The Impact of the Public Function Doctrine on Administrative Contracts

The doctrine of public function has fundamentally changed the classic concept of public services. Because this doctrine has denied the monopoly of personal and organizational criteria in recognizing public service and by resorting to some other criteria, some private sector activities are also considered public services in addition to the services provided by the public sector. The public function doctrine, by presenting a new concept of public service, also changes the criteria for recognizing administrative contract. Accordingly, any contract subject to public service, regardless of the personality of the contract parties, is considered an administrative contract. Thus, in such contracts, with legal supporting, it is possible to anticipate prerogative powers. In fact, a contract in which the parties are private, based on the existence of the subject of public services and the components of public interest, is considered an administrative contract and the public service provider can have prerogative powers. By this conceptual and substantive change, the jurisdiction of the administrative courts in judicial proceeding to claims arising from administrative contracts will also be expanded and these authorities can hear the contractual claims of both private parties, provided that there is a public service issue in that contract.