Administrative Law Lawyer

An administrative law lawyer is a specialist who protects citizens' rights against unlawful acts or actions taken unilaterally by the state and public institutions. In our legal system, there is a natural imbalance of power between the administration, which holds public power, and the individual.

The state can take unilateral decisions in the public interest, but these decisions must comply with the constitution and the law. Where the administration exceeds its limits, abuses its powers or acts improperly, administrative justice is the only mechanism that can balance this power and bring it back within the law.

Unlike other branches of law, administrative law has no single code. It is shaped by hundreds of different laws, regulations and Council of State precedents.

Administrative proceedings are also entirely written; because hearings and witness evidence are exceptional, the fate of the case is decided from start to finish by the quality of the petition and the legal arguments presented. Very short and strict deadlines make this a field that tolerates no error.

Applying to the wrong institution or missing an objection deadline by even one day leads to the case being dismissed on procedural grounds, without its merits being examined, and to irreparable loss of rights.

Pursuing your legal rights against unjust acts of public institutions without getting lost in these strict procedural rules, and building a legal shield against the administration, requires considerable expertise.

To secure your legal position in all these complex processes — from the annulment of zoning plans and disciplinary penalties for civil servants to the cancellation of permits and compensation for damage caused by the administration — Bursa Mudanya Law Office offers transparent, meticulous and results-oriented legal services.

What Is an Administrative Law Lawyer?

An administrative law lawyer is a person who pursues rights before the administrative courts against unlawful administrative acts carried out by the state or public legal entities against citizens and commercial companies.

Public institutions have the legal power to exercise public authority, but this power is not unlimited, and every action must comply with the constitution and the law. An administrative law lawyer steps in where the administration harms individuals by exceeding its powers or breaching procedural rules.

With command of the extremely strict formal requirements and written procedure of the Administrative Procedure Law, they restore the legal balance between the state and the citizen.

Which Cases Does an Administrative Law Lawyer Handle?

The administrative justice system is structured entirely differently from the civil and criminal courts. Disputes before the administrative courts generally concern the removal of an unjust decision by the administration or the recovery from the state of damage caused by the administration.

Actions for Annulment of Administrative Acts

These actions are filed to have an unlawful decision applied unilaterally by the administration set aside retrospectively by court order.

For an administrative act to be annulled, at least one of its elements — competence, form, grounds, subject or purpose — must be unlawful.

For example:

• Unjustified demolition or sealing orders by municipalities,

• Unlawful amendments to zoning plans,

• The unjustified cancellation of a business licence or firearms licence,

• Disproportionate and baseless administrative fines are subjects of annulment actions.

The lawyer presents to the court, in a reasoned and comprehensive petition, that the administration's decision lacks a legal basis, securing the annulment of the act and remedying the harm.

Full Remedy Actions

These are compensation actions filed to have the state pay for direct material or moral damage suffered by individuals or companies as a result of an act or action of the administration.

They are based on the principles of the state's service fault or strict liability. Their aim is not only to annul a decision but to obtain monetary compensation for the damage caused.

• A patient left disabled or dying as a result of medical malpractice at a state hospital,

• Traffic accidents on poorly maintained state roads without the necessary warning signs,

• Injuries caused by unjustified or disproportionate use of force by law enforcement (police, gendarmerie),

• Loss of income suffered by a company whose commercial activity was halted by an unlawful administrative act,

are calculated and recovered from the administration through full remedy actions.

Civil Servant Cases and Disciplinary Investigations

The relationship between public officials — civil servants, police officers, soldiers, teachers and healthcare workers — and the administration is one of the most active areas of administrative law. Appointments, transfers, performance assessment disputes and disciplinary investigations of public personnel are frequently taken to court.

Dismissal from Public Service and Reinstatement Cases

The heaviest disciplinary penalty for public officials is dismissal from the civil service. For a civil servant to be dismissed, their conduct must be clearly defined as an offence by law, the investigation must be conducted properly and the civil servant must be given a full right of defence.

An administrative law lawyer identifies procedural errors during the investigation, disproportionate penalties or insufficient evidence and files an annulment action before the Administrative Court. If the case is won, the civil servant is reinstated, and all salaries and employment rights lost during the period of dismissal are recovered from the state with statutory interest.

Annulment of Security Clearance and Background Check Decisions

In recent years, many candidates who qualified for appointment to public institutions have been refused because of negative security clearance and background check results.

These refusals are often based on a past case that ended with a decision of non-prosecution, the absence of any final court judgment against the candidate, or offences committed by relatives in breach of the principle of individual criminal responsibility.

Your lawyer files an annulment action against intelligence notes or profiling without legal basis, ensuring that the candidate is appointed to the position to which they are entitled.

Stay of Execution

One of the most critical, life-saving mechanisms of administrative law is the stay of execution order. As a rule, filing an action before the administrative court does not automatically prevent the administration from implementing the act.

For example, if the municipality has ordered the demolition of your home, its bulldozers may come and demolish it even if you have filed an annulment action. To prevent this, a stay of execution is requested from the court in the petition.

For the court to grant this order, two conditions must be met at the same time:

1. The administrative act is clearly unlawful,

2. Implementing the act would cause damage that is difficult or impossible to remedy.

Once a stay of execution is granted, the administration's action is frozen until the case concludes, preventing the harm from growing.

Strict Deadlines for Filing Administrative Actions

Deadlines in administrative justice are preclusive, and the slightest calendar error in this field cannot be remedied.

As a rule, the deadline for filing an action against an administrative act before the Administrative Courts is 60 days from service of the act. Before the Tax Courts, the deadline is 30 days.

Calculating the deadline involves fine details such as public holidays, judicial recess and weekends. If you file on day 61, even if you are entirely in the right, the court will dismiss your file without ever examining the merits. This strict system makes working with a specialist administrative lawyer a necessity, not a luxury.

Attorney Fees and Costs in Administrative Cases in 2026

As of 2026, attorney fees in administrative cases vary according to the type of case, the difficulty of the process and the amount in dispute.

For example, a fixed fee is usually agreed for an action to annul a disciplinary penalty, while in a full remedy action seeking substantial compensation from the state, a percentage of the compensation awarded may be agreed.

The fee cannot be lower than the statutory limits of the Minimum Attorney Fee Tariff updated each year by the Union of Turkish Bar Associations. In addition, court fees paid in advance, expert fees and service costs are paid to the administrative court cashier in actions against the administration.

Conclusion

An administrative law lawyer is the strongest legal safeguard protecting individuals and commercial companies against unlawful, unilateral acts of the state. Unjust decisions by public institutions can cause you to be dismissed from your profession, halt your commercial life or cause irreparable financial losses.

Administrative proceedings are subject to extremely strict written procedural rules and very short deadlines which, if missed, lead directly to dismissal on procedural grounds.

So that you are not left alone against the superior public power of the state, can have unlawful administrative acts annulled and can defend your legal rights in the right way, Bursa Mudanya Law Office offers professional, transparent and results-oriented legal guidance.

Frequently Asked Questions