Constitutional Court Annuls Provision On Imprisonment For Opposition To Interim Injunctions

Article 398 of the Code of Civil Procedure previously set out that parties which failed to comply with an interim injunction or that violated an injunction would face one to six months' imprisonment.

However, following an application to the Istanbul First Intellectual and Industrial Property Court for the annulment of Article 398, the Constitutional Court decided to cancel the first sentence of Article 398(1) regarding imprisonment for opposition to interim injunctions.(1)

The Constitutional Court's decisions stated that the penalties set out in Article 398 regarding imprisonment were not contrary to the principle of proportionality set out in the Constitution. However, the court concluded that legal certainty and the right to legal remedies were harmed due to Article 398′s lack of clear regulation and the merits of the proceedings and legal remedies in this regard.