The legal nature of the contract between foundation universities and academic staff

Higher education activities in our country are conducted either directly by the state or by higher education institutions established by foundations in accordance with Article 130 of the Constitution. Foundation higher education institutions, which possess public legal personality, are exempt from state universities in administrative and financial aspects but are positioned similarly to state universities in academic terms. A continuing debate, parallel to the proliferation of foundation higher education institutions, concerns the legal nature of the contracts of academic personnel employed at these institutions and the issue of determining the competent judicial authority in disputes arising from claims under these contracts. It is observed that different views on this matter are adopted in the doctrine and in the decisions of high courts, leading to conflicts in identifying the appropriate judicial forum. In our study, the legal nature of the contracts of personnel working at foundation higher education institutions is discussed, and the differing views within the doctrine are presented. The approaches of the Court of Cassation, the Council of State, and the Court of Jurisdictional Disputes are examined. In the final section, the parties are analyzed in terms of the employment relationship, the termination of the contract is considered, and some of the labor claims that may be subject to litigation between the parties are addressed. Keywords: Foundation University, Academic Staff, Judicial Pathway, Employment Contract, Administrative Service Contract.