Examining Adequate Causation in Compensation Claims

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

Compensation liability requires a legally sufficient connection between the loss and the conduct or event giving rise to liability. The presence of conduct in a chain of events does not alone make every subsequent loss attributable to it. An adequate-causation assessment examines whether it is capable of producing the relevant result in the ordinary course of events.

The Effect of Multiple Causes

A loss may arise from several acts in combination. Each person's contribution, the applicable type of liability, and joint and several liability provisions must then be considered separately. A single-criterion approach identifying the person who acted last or made the first mistake is insufficient.

Force majeure or conduct by the injured person or a third party may break the causal chain, depending on the conditions. However, a third person's involvement does not always eliminate liability entirely. The seriousness of the conduct and its decisive effect on the outcome must be investigated. In some cases, the injured person's contribution reduces compensation rather than breaking causation.

In events requiring medical, technical, or economic expertise, expert examination may clarify the factual aspect of the connection; final legal characterisation belongs to the court. Although personal fault may not be required in strict liability, causation generally remains important. The connection with the event must be established separately for every head of loss claimed.

Source

Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098, Articles 49–52, 66–71.

This article has been prepared for general legal information purposes.