Glossary
Tenfiz — meaning and English translation
Tenfiz is the enforcement order a Turkish court grants for a foreign judgment that requires execution in Türkiye, such as a maintenance, costs or property order.
Recognition makes a foreign judgment count as a fact in Türkiye; tenfiz goes further and allows it to be executed there. A maintenance order, a costs order, a division of property or a custody arrangement that one party has to be compelled to observe needs a tenfiz decision from the civil court of first instance, after which the Enforcement Office can act on it as if it were a Turkish judgment. The conditions in Law 5718 include reciprocity between the two countries, a final decision, and no conflict with Turkish public order.
Our rendering is “enforcement (tenfiz) of a foreign judgment”, and in running text “enforcement order”. We do not use “registration”, which in English law describes a different, statutory route.
UK solicitors encounter tenfiz when a client with assets in Türkiye needs a family court order to bite there; the order itself is translated as described under UK court orders translation into Turkish.