The Impact of Revocation of Zoning Plans On The Legality of Construction According to the Council of State Jurisprudence – A Critical Evaluation

The issue as to how revocation of a zoning plan by judicial authorities would affect the status of a building with a construction permit granted as per the same zoning plan has been raised as a matter of discussion in a number of legal disputes. In dealing with such disputes, it is necessary to determine whether a “vested right” or “established status” has been acquired concerning the buildings that were constructed in accordance with the construction permit and the revoked zoning plan. In principle, the issue lies behind how to strike the balance between the “principle of legal certainty” and the “establishment of the public order” / “enforcement of judgements”. Yet, the uncertainty of the legal effects and results linked to these concepts prevented the doctrine from introducing a theory to be placed in constant patterns. Furthermore, it prevented the legal decisions from becoming established precedents. In legal disputes arising from the revocation of zoning plans by judicial decisions, administrative courts have been reluctant to place the principles and concepts of the notions such as “administrative stability”, “vested rights”, “established status” on a sound basis. This situation which - on a case-by-case basis - requires questioning of the existence of the vested rights / established status, or how they should be protected, has led to inconsistent legal precedents which are not compatible with each other; and has also introduced significant differences in legal opinions and accordingly caused inconsistent court decisions that are relevant to highly dynamic and changing zoning practices. In this study, the issues of “whether the cancellation of the zoning plan also requires the revocation of a construction permit (if it has become a subject of a case) by courts or administrative authorities (if it has not become a subject of a case)”; “whether or not a decision for demolishing the relevant building in any case could be granted”; “how and on which criteria the compensation for the damages arising from the revocation of a construction permit and demolishment would be calculated” have been elaborated by analysing theoretical principles and judicial decisions within the frame of the said notions. As such, the following results, “in general”, have been reached: In the event that the legal period of filing a lawsuit starting from the grant date of the relevant permit (or the reasonable time as mentioned in certain legal decisions) has expired but the construction of the building has been completed as per the construction permit by the revocation date of