The Distinction Between English and Turkish Legal Systems And How These Differences Shape Legal Translation

Globalization has intensified cross-border transactions, international arbitration, foreign investments, and multinational business structures. As a result, English–Turkish legal translation plays a central role in ensuring clarity, accuracy, and legal certainty between two fundamentally different legal traditions: Common Law (English Law) and Civil Law (Turkish Law).

This article explores the main distinctions between these systems and explains why understanding these differences is essential for accurate legal translation.

𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐋𝐚𝐰 (𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐚𝐰): 𝐀 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭

The English legal system is defined by its reliance on precedent, judicial interpretation, and the historic development of law through case decisions.

Key characteristics:

✔ Precedent (Stare Decisis)

Court decisions bind future cases with similar facts. This is why Common Law documents frequently contain:

• case citations,
• judicial principles,
• reasoning-based definitions (e.g., reasonable person, duty of care),
• equity-based concepts.

✔ Judge-made law

Courts actively shape the law. Legal concepts evolve over time based on judgments—something Civil Law does not emphasize.

✔ Extensive contract drafting

Because fewer rules are codified, English contracts tend to be:

• longer,
• more detailed,
• explicit about risk allocation.

𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐋𝐚𝐰 (𝐂𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐋𝐚𝐰): 𝐀 𝐂𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤

Turkey follows the Civil Law tradition, heavily influenced by Swiss, German, and French legal codes.

Core features:

✔ Primacy of Statutory Law

The main source of law is written legislation. Judges must first look to:

1. Codes,
2. Custom (if applicable),
3. Equity (as a last resort).

✔ No binding precedent

High court opinions are guiding but not formally binding. Therefore, the Common Law notion of precedent has no direct counterpart in Turkish law.

✔ Shorter contracts

Civil Law assumes general provisions already exist in the code, so contracts include fewer auxiliary clauses.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Legal translation between English and Turkish is not a simple linguistic task — it is the act of bridging two different legal cultures.

Below are the main translation challenges.

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐨𝐧-𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐍𝐨 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭

Many Common Law concepts are not codified in Civil Law, making literal translation impossible.

Examples:

• Consideration
• Equity
• Estoppel
• Fiduciary duty
• Trust law
• Duty of care (only partially overlaps with özen borcu)

These terms require:

• descriptive translation,
• functional equivalence,
• or explanatory footnotes depending on the context.

𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐬

Common Law examples:

• Injunction vs. Turkish ihtiyati tedbir (not identical)
• Liquidated damages vs. Turkish ceza koşulu
• Indemnity clauses (much broader under English Law)
• Tort principles developed through case law

Civil Law examples:

• Turkish separation of ihtiyati haciz and ihtiyati tedbir
• Codified liability regimes
• Narrower interpretation of penalties
• Less reliance on judicial history

These asymmetries require translators to understand functional differences, not just terminology.

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞: 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐬. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐝

English contracts (Common Law):

• long,
• detailed,
• clause-heavy (risk allocation must be explicit).

Turkish contracts (Civil Law):

• concise,
• rely on statutory provisions,
• contain fewer scenario-based precautions.

In translation:

• A word-for-word approach fails.
• An English contract translated into Turkish may seem repetitive — but this repetition must be preserved.
• A Turkish contract translated into English often needs structural expansion to meet Common Law expectations.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝

Legal translation requires more than bilingual ability. A qualified legal translator must master:

• comparative legal research,
• system-to-system equivalence,
• contextual term selection,
• legal risk awareness,
• contract and litigation terminology.

Because a mistranslated term can lead to financial loss, unenforceable agreements, or litigation, subject-matter expertise is indispensable.

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬, 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬

English and Turkish legal systems differ in structure, philosophy, and application. Therefore, translating between them requires not only linguistic competence but also comparative legal understanding.

A skilled legal translator connects two different worlds — ensuring clarity, accuracy, and legal certainty across jurisdictions.

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