The Constitutional Court held a decision regarding article 175 of the Turkish Civil Code entitled "Maintenance" which states that if one of the spouses is likely to fall into poverty by reason of the divorce, he/she may ask for maintenance from the other party "for an indefinite period", provided that the other party is financially able to do so and is more at fault than the other spouse.
Bursa Family Court of First Instance brought article 175 of the Turkish Civil Code before the Constitutional Court, alleging that the statement "for an indefinite period" in the article violates the rule of law principle set out in article 2 of Turkish Constitution, the equality before the law provided in article 10, and equality between the spouses within the family, as required by article 41.
The Court indicated that there is no violation of the rule of law principle in the aforementioned article of the Turkish Civil Code, because of the fact that, the statement "for an indefinite period" does not mean that the spouse will always have to pay maintenance. The statement "for an indefinite period" is only meant to provide economic support to the spouse and help him/her to maintain a minimum standard of living after the divorce as long as the conditions stated in the article are met. The Court also stated that this obligation is based on the principle of social state of law. The court also illustrates that the idea of the social solidarity and the moral values form the basis of this rule.
The Constitutional Court also dismisses the alleged violation of the articles 10 and 41.
The Constitutional Court decided by majority of votes that there is no violation of the Constitution and dismissed the case, whereby one member of the Court provided a dissenting opinion. (Constitutional Court decision E.2011/136, K.2012/72, K.t.26.06.2012)
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