The adli yargı adalet komisyonu başkanlığı, the presidency of the judicial commission, sits inside the courthouse, and the word “justice” in its name can suggest that every notarial act belongs there too. A power of attorney, a signature declaration, a notarised translation or a notary’s certified copy is then carried to the courthouse, although the competent authority for it is elsewhere. This page explains the division of competence behind that mistake and how the file is moved to the right counter. The general route for a power of attorney is described separately on the notarial power of attorney page of this site.
The notarial document and the commission
Under article 199 of the Notaries Law the apostille on a notarial act belongs to the valilik or kaymakamlık, the provincial or district governor’s office; how the judicial commission itself handles a notarial document brought to it was not found on an official page in this site’s survey. A second wrong step is to follow the old rule and carry the document to the district office of the notary’s own district; that territorial condition was removed at the end of 2024.
Two authorities, two classes of document
In Türkiye the power to issue apostilles is divided by class of document. The HCCH page on Turkish competent authorities gives the division in a short list: for judicial documents, the presidencies of the judicial commissions where high criminal courts sit; for administrative documents, the governor and district governor in the provinces and the district governor in the districts. The Ministry of Justice circular on the Convention likewise assigns judicial documents to the commissions. A notarial act falls not in the judicial column but in the column of the provincial administration. Article 199 of the Turkish Notaries Law gives the certification of a notary’s signature to the governor and district governor, and the amendment made by Law no. 7533 of 21 November 2024, in force since 30 November 2024, allows that certification in any province or district. The Develi District Governor’s Office says the same in its own words: among the documents it apostilles it lists those certified by the district’s notary. The question is one of competence: the notarial document is not in the commission’s column.
Why one file can hold two apostilles from two offices
The confusion is fed by the fact that apostilles from two different authorities can sit side by side in one file. The original of a court judgment is apostilled by the judicial commission; the notarised translation of the same judgment is apostilled by the provincial or district governor’s office, a distinction the Onikişubat District Governor’s Office spells out on its page. Having the judgment apostilled at the commission does not bring the translation within the commission’s competence. The rule is simple: the authority follows the signature that the certificate attests. A judge’s or court clerk’s signature goes to the commission; a notary’s signature goes to the provincial administration.
Moving the notarial document to the right counter
No additional step is needed for the notarial document; it is taken as it stands to any provincial or district governor’s office. The Ankara Governor’s Office service standard, which asks for the identity card and telephone number of the person presenting the document and gives about ten minutes per document, is written for wet-signed, sealed administrative documents; the Zile District Governor’s Office asks anyone presenting another person’s document for a notarised power of attorney, so the chosen office’s rule is checked beforehand. No fee is charged for the apostille at provincial and district governor’s offices. If the file also contains the original of a judicial document, that document goes to the commission and the notarial documents to the governor’s office. For a court judgment e-Apostil, the official Turkish electronic system, is a further option; for a notarial document it is not.
What remains unconfirmed about the commission
The application procedure, processing time and power of attorney practice of the judicial commission in Ankara were not found on an official page in this site’s survey. Some district office pages still show the requirement that the notary be located in the same district; those pages appear to predate the 2024 amendment, and the current rule is the law itself.
Translation on a notarial document: one counter, two certificates
Translation enters the chain of a notarial document after its apostille. For a document drawn up in Turkish, the apostille is obtained first, then the apostilled document is translated by a yeminli tercüman (a sworn translator whose oath is recorded at a Turkish notary) and the translation is certified by the notary; if the receiving authority asks for it, this second notarial certification also receives an apostille from the governor or district governor. Since both apostilles attest a notary’s signature, both can be obtained at a governor’s or district governor’s counter, and the courthouse is never part of the route.