Prof. Dr. Serkan Ayan, a faculty member at Izmir Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Law, Department of Civil Law, said that videos and photographs taken in the earthquake zone can be evidence.
Prof. Dr. Serkan Ayan stated that under normal circumstances, after a building collapses, the public prosecutor’s office takes over the case, takes samples through an expert and carries out controls.
Pointing out that the trial process starts after the technical determination of why the building collapsed, Prof. Dr. Ayan explained the evidence process.
Prof. Dr. Ayan continued as follows: “Concrete sections should be taken from the rebar and joints of the buildings, preserved, bagged and sealed. After the sample is taken correctly, it will be analysed in the future, but since the laboratories have been damaged, these samples will probably be sent to other cities. My suggestion is to contact bar associations and chambers of architects and engineers. Environment and Urbanisation directorates and municipalities should be contacted and these determinations should be made before the debris is removed. If there is no possibility, even the camera footage or photographs on television about that building may have evidential value in case of a lawsuit.”
‘There are people trying to suppress evidence’
Prof. Dr. Serkan Ayan stated that they have heard that in some places contractors are trying to obscure the evidence and said, “There are people who take the rubble and throw it away after the citizens are taken out of the rubble. This must be prevented. Otherwise, very serious problems of proof may arise in future judgements. When the issue comes before the judicial bodies, an evaluation will be made on whether the evidence has been collected properly or not.”
The professor also drew attention to the importance of projects in public buildings.
Is there a statute of limitations?
Prof. Dr. Serkan Ayan stated that people who suffered damages due to the earthquake can file compensation lawsuits for the material and moral damages they suffered: Reminding that there are some principle decisions of the Court of Cassation regarding the time limit for filing lawsuits after the 1999 earthquake, he stated that the statute of limitations starts from the date of the earthquake. Stating that citizens will not face the problem of statute of limitations due to late filing of the lawsuit, Ayan said, “For example, there was an earthquake in 2023. In a building built in 2000, when technical rules are not complied with, citizens can sue the contractors within 10 years from the date of the earthquake. If a licence is granted to a place where construction is not technically possible, the municipality that gave the approval will have a compensation obligation in terms of administrative law against our citizens who are damaged by this event.”
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