WHAT IS AN ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY?
An administrative penalty is a penalty imposed by the administrative bodies of the state. The main bodies that can impose administrative penalties are:
Ministries, municipalities, security forces, provincial administrations, governorates, social security institutions,
Directorates General (e.g., Directorate General of Civil Aviation).
Fines imposed by courts, on the other hand, are judicial fines with completely different legal consequences.
Administrative fines are penalties imposed for offenses committed by a citizen. Therefore, if an administrative fine is not paid, it cannot be converted into a prison sentence. Consequently, if an administrative fine is not paid, only enforcement proceedings can be initiated against the debtor. As a result of these enforcement proceedings, real estate, vehicles, or bank accounts registered in the debtor’s name are seized.
Examples of administrative penalties include traffic fines, SMEs requiring employer approval, ballot paper leaks, pollution resulting from zoning laws, military penalties, fines imposed by the Municipal Council, etc.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN ADMINISTRATIVE FINE AND A JUDICIAL PENALTY? WHAT HAPPENS IF AN ADMINISTRATIVE FINE IS NOT PAID?
A judicial penalty is different from an administrative fine and is only a penalty imposed by courts in response to a crime. Judicial penalties are determined by courts, while administrative fines are determined by the state’s administrative bodies. When fines imposed by courts are not paid, they are converted into prison sentences, while when administrative fines are not paid, only enforcement and seizure procedures can be carried out. Failure to pay an administrative fine does not result in the debtor being sent to prison.
APPEAL PERIOD FOR ADMINISTRATIVE FINES
The period for appealing an administrative fine is generally defined in Article 27 of the Misdemeanors Law No. 5326. According to this article, this period is 15 days. The period for appealing the fine in question begins when the administrative fine is notified to the person concerned, i.e., when the decision on the fine is delivered to the person.
When an administrative fine is notified to the citizen subject to the fine, the appeal period and the authority to which the appeal should be made must be specified. However, in practice, it is sometimes observed that fines are notified to the parties irregularly, without specifying the appeal period and the authority to which the appeal should be made. It is important that the appeal period and the authority to which the appeal should be made are specified in the notification. This is because the special laws of some administrative institutions provide for an appeal period separate from the general 15-day appeal period.
According to State Council decisions, if the recipient is not notified of the appeal period in administrative proceedings, the applicable appeal period is 60 days (State Council 14th Chamber – Decision No. 2013/697). Administrative sanctions imposed by decision of state administrations are administrative sanctions against which an appeal may be lodged with the court or other administrative authorities against the decision of the administrative authority to be appealed, and the applicant must demonstrate this period as a legal requirement; this requirement is at the discretion of the relevant authorities, but it is not a mandatory consequence of the binding nature of the Constitution and is the highest legal norm.
WHERE CAN AN ADMINISTRATIVE FINE BE APPEALED?
According to Article 27 of Law No. 5326 on Misdemeanors, administrative fines may be appealed to the Criminal Court of Peace. If another sanction decision has been issued along with the administrative fine, the competent court in this case is the Administrative Court. In such cases, a lawsuit must be filed with the Administrative Court for the cancellation of the transaction. Again, if another administrative sanction decision has been issued separately from the administrative fine, a lawsuit must also be filed with the Administrative Court for this.
According to the provisions of special laws, a lawsuit must be filed with the Administrative Court for the cancellation of penalties imposed by certain administrative institutions. For example, administrative fines imposed by the SSI.