📌 KEY LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS
The Competition Authority decided to open an investigation against Pure Organic Gıda AŞ following a preliminary inquiry on whether the company violated Article 4 of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition by setting the resale prices for its buyers.
The Competition Authority decided to open an investigation against the Casting Agencies Association, casting agencies, and managers, following a preliminary inquiry into alleged violations of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition.
The Competition Authority published the 2024 Mergers and Acquisitions Outlook Report. The report stated that a total of 311 merger, acquisition, and privatization transactions were reviewed in 2024, and that 137 transactions involving Turkish-origin companies had a combined value of approximately 223 billion TRY.
The Personal Data Protection Authority issued a public announcement regarding the fulfillment of disclosure obligations within mediation activities. It stated that merely providing information about the process does not satisfy the disclosure obligation and that mediators are required to inform individuals about their personal data.
The Personal Data Protection Authority updated the Banking Sector Good Practice Guide on Personal Data Protection, taking into account amendments made by Law No. 7499 on the Criminal Procedure Code and related laws, as well as Law No. 6698 on Personal Data Protection.
The General Court of the European Union ruled that the European Commission must pay €400 compensation to a German citizen in a case concerning data protection violations. This symbolic penalty affirmed that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is also binding for institutions.
📜 OFFICIAL GAZETTE
The Constitutional Court’s decision dated 18 September 2024 and published in the Official Gazette No. 32778 on 10 January 2025, application number 2021/50114, relates to the allegation that the applicant was placed at a procedural disadvantage due to lack of opportunity to access and comment on a document used as evidence for conviction and absence of expert examination, thus violating the principles of equality of arms and adversarial proceedings under the right to a fair trial. The applicant was arrested on 6 August 2019 for presenting a fake ID card and fake documents were found during a search. The first-instance court convicted the applicant for these acts. However, the applicant claimed they were denied the opportunity to effectively defend themselves and their defense was not properly heard, and thus filed an individual application to the Constitutional Court. The Court examined the application under the right to a fair trial and assessed whether the decision was reasoned and objections were duly considered. The Court concluded that the principles of equality of arms and adversarial proceedings, protected by Article 36 of the Constitution, were violated.
