Constituent Elements of Tort Liability

Legal Article · 12 November 2026
Av. Thomas Andreas Di Constantinople

Tort liability may provide compensation for loss caused by unlawful and culpable conduct even without a prior contract between the parties. General liability under Article 49 of the Turkish Code of Obligations requires joint assessment of the act, unlawfulness, fault, loss, and adequate causation. Not every harmful event automatically creates an obligation to compensate without examination of these elements.

Proof and Determination of Compensation

Under Article 50 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, the injured person must prove the loss and the wrongdoer's fault. If the amount cannot be determined precisely, the judge may make an equitable assessment considering the ordinary course of events and measures taken. This does not remove the need to explain the existence of loss and its connection with the event.

Statutory authority, valid consent, or self-defence may affect unlawfulness. Article 49/2 of the Turkish Code of Obligations provides a separate basis for intentionally causing harm through immoral conduct even where no specific rule prohibits it.

Assessment of compensation also examines the injured person's contribution to the occurrence or increase of loss. In strict liability, whether fault is required depends on the special provision. Where the same event also constitutes breach of contract, the applicable legal ground and evidentiary regime must be distinguished separately.

Source

Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098, Articles 49–52, 63–64.

This article has been prepared for general legal information purposes.