The finality clause, kesinleşme şerhi, is the note on a Turkish judgment stating that the judgment can no longer be altered on appeal. It belongs among the apostille terms because on a judgment going abroad this note comes before the apostille, and the German missions in Türkiye list it next to the apostille for a divorce judgment.
What the clause shows
A judgment is not final when it is pronounced; the parties may take it to a higher court within the time allowed. When that time has passed, or when the higher court has confirmed the judgment, the judgment becomes final, and the clause records that fact on the judgment. Which court office writes the clause, in what form and within what time was not read on an official page in this site’s survey; the court that gave the judgment is asked.
Why the clause comes before the apostille
Under article 5 of the Convention an apostille attests a particular signature and capacity on the document, and the certificate names the person whose signature it attests. If the judgment is apostilled first and the clause added afterwards, the signature under the clause is not named in the certificate; whether a fresh apostille is then required is not settled in any source this site surveyed. The safe order is: finality clause, then apostille on the original, then translation. The apostille on the original of a judgment is issued by the presidency of the judicial commission (adli yargı adalet komisyonu başkanlığı); a court judgment is also among the document types covered by e-Apostil, the official electronic system, and on that route too the finality has to appear in the record already.
Germany’s triad: Rechtskraftvermerk, apostille, translation
The information sheet of the German missions in Türkiye describes a divorce judgment as needed “with Rechtskraftvermerk, apostille and German translation”: finality clause, apostille, translation. The French foreign ministry’s table, by contrast, exempts Turkish judicial documents relating to civil status from legalisation; the exemption means no apostille is asked for, not that the finality clause is dispensed with. The clause is part of the content of the judgment and is independent of the legalisation regime.
A judgment without the clause
Under article 5 of the Convention an apostille attests a signature and a capacity; whether the apostille authority issues a certificate on a judgment that is not yet final was not verified in this site’s survey. At the other end, the German missions ask for a divorce decree with its finality clause; how other countries treat a judgment that is not final was not verified country by country. Holding an apostille is no indication that the judgment will be accepted; on the German list the clause is one of three elements, and the apostille is another.
How the clause appears in the translation
The translation is made from the judgment as it stands with the clause and the apostille attached. The translator renders the date of the clause, the capacity of the signatory and the wording of the stamp as they are, and “has become final” is rendered in the target language with that country’s own term. A translation made from a copy without the clause does not contain the later note, and the receiving authority cannot reconcile translation and original.