In this article, we will examine the translations, meanings and uses of Applicable Law and Governing Law concepts in Turkish legal terminology. Although these concepts have similar translations, they can be used to express different situations in practice. Therefore, the translations of the terms “Applicable Law” and “Governing Law” are often confused in English legal terminology.
The terms “Applicable Law” and “Governing Law” are actually different terms that describe the same legal structure. For this reason, they are very likely to be confused. The term Applicable Law is generally used in a legal document, such as a contract, to refer to the relevant laws that will apply to the legal situation in question. It refers to laws, regulations, decrees, and other legal regulations in force within the jurisdiction and time in which such a legal relationship occurs. For example, “All expenses arising from this Agreement and the applicable law shall be paid by the Lessee.” can be translated into Turkish as “İşbu Sözleşme'den ve uygulanacak hukuktan kaynaklanan tüm masraflar kiracıya aittir.” In this case, for the translation of the term Applicable Law we may use terms such as “Uygulanacak Hukuk”, “Uygulanacak Kanun”, and “Yürürlükteki Kanun” depending on the context available in the relevant text. While translating, the most appropriate translation in terms of context is selected and used by us. Generally, the most accurate translations are “Uygulanacak Hukuk” and “Yürürlükteki Kanun”.
The term Governing Law, on the other hand, generally appears as a term that meets the situation where the parties determine the law to be applied to the implementation and interpretation of the contract among themselves with the freedom of contract, based on the legal dispute in question. Parties may prefer the term Governing Law when referring to the choice of law they have decisively agreed upon between each other. For the Turkish translation of this term, “Geçerli Hukuk”, “Tabi Olunan Kanun” ve “Hakim Kanun” can be used.
As we have explained above, the terms of Applicable Law and Governing Law are actually different terms that describe the different scopes of the same legal structure. One of the Turkish translations we have given above can be used by evaluating the legal scope indicated in the context of the legal document at hand.
