Recently, Bar Associations have fulfilled the legal regulation and requested information from joint stock companies on whether they comply with the obligation to have a lawyer. Joint stock companies that do not have a lawyer face administrative fines and criminal complaints.

According to Article 35/3 of the Law No. 1136 on Attorneys, joint stock companies with a capital five times or more the amount of capital stipulated in the Turkish Commercial Code are obliged to have a contracted attorney.

Article 73/A of the Attorneyship Law Regulation titled “Conclusion of a contract and provisions to be included in the contract” for forms of employment that involve continuous legal services, it is obligatory to draw up a written contract for continuous legal services in accordance with the Attorneyship Law No. 1136 and the Minimum Fee Tariff for Attorneys, and to submit a copy of this contract to the bar association where it is registered by the attorney who is a party to the contract; and Article 73/C titled “Legal entities failing to comply with the law and annual report” Article 35, paragraph three of the Attorneyship Law No. 1136 stipulates that legal entities that violate Article 35 of the Attorneyship Law shall be subject to a criminal complaint by the bar association where their headquarters are located.

In order to ensure the follow-up and applicability of this issue, which is important for joint stock companies, the legislator has criminalized the violation of this regulation and stipulated that an administrative fine will be imposed. 

Organizations that violate these provisions, 1136 Pursuant to Article 35, Paragraph 3 of the Attorneyship Law No. For each month in which they do not appoint a lawyer contracted by the public prosecutor, for workers over the age of 16 working in the industrial sector shall be imposed an administrative fine equal to the gross amount of two months of the minimum wage in force on the date of the offense.

For 2017, this monthly gross wage amount is 1.777,50 TL and for each month in which a contracted lawyer is not appointed, the transaction will be made over 3.555,00 TL, which is the two-month gross minimum amount.

For this reason, bar associations should be the company to provide information on whether you have a contracted lawyer within the company, and if so, the Attorney Contract and a copy of the self-employment receipt payment document showing the relevant fee payments. If these documents are not submitted, the Public Prosecutor's Office may file a criminal complaint against the joint stock company and initiate legal proceedings.