With Law No. 7574 entering into force in 2026, it has been decided to abolish specialty courts for cybercrimes. With this change, cybercrime cases are now heard in criminal courts of first instance or heavy criminal courts. This article will discuss in detail the effects of the new order and what clients should pay attention to.
History of the Abolished Specialty Courts
The Cybercrime Specialty Courts, established in 2016, were created to manage the technical complexity of crimes committed in the digital environment. Judges, prosecutors and experts were specifically trained for this area. However, the case load not reaching the expected intensity, the inadequacy of the number of judges, and the specialization of general courts also in this matter brought the abolition of the specialty structure to the agenda.
New Competent Courts
- Criminal Court of First Instance: Cybercrimes with imprisonment of 5 years or less (simple defamation, fraud, account hijacking)
- Heavy Criminal Court: Qualified crimes with imprisonment over 5 years (major frauds, cybercrimes committed by criminal organizations)
- Criminal Magistrate: URL access blocking, protection measures
Changes Affecting Clients
1) Transfer of pending cases: Cases that were heard in cybercrime courts before 2026 have been transferred to first instance or heavy criminal courts according to the files. Appeal periods are suspended during the transfer.
2) Expert processes: While the cybercrime specialty courts used to use their own expert lists, the general judicial expert pool is used in the new system. This may cause the reporting period to be extended in some cases.
3) Case law: The decisions made by the old cybercrime courts retain their precedent value; the Supreme Court 12th Civil Chamber will follow these precedents in the new period.
Innovations in the Evidence Gathering Process
The new law emphasized the requirement of notarized determination of digital evidence. Just screenshots are no longer sufficient; they must be determined through a notary or confirmed by an expert report. The official request route through the BTK (Information Technologies Authority) must be used for URL records, IP logs, server records.
As Elazığ Law Office
In cybercrime cases, we provide our clients with representation both as victims and as suspects/defendants: evidence determination processes, complaint to the prosecutor's office, case follow-up and technical legal services at every stage related to digital evidence.