A landlord filed a lawsuit for the cancellation of an objection to an execution process initiated for the collection of a penalty agreed upon in a lease agreement, due to the tenant's failure to vacate the rented property on time and pay the penalty. The court partially accepted the claim and rejected the claim for damages due to wrongful opposition to the execution process. However, the court also reduced the penalty amount agreed upon in the lease agreement, as it was deemed excessive and contrary to moral principles, using the discretion granted by Turkish Civil Code Article 4, and ordered the cancellation of objection to the execution process based on the reduced amount. The court also stated that judges should consider many factors, including the parties' economic conditions, the debtor's ability to pay, the extent of damage caused to the creditor, and the severity of the debtor's fault, when reducing penalty amounts in commercial disputes under Turkish Commercial Code Article 24 and Turkish Civil Code Article 161. The court further emphasized that judges' discretion in this regard should be based on objective and rational criteria that allow for review by higher courts.
Relevant legal provisions mentioned in the text are as follows:\n-Turkish Civil Code Article 4 (provides judges with the discretion to adjust contractual penalties deemed excessive or contrary to moral principles)\n-Turkish Commercial Code Article 24 (grants judges discretion to adjust penalty amounts in commercial disputes)\n-Turkish Civil Code Article 161 (sets the rules for penalties in contracts and specifies that judges may reduce excessive penalties)