Criminal Law

The person who is apprehended is immediately informed of the reason for the arrest and the accusations against them. They have the right to remain silent, the right to benefit from the assistance of defence counsel, and the right to request that their relatives be notified. Failure to inform the person of these rights may result in subsequent proceedings being unlawful.

The right to benefit from the assistance of defence counsel is the most critical element of the process. If the suspect is not in a position to choose defence counsel, the appointment of counsel from the bar association is requested if they so request. In offences whose minimum sentence exceeds five years' imprisonment, the appointment of defence counsel is mandatory.

The statement given in the first hours affects the entire file. For this reason, it is important not to give a statement without defence counsel present, and to know that the right to remain silent may be exercised. A statement taken without defence counsel present cannot form the basis of a judgment unless it is confirmed before a judge or the court.

As a rule, the period of custody, calculated from the moment of apprehension and excluding the time required for transport to appear before a judge, is twenty-four hours. In offences committed collectively, this period may be extended, one day at a time, because of the difficulty in gathering evidence or the large number of suspects.

An objection may be filed with the criminal judgeship of peace against the custody order and against the extension of its period. Upon the objection, the judge may examine the file and decide to release the person.

Failure to release the person, or failure to bring them before a judge, despite the expiry of the custody period is unlawful and gives rise to a right to compensation. This claim is made to the high criminal court after the decision becomes final.

During the taking of a statement and interrogation, identity is verified, the accusation is explained, and legal rights are reminded. The suspect is informed that, if they choose not to make a statement about the offence attributed to them, this cannot be interpreted against them.

Methods that impair free will, such as ill-treatment, torture, exhaustion, deception, force or threat, are prohibited when taking a statement. Statements obtained by such methods cannot be used as evidence, even if consent was given.

The suspect also has the right to request that matters in their favor be investigated. Requesting favorable evidence, such as witnesses, camera footage or message records, at the statement stage is decisive for the subsequent course of the file.

Defence counsel is the lawyer who defends the suspect or the defendant. A legal representative, on the other hand, is the lawyer who represents the intervening party, the person harmed by the offence, or the person with pecuniary liability. Their positions and powers in the file differ.

Defence counsel may examine the file during the investigation stage and take copies of documents. This power may be limited if a restriction order is issued; however, no restriction applies to the statement record, the expert report, and records of proceedings at which the suspect was present.

The victim or the person harmed by the offence may also join the case as an intervening party during the prosecution stage. Making the request to intervene in a timely manner is important for being able to file an appeal against the judgment.

Pre-trial detention requires concrete evidence showing strong suspicion of the offence, together with a ground for detention. The grounds for detention are the risk of flight and the risk of tampering with evidence. These conditions are required together.

For the catalogue offences listed in the law, a ground for detention may be presumed to exist; however, this presumption is not absolute, and the circumstances of the specific case are assessed. Furthermore, a detention order cannot be issued for offences that require only a judicial fine, or whose maximum sentence does not exceed two years' imprisonment.

Pre-trial detention is a measure of last resort. If the purpose can be achieved by applying judicial control, detention cannot be ordered. This principle is the ground most often used when objecting to detention.

An objection may be filed against a detention order within seven days of learning of the order. The objection is made by a petition submitted to the judgeship that issued the order, and the file is then sent to the higher authority.

Apart from an objection, a request for release may be made at any time. In addition, during the investigation stage, decisions on the continuation of detention are reviewed ex officio at certain intervals.

The objection petition must rely on concrete factors rather than abstract statements. A fixed residence, steady employment, family ties, surrender of the passport, and the fact that evidence has already been gathered are the matters most often taken into account.

Judicial control is a measure applied instead of detention, which allows the suspect to remain free. Where grounds for detention exist, judicial control may be ordered instead of detention.

The measures that may be applied include a ban on leaving the country, signing in with the police at certain intervals