Public policy in enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Turkey under the judgments of the court of cassation

Arbitration is a frequently used dispute resolution technique. The growth in international trade resulted an increase in the number of legal disputes arising from international commercial transactions. Arbitration became an effective technique in resolving such disputes. As a result, nowadays, the number of the arbitral awards that resolved international commercial disputes is quite high. The prevailing party of an arbitral award might want to render the award enforceable in countries in which the pertinent arbitral award is deemed to be foreign. In order to render a foreign arbitral award enforceable, the prevailing party must file a lawsuit for the recognition or enforcement of the arbitral award. In order for a court to issue a judgment rendering a foreign arbitral award enforceable, the pertinent foreign arbitral award shall not be contrary to the public policy of that country. In its earlier decisions, the Turkish Court of Cassation interpreted the public policy exception over-broadly and entered flawed judgments preventing the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Turkey. This situation caused the Turkish Court of Appeals to be heavily criticized by the foreign jurists. However, in its recent decisions, Turkish Court of Cassation, interpreting the public policy exception narrowly and appropriately, entered judgments allowing the enforcement of arbitral awards, abrogating its previous flawed decisions. These decisions prove that Turkey is a pro-arbitration country.