Turkey Permits State Court Interim Attachments Before Enforcement Of Arbitral Awards

Recent development

While Turkey's International Arbitration Law No. 4686 has long permitted Turkish courts to grant interim relief before or during arbitral proceedings, the law was silent as to whether this was permitted once a final award had been rendered by the arbitral tribunal but before it became enforceable by Turkish execution offices.

A Turkish Court of Appeal has now made clear that courts can grant interim relief at any time before, during or after arbitral proceedings, before an award becomes enforceable by Turkish execution offices.

Background

Before an arbitral award had been finalized for execution, the prevailing party applied to a Turkish court for an interim attachment (ihtiyati haciz). The trial court dismissed the request, concluding that an arbitral award cannot be enforced by execution offices in Turkey prior to expiry of the period during which an award may be challenged or, where such a challenge has been made, prior to a final court