Turkey prepares new judicial package covering alimony and social media

The Turkish government is finalizing a new judicial package, expected to be presented to Parliament in October. The regulations aim to expedite legal processes and introduce significant changes to family law, rental disputes, and social media usage.

A major component of the package involves reforming alimony laws by introducing time limits to replace indefinite alimony. Under the proposed formula, marriages lasting up to 10 years would result in five years of alimony, while longer marriages would grant alimony for half the duration of the marriage. A minimum of five years of alimony is planned even for very short marriages.

To accelerate contentious divorce cases, the package proposes separating the divorce process from property division. Additionally, the statute of limitations for property division claims is expected to be reduced from 10 years to five years.

Regarding housing, the package sets targets to resolve rent determination cases within nine months and eviction cases within 1.5 years. Finally, new social media regulations are expected to mandate identity verification through the e-Devlet system to combat illegal activities such as gambling, drug trafficking, and prostitution.