NEWSLETTER-2019-metin

232 NEWSLETTER 2019 An Important Decision of the Assembly of Civil Chambers of the Court of Cassation Regarding Amendment of Pleading* Att. Alper Uzun What is Amendment of Pleading? Amendment of pleading is a legal opportunity, regulated under Article 176 and the following Articles of the Code of Civil Procedure (“CCP”), which allows parties to alter performed procedural actions in whole or in part during the proceedings. Amendment of pleading is also an exception to the prohibition on the extension of claims and defense. By means of amendment of pleading, potential loss of rights due to procedural deficiencies or errors could be prevented over the course of the proceedings. Amendment of pleading is a unilateral declaration of will. There- fore, approval of the other party or the court is not required. Due to this function of amendment of pleading, controversy regarding when an amendment of pleading could be applied, or to which extent it could be carried out, may arise. One debate concerning this is whether a right that was not claimed (for example, a receivable), while initiating the lawsuit, could be claimed by amendment of pleading afterwards. Different Views on the Subject In a case arising from labor receivables, the plaintiff did not request amendment of pleading in its lawsuit petition, but requested severance and notice pay, while increasing claims for other receivables through an amendment of pleading after the receipt of the expert report. Even though these claims were accepted by the court, the 7th Civil Chamber of Court of Cassation overturned this judgment on the grounds that no severance and notice pay had been claimed in the lawsuit petition, the * Article of December 2019