Considerations on Public Policy Intervention in Determining the Law Applicable to Custody

Development summary

Starting from the position that custody proceedings are treated as matters of public policy in Turkish substantive law, Zeynep Özgenç addresses public-policy intervention in custody disputes involving a foreign element. The article argues that the judge must decide whether such intervention is warranted by reference to the child’s best interests, and that this principle defines the scope and limits of public policy in private international law. The discussion draws on the Turkish Private International and Procedural Law Act, international conventions—including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child—and court decisions.