method was firstly optional in Turkey pursuant to Law No. 6325 on Mediation in Civil Disputes. However, it was later stipulated as a procedural requirement for the cause of action in Labor Law disputes by Article 3 of Law No. 7036 on Labor Courts, and then in commercial disputes by Article 5/A added to the Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102. While the controversies in the practice and theory regarding the mediation as a procedural requirement were ongoing, Law No. 7251 on the Amendment of the Code of Civil Procedure and Other Laws dated 22.07.2020 brought the mediation as a procedural requirement for the cause of action for Law No. 6502 on the Protection of the Consumer by adding the Article "73/A" which is titled as "Mediation as a procedural requirement for the cause of action" to the Law No. 6502. With this regulation, the necessity to apply to mediation before filing a lawsuit before Consumer Courts was accepted as a procedural requirement for the cause of action in terms of certain disputes in consumer law, especially disputes exceeding over a certain monetary limit in terms of value. In this study, first of all, in the first part, the concept of mediation, basic principles,mediation as a procedural requirement for the cause of action and the criticism about mediation as a procedural requirement for the cause of action are discussed. Subsequently in the second part, for a better understanding of mandatory mediation as a procedural requirement for the cause of action in consumer disputes, which is the main subject of the study, some basic concepts related to consumer disputes are mentioned. In this regard, by examining consumer disputes, the dispute resolution authorities for these disputes and the duties of such authorities within the framework of the said regulation, In the last part the framework of the said regulation, which dispute types before filing a lawsuit are included in the mandatory mediation and what the the exceptions are. Moreover as it is a fairly new regulation in practice, the basic principles regarding the implementation of mandatory mediation as a procedural requirement for the cause of action in disputes arising from Consumer Law have been tried to be explained.