ERDEM-NEWSLETTER-2018-metin

170 NEWSLETTER 2018 Decision of the General Assembly Regarding Arbitral Awards Subject to Action to Set Aside* Att. Piraye Erdem Introduction In the decision of the Court of Cassation General Assembly on the Unification of Judgments (“General Assembly”) numbered 2016/2 E. 2018/4 K. 1 (“Decision”), legal remedies available in response to the arbitral awards derived from arbitration agreements concluded prior to 01.10.2011, the date of the entry into force of the Code of Civil Procedure numbered 6100 (“CCP”), were discussed. The General Assembly ruled that the aforementioned arbitral awards shall be subject to the action to set aside under Article 439 of the CCP, instead of the appeal process regulated under Article 533 of the former Code of Civil Procedure numbered 1086 (“fCPP”). The General Assembly reached this conclusion through a detailed assess- ment within the scope of the nature of the arbitration agreements and the rule of immediate implementation of the procedural provisions. Assessment Regarding the Nature of the Arbitration Agreements In the Decision, the nature of the arbitration agreements, which is also a matter of discussion in the doctrine and leading to conflicts amongst the Chambers of the Court of Cassation was analyzed under (i) the material law contract, (ii) the procedural law contract and (iii) the mixed contract arguments. According to the material law contract argument the arbitration agreements are qualified as private law contracts that become effec- * Article of September 2018 1 OG, 18.09.2018, No. 30539.