Extradition Lawyer in Bursa: Bursa ağır ceza mahkemeleri and the Local Procedure

Which Bursa institution has the file?

Law No. 6706, Article 15, assigns the extradition admissibility case to the high criminal court where the sought person is located, not automatically to a court in the provincial capital. Following central-authority screening, the relevant Cumhuriyet başsavcılığı (chief public prosecutor's office) asks that court for a decision. For a case in central Bursa, the Uluyol courthouse lists the adult Bursa ağır ceza mahkemeleri, the prosecutors' Yakalama Bürosu (arrest/warrant bureau), the duty service, the criminal-courts front office and sulh ceza hâkimlikleri. The official courthouse address is Hacıilyas Mahallesi, Kıbrıs Şehitleri Caddesi No. 21, Osmangazi. Ask for the exact numbered court, file number and custody authority; none can safely be inferred from a traveller's destination.

Why can an arrest in Gemlik or Yenişehir go elsewhere?

“Bursa” is a province as well as a city. Gemlik has its own Gemlik Ağır Ceza Mahkemesi, prosecutor and sulh ceza hâkimliği at Hisar Mahallesi, 242. Sokak No. 14. Mustafakemalpaşa also officially lists a separate 1st high criminal court. A family that calls only the central Bursa courthouse may therefore miss the correct case. The lawyer must check the location recorded when the person was found and the court named on the actual referral; local administrative boundaries should never replace the judicial file.

Bursa Yenişehir Airport (YEI) has domestic and international traffic and sits in Yenişehir district, approximately 50 kilometres from Bursa centre. An official İnegöl court report places Yenişehir and İznik among İnegöl's attached courthouses and records two İnegöl high criminal courts; the current İnegöl court leave list refers to the first and second chambers. For a traveller stopped at YEI, have counsel check whether the prosecution and high criminal case are in the İnegöl judicial area rather than assuming “Bursa Ağır Ceza”. An Istanbul-airport arrest has its own local starting point: see the Istanbul court guide.

The 2024 official İnegöl courthouse report separately identifies the Yenişehir Sulh Ceza Hâkimliği and Yenişehir Cumhuriyet Başsavcılığı at the Yenişehir district courthouse. This distinction matters immediately after an airport arrest: an initial custody order can originate in Yenişehir even where the later extradition-admissibility file is assigned within the İnegöl heavy-criminal-court area. Obtain both the provisional-custody order and any later court referral; a prosecutor's office, a peace criminal judgeship and a heavy criminal court have different roles.

The first 72 hours: an action plan, not a hearing deadline

The table below is a practical sequence; Turkish law does not promise a completed extradition hearing within 72 hours. Article 14(3) of Law 6706 separately requires a person arrested on the described provisional-extradition request to be brought before a criminal judgeship of peace within 24 hours of arrest for a decision on provisional detention. Ordinary criminal arrests on other grounds follow their own legal basis; do not convert this 24-hour rule into a deadline for final extradition.

Does a Red Notice alone justify detention?

A Red Notice is not a Turkish extradition judgment. The Ministry of Justice's November 2024 circular says a provisional detention decision cannot be based directly on a Red Notice or foreign papers without the ministry's required approval under Article 14(1). Article 14(2) also contains a narrowly defined provisional-detention exception concerning specified Turkish Penal Code offences; do not assume every foreign alert meets it. Police may act on another lawful Turkish basis, which counsel must distinguish from an extradition hold. After the formal documents arrive, the competent high criminal court may order safeguards under Article 16; an earlier provisional-arrest clock is not the total duration of the later judicial case.

Which custody deadlines should a Bursa lawyer check?

Under the European Convention on Extradition, Article 16, the ordinary provisional-arrest document period is assessed at 18 days, extendable up to a ceiling of 40 days; Türkiye's 2025 procedure note says an explicit extension request is required beyond 18 days. The arrest date and treaty actually governing the requesting state matter. Under reciprocity without a treaty, Law 6706 Article 14(4) caps provisional detention at 40 days. If timely papers do not arrive, Article 14(6) removes provisional detention or supervision, but a later formal request can support a new measure. For detention during extradition proceedings Article 16(2) requires a high criminal court review at intervals of no more than 30 days. Under Article 16(3), safeguards must be lifted if no Article 19 executive extradition decision is made within one year from the date the admissibility ruling becomes final. Article 16(4) additionally limits total extradition detention by the sentence that could be imposed or served for the offence. Neither provision permits automatic imprisonment for one year.

How does the person obtain a lawyer, interpreter and consular contact?

Ask the arresting authority for a named defence lawyer, and contact Bursa Barosu's CMK Servisi for information about court-appointed defence where statutory conditions apply. Its separately listed Adli Yardım Servisi handles legal aid; eligibility and assignment are not identical to automatic provision of a criminal defence lawyer. Under the Criminal Procedure Code, a person unable to explain themselves adequately in Turkish should raise the need for a qualified interpreter for formal questioning. Article 95 addresses notice to a relative and consular notification for a detained foreign national unless they object in writing. Record the preferred language and nationality in the custody file, without assuming that dual citizenship will produce two notifications.

How can relatives locate and visit a person?

