Anyone who can be considered to have the capacity to file a lawsuit may file and pursue this lawsuit in person or through a proxy to be appointed by him. If the lawsuit is to be pursued through a proxy, a power of attorney will be required. The attorney may terminate the duty entrusted to him/her by resignation. However, the mere notification of the proxy’s resignation to the relevant court shall not eliminate the liability of the proxy. The duties assumed by the resigning attorney by proxy shall continue for a period of two weeks from the notification of the resignation to the client. These matters regarding the resignation of the attorney-in-fact shall be notified to the attorney-in-fact together with the resignation petition of the resigning attorney-in-fact.
In the event that the attorney has resigned, the attorney shall either appoint a new attorney or follow the case himself/herself. If the attorney does not follow the case himself/herself and does not appoint another attorney, the procedure shall be carried out according to the provisions to be applied in the absence of the party.
In the decision of the 11th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation dated 20.12.2016; ‘The decision of our Chamber dated 20.05.2015 and numbered 2015/166-5537 E. and K., which upheld the decision of the local court, was duly served to the defendant’s attorney on 17.06.2015, and the defendant’s attorney stated that he resigned from the defendant’s attorneyship with a petition dated 24.06.2015 addressed to the local court and requested that the Court of Cassation decision and the petition of resignation be served to the defendant principal.
Upon the notification of the judgement of the Court of Cassation and the letter of resignation to the defendant’s principal on 02.07.2015, the defendant’s attorney filed a request for correction of the judgement with a petition dated 31.08.2015 by attaching the Av…. power of attorney.
After the confirmation decision of our Chamber was duly notified to the defendant’s attorney, the defendant’s attorney resigned from the attorneyship, and according to Article 82 of the CCP, the attorneyship of the resigning attorney will continue for two weeks from the notification of the resignation to the client, and the period to apply for legal remedy starts to run from the date of notification of the decision to the attorney. There is also a similar provision in Article 41 of the Attorneyship Law. Even if the attorney resigns from the attorneyship within the legal remedy application period, the judgement is deemed to have been validly notified to him. In this case, since the defendant party has exceeded the 15-day legal period for correction of the decision, the petition for correction of the decision should be rejected.’ This decision rendered by the Court of Cassation also reveals the importance of deadlines in law and the importance of resignation in representation by proxy.
Pursuant to Article 81 of the CCP, in order for the dismissal or resignation of the attorney to be effective for the court and the opposing party, the declaration on this matter must be notified with a petition or recorded in the minutes and, if necessary, the notification expenses to be made to the relevant party must be paid in advance. Article 82 of the CCP stipulates that the proxy duty of the attorney who resigns will continue for two weeks from the notification of the resignation to the client.
With this regulation, the legislator has not deemed it appropriate to terminate the duty with the resignation in order to prevent the principal from losing any rights due to the resignation of the attorney. Thus, the principal will have the opportunity to follow up his/her case and take the necessary measures upon learning the resignation of his/her attorney.
The provisions regarding the resignation of the attorney are applied not only in the proceedings and transactions related to civil proceedings, but also in the proceedings related to enforcement proceedings and in the follow-up of disputes arising from administrative proceedings law.