Grandparents’ Access to Their Grandchildren A comparative and historical approach to Turkish and Swiss Civil Codes

The majority of grandparents in Turkey wish to have personal relations with their grandchildren. This emotional necessity is es- pecially true in case of a divorce or death of one or both of the parents. Sometimes this does not constitute a legal problem as the parent who has the parental power readily accepts the request of the grandparents. However, it is not rare that this request is denied. In such a case, the only solution is to file a lawsuit, and to have the conflict resolved by court. Some civil codes, like the former Turkish Civil Code, do not handle this problem and the resolution of the legal problem is left to judges; while a number of civil codes, including the new Turkish Civil Code, choose to settle the problem through certain special provisions. In this article, I intend to examine the alternatives presented by the former and new Turkish Civil Codes. First, the former Turkish Civil Code is analysed. Secondly, the new Turkish Civil Code is studied. In addition, the option presented by the Swiss Civil Code is analysed, as the Turkish Civil Code is essentially based on the Swiss Civil Code. Moreover the decision of the Court of Cassation and the Swiss Federal Court’s decision are examined as well