Compensation Claims

Here is the professional English translation of the text on Tort Law and Compensation, structured and formatted for maximum scannability and legal accuracy:

General Principles and Material-Moral Damages

The primary objective of tort law (compensation law) is to remedy the decrease in a damaged person's assets or psychological integrity and to restore them to their pre-injury status.
Compensation lawsuits are generally divided into two main categories: "material damages" (pecuniary/economic loss) and "moral damages" (non-pecuniary/pain and suffering).
Material damages aim to compensate for the concrete and economic loss generated in a person's assets due to an unlawful act.
Moral damages consist of a sum of money determined by the judge to alleviate the mental anguish, grief, sadness, and emotional distress endured.
Under the Turkish Code of Obligations, for compensation liability to arise, there must coexist an unlawful act, damage, fault, and a "causal link" (causal relationship) between the act and the damage.
The causal link refers to the direct and logical cause-and-effect relationship between the resulting damage and the event that provoked it.
In fault-based liability, it is mandatory that the person causing the damage acted with intent (knowingly and willfully) or negligence (failing to exercise due care).
Under strict liability (liability without fault), a person is held responsible for damages due to a specific risk or duty of supervision imposed by law, even if they have no personal fault or error.
Liability of the head of the household, liability of the animal keeper, and liability of the motor vehicle operator (in traffic accidents) are primary types of strict liability.
Within the scope of employer's liability (liability for hiring employees), the employer is obliged to compensate for the damages caused by their employee to third parties, even if the employer is not personally at fault.

Traffic Accidents, Occupational Accidents, and Malpractice

In compensation lawsuits arising from traffic accidents, the driver of the vehicle and the legal owner (operator) of the vehicle are jointly and severally liable for the damage.
In fatal traffic or occupational accidents, the dependents of the deceased (spouse, children, parents) who are deprived of their financial support can claim "loss of support compensation" (destekten yoksun kalma tazminatı).
The purpose of the loss of support compensation is to remedy the loss of the material contribution that the deceased person would have provided to their relatives had they survived.
In accidents involving non-fatal injuries, the victim can claim treatment expenses, loss of earnings, and losses arising from the reduction or total loss of working capacity as material damages.
The percentage of permanent damage and work capacity loss caused to a person's bodily integrity after an accident is called the "disability rate" (maluliyet oranı), and it forms the basis of the compensation calculation.
In compensation claims brought due to workplace accidents, whether the employer implemented appropriate occupational health and safety measures is determined through expert witness reports.
Lawsuits regarding damages caused by physicians or healthcare institutions as a result of medical errors (misdiagnosis, faulty surgery, etc.) are called "malpractice lawsuits."
For medical errors occurring in public hospitals, the lawsuit must be filed directly against the administration (Ministry of Health) before the Administrative Court as a full remedy action.

Breach of Contract, Calculation, and Statutory Limitations

If one of the parties to a valid contract fails to comply with their commitments or completely fails to perform their obligation, compensation arising from a breach of contract comes into play.
High-value compensation lawsuits can also be filed under intellectual and industrial property legislation in cases of unfair competition, trademark infringement, or copyright violations.
When determining the compensation amount, the situation where the injured person also shares a fault in the occurrence of the accident or in the expansion of the damage is called "contributory negligence" (müterfik kusur).
If there is contributory negligence on the part of the injured person, the judge is legally required to make an equitable reduction in the compensation amount.
The exact total of material damages is calculated during the court process by expert actuarial experts, taking into account the person's age, income, and life expectancy.
The amount of moral damages cannot be a means of enrichment; however, it must maintain a balance that serves as a deterrent to the tortfeasor and provides moral satisfaction to the injured party.
For lawsuits arising from torts (unlawful acts), the general statutory limitation period is 2 years from the date the damage and the liable party are discovered, and in any event, 10 years from the date the act was committed.
If the tortious act also constitutes a crime under criminal statutes and the criminal limitation period is longer, that longer criminal statute of limitations shall apply to the compensation lawsuit as well.
In compensation lawsuits arising from a breach of contract, the statutory limitation period is, as a rule, 10 years, unless otherwise provided by law.
As a rule in compensation claims, interest begins to accrue from the date of the accident/incident where the tort occurred or the damage arose.
A person whose personal rights have been violated (e.g., those subjected to defamation or insult on the internet) may request the cessation of the violation and the publication of the verdict in newspapers or digital media, in addition to claiming damages.
In lawsuits regarding compensation law, the Civil Courts of First Instance, Consumer Courts, Labor Courts, Commercial Courts, or Administrative Courts hold jurisdiction depending on the specific nature of the dispute.