Türkiye's top court: QR-coded documents not enough to recognize foreign divorce

Türkiye's Court of Cassation upheld a lower court ruling that QR-coded documents do not meet the legal requirement of certified documents for recognizing a divorce granted abroad.

D.O. and E.O., a Turkish couple living in Belgium, were divorced by a court ruling there. E.O. filed a recognition case at the Eskişehir 5th Family Court so the ruling would also be valid in Türkiye, submitting the foreign judgment and its certificate of finality as QR-coded documents.

The court ruled that the QR-coded documents did not meet the legal requirement for certified documents and that the original internationally certified document had not been submitted, and dismissed the case. The ruling went to the appeals court and then to the Court of Cassation, whose 2nd Civil Chamber upheld it.

A view of the Court of Cassation complex

Lawyer Aslıcan Özgür İleli noted that under Article 53 of Law No. 5718 on International Private and Procedural Law, the original of the foreign judgment duly certified by the authorities of the issuing country, or a copy certified by the issuing court, must be submitted with a certified translation. She said citizens divorced abroad should prepare their documents accordingly.