261 / 469
CONSUMER LAW
247
The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts
3
*
Att. Ceyda Büyükoral
The Provision Regarding Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts
Stipulated in the Code No. 4077 on Consumer Protection
The Code No. 4077 on Consumer Protection (“Code No. 4077”) had
been entered into force after its publication in the Official Gazette dated
8 March 1995 and numbered 22221.
The purpose of the Code No. 4077, as outlined in the Article 1, is
“to take measures aimed at protecting the health, safety and economic
interests of consumers in line with the public benefit, building consumer
awareness, indemnifying losses incurred by consumers and protecting
them against environmental hazards; to promote consumer initiatives
aimed at protecting consumer interests and to encourage volunteer
organizations for establishing consumer-related policies.”
The Code No. 4077 had been amended by Code No. 4822 for the
purpose of harmonizing Turkish legislation with the European Union
Acquis.
In this regard, a provision regarding unfair terms in contracts was
inserted into Code No. 4077.
The relevant provision states that a contractual term which has been
unilaterally included in the contract by the seller or supplier without it
being negotiated with the consumer shall be deemed as unfair if, contrary
to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the
parties’ rights and obligations arising under the contract, to the detriment
of the consumer.
Pursuant to the aforesaid provision;
• Any unfair term included in a contract, which the consumer is a
party to, shall not be binding upon the consumer.
• A termshall always be deemed as not individually negotiatedwhere
it has been drafted in advance and the consumer has therefore not
*
Article of November 2011