renders verdicts upon appeal. The opinions rendered by the Court of Cassation are taken as precedents for legal rulings in the first instance courts throughout the country, so that uniform application may be achieved. It is also able to modify its own ruling upon request. The Court of Cassation is divided into civil law and penal law chambers (hukuk ve ceza daireleri).Though Yargitay currently 20 civil and 20 criminal chambers, after the amendment of Yargitay Act in 2016 by the Parliament, the number of chambers will be decreased to 12 civil and 12 criminal chambers and total number of member of Court will be decreased to 210 until the end of 2018. The highest judge, who holds the title First President (Birinci Başkan), is currently Mehmet Akarca. The Court of Cassation also has a Chief Public Prosecutor (Yargitay Cumhuriyet Başsavcısı), who is currently Bekir Şahin. In case of indictments against political parties, the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation appears before the Constitutional Court. The Council of State The Turkish Council of State (Danıştay) is the highest administrative court in Turkey. It is equivalent to a federal supreme administrative court such as the Conseil d'Etat in France or the Federal Administrative Court of Germany (Bundesverwaltungsgericht). The Court of Jurisdictional Disputes The Court of Jurisdictional Disputes (Uyuşmazlık Mahkemesi) is the final authority to settle disputes concerning verdicts and the competences of the Justice, Administrative or Military Courts. This court is made up of members from the Court of Cassation's General Assembly and the Council of State's General Assembly. Judicial courts Civil courts Civil courts look at cases related to subjects like ownership, contract violation, divorce and inheritance. There are two forms of civil courts: the Peace Courts and the Civil Courts of First Instance. The Peace Courts (Sulh Mahkemeleri) are the lowest civil courts in Turkey with a single judge. There is at least one in every district. Its jurisdiction covers all cases assigned to the court by the Code of Civil Procedure and other laws. The second form is the Civil Courts of First Instance (Asliye Hukuk Mahkemeleri), which are the basic courts. Their jurisdiction covers all civil cases other than those assigned to the peace courts. There is one in every city and district, and sometimes divided into several branches according to the need and necessity. Within the scope of Civil Courts of First Instance, there are