Ask counsel to establish whether the person remains in a police holding facility, has been moved to an ordinary prison or is subject instead to immigration detention. Bursa has an official H Tipi Kapalı Ceza İnfaz Kurumu in Balat, Nilüfer, as well as an E-type prison listed by the courthouse. Neither proves where a particular extradition detainee is held. The prison authority's instructions for visits to foreign prisoners require identity documentation, proof of relationship, an application to the responsible prosecution office and approval; do not travel on the strength of a rumour or assume a walk-in visit will be allowed. Counsel access, family visits and consular visits follow distinct rules.

Who hears objections and appeals from Bursa?

First decide what the challenged decision actually is. Provisional-detention and judicial-supervision orders use the applicable CMK objection route. A high criminal court ruling after consented extradition under Law 6706 Article 17(3) is open to itiraz (objection), and execution of that consensual route separately requires the Central Authority’s approval under Article 17(4); where general CMK Article 268 applies, the current ordinary period is two weeks after learning of the decision for decisions under the post-1 June 2024 rules. The reviewing court depends on which chamber issued the order and CMK Article 268(3); the appeal is not automatically heard by the Bursa regional appeals court.

In the non-consensual procedure, the high criminal court rules on admissibility under Article 18 and its ruling is subject to direct temyiz (cassation) before Yargıtay, the Court of Cassation, rather than ordinary istinaf before Bursa Bölge Adliye Mahkemesi. Article 18(4) directs Yargıtay to decide such appeals within three months. CMK Article 291 now states two weeks from service of the reasoned judgment for cassation requests; its transition provisions distinguish older decisions. Have counsel verify service, the applicable procedural status and the written notice immediately. A judicial finding of admissibility is not final delivery: in the non-consensual route, execution requires a separate executive decision, including presidential approval on the Justice Minister’s proposal following the Interior and Foreign Ministries’ opinions, under the current ministry guidance implementing Article 19.

For a custody or judicial-control decision actually issued by a sulh ceza hâkimliği, CMK Article 268(3)(b) normally assigns its objection to the asliye ceza mahkemesi judge in that judicial district. If that judge also performs peace-criminal-judgeship work, the heavy criminal court president is the reviewer instead. Under CMK Article 268(1), counsel normally lodges the objection with the issuing judicial authority, which forwards it if the order is not corrected. Other peace-judgeship measures and heavy-criminal-court rulings have different reviewers; an objection to custody is not the same as the Article 18(4) Yargıtay cassation of extradition admissibility.

What do binding decisions change in a Bursa detention challenge?

In Samira Alakbarova (Constitutional Court, application 2018/19302, 22 February 2022) Türkiye's Constitutional Court found a violation of personal liberty concerning extradition detention, including deficient scrutiny and delay. That is authority for demanding a reasoned, current and individually justified detention review, not a blanket rule that everyone held 40 days must be released after formal extradition proceedings begin. Counsel must distinguish the provisional-arrest period from detention following receipt of the formal papers and address any subsequent statutory stages.

In Kunshugarov v. Türkiye (ECtHR, applications 60811/15 and 54512/17, 14 January 2025), Strasbourg found inadequate assessment of ill-treatment risks before return to Kazakhstan, while differentiating the Article 2 death-penalty assessment and foreign assurances. The case addressed overlapping removal and extradition measures, not a universal ban on assurances or an automatic asylum-based stay. These superior human-rights rulings apply to Turkish-state obligations, but neither is a Bursa chamber's own routine practice direction. They require fact-specific submissions at the competent local court and, where appropriate, later constitutional or Strasbourg procedures; they do not replace domestic objections or create an automatic stay. Further grounds and procedural routes belong in the Turkey challenges and appeals guide.

What should the family or foreign lawyer send first?

• Person's full name, date of birth, nationality or nationalities, language, and a safe contact for counsel.
• Exact arrest place: central Bursa, Gemlik, Yenişehir Airport, İnegöl or another district; date and local time.
• Police station or detention facility if confirmed, Turkish case number, prosecutor, court and judicial order if available.
• Copy of any INTERPOL notice, foreign warrant, charge sheet, conviction or requested-state message; mark documents as unverified where appropriate.
• Proof of address, medical and accessibility needs, relationship papers, and available evidence relevant to the detention decision.
• Any notice about removal or deportation: this is a different proceeding needing independent identification even if extradition also exists.

Hypothetical example: a visitor arriving at Bursa Yenişehir Airport is stopped because a foreign arrest alert appears. The family hears only “Bursa”. The sensible first step is to obtain the custody and prosecutor documents and check the İnegöl/Yenişehir judicial route, not to send an appeal to a guessed numbered Bursa court. A lawyer then tests whether Article 14 provisional detention, another Turkish warrant or immigration detention actually governs the arrest.

What is decided outside the local court?

The countrywide rules for eligibility, treaties, nationality and government approval are dealt with in the Turkey extradition procedure guide. Türkiye is party to the 1957 European Convention on Extradition, but a specific request may turn on relevant protocol reservations, a bilateral instrument or reciprocity; the European Arrest Warrant is not the procedure for Turkey. Once the local court has acted, do not confuse judicial admissibility, ministerial handling, presidential approval, immigration deportation and physical handover. No reliable generic “Bursa case duration” can substitute for the case file's dated orders.

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