Article 31 MÖHUK – Mandatory rules of a third state

Article 31 of Turkish Law No. 5718 on Private International Law and International Civil Procedure (MÖHUK) allows a Turkish court to give effect to the overriding mandatory rules (doğrudan uygulanan kurallar) of a third state that is closely connected with a contract. The court is not obliged to do so; it has discretion. In practice the article matters mostly in international commercial contracts.

Article 31 MÖHUK – text

Unofficial translation:

Overriding mandatory rules
Article 31 – (1) When applying the law governing a contractual relationship, effect may be given to the overriding mandatory rules of the law of a third state if it is closely connected with the contract. In deciding whether to give effect to such rules and whether to apply them, regard shall be had to their purpose, nature, content and consequences.

Turkish original:

Doğrudan uygulanan kurallar
MADDE 31 – (1) Sözleşmeden doğan ilişkinin tâbi olduğu hukuk uygulanırken, sözleşmeyle sıkı ilişkili olduğu takdirde üçüncü bir devletin hukukunun doğrudan uygulanan kurallarına etki tanınabilir. Söz konusu kurallara etki tanımak ve uygulayıp uygulamamak konusunda bu kuralların amacı, niteliği, muhtevası ve sonuçları dikkate alınır.

The current text in the UYAP Mevzuat system shows no amendment to this article (as of November 2026).

Legislative reasoning

According to the reasoning of the government bill, the article is new; in the bill it was headed “Müdahaleci kurallar” (overriding rules). The reasoning notes that taking account of such rules of a closely connected third state is accepted in international contract law and in the European instrument known as Rome I. The article does not make application compulsory; it gives the court an option to avoid the harm that disregarding these rules could cause.

Explanation

What an overriding mandatory rule is, and the fact that Turkish rules of this kind always apply, is covered in the post on Article 6 MÖHUK. Article 31 is about the rules of a foreign state, and only in contract cases. Its elements:

There is a contractual relationship and a law that governs it (Article 24 et seq.).
The rule is an overriding mandatory rule of a “third state”.
The contract is closely connected with that state.
The court weighs the rule’s purpose, nature, content and consequences and decides whether to give it effect.

The law does not define “third state”, nor does it say what “giving effect” can mean apart from applying the rule directly. Both points are disputed; there is no express statutory rule and no binding court decision on them. In the author’s assessment, a third state is a state other than the one whose law governs the contract and other than Turkey.

Article 31 says effect “may be given”, whereas Article 6 says the Turkish rule “applies”.

What this means if you live abroad

For private matters the article rarely comes up. If performance of a contract governed by Turkish law runs into a rule of another closely connected country, such as an export or currency rule, a Turkish court will consider under Article 31 whether to give that rule effect. The outcome is hard to predict, since the decision is at the court’s discretion.

Frequently asked questions

Must a Turkish court apply the overriding mandatory rules of a third state?

No. Article 31 says effect “may be given”; the court decides having regard to the rule’s purpose, nature, content and consequences.

How do Article 31 and Article 6 MÖHUK differ?

Article 6 concerns Turkish overriding mandatory rules, which apply. Article 31 only gives the option, in contract cases, of giving effect to the rules of a foreign third state.

Sources

Questions about your case

If performance of a contract connected with Turkey was blocked by a ban or restriction of another country and you would like to discuss how a Turkish court might assess this, you can book a video call, a phone call or a meeting in Düsseldorf on the appointment page, or send a written question through the contact form. Consultations are held in Turkish and cover Turkish law only (§ 206 BRAO); for the position under German or Dutch law, please consult a lawyer admitted there. Useful to have ready: the contract, any choice-of-law clause and the correspondence about the rule that prevented performance.