Turkey’s Danıştay Fixes Lawyer Fees for Traffic Fine Appeal Cases

Turkey’s Council of State (Danıştay) 8th Chamber issued a precedent‑setting decision on how attorney fees are calculated in lawsuits challenging traffic‑fine payment orders. The court ruled that when a driver loses such a case, the legal fee must be taken from the fixed rates of the Avukatlık Asgari Ücret Tarifesi, not from the amount of the fine. Under the 2026 tariff the fee is 30,000 Turkish lira for non‑hearing cases and 40,000 lira for cases with a hearing. Consequently, a driver contesting a 5,000‑lira fine could be ordered to pay up to thirty‑plus thousand lira in legal costs if the appeal fails.

The ruling arose from a case in Trabzon where a local administrative court cancelled a 2,167‑lira fine but imposed a 2,492‑lira attorney fee. Danıştay found the lower‑court fee miscalculated and applied the fixed‑fee schedule, emphasizing that the matter is an “administrative‑process cancellation” and therefore subject to the statutory tariff. The decision is expected to serve as a benchmark for millions of motorists considering legal challenges to traffic fines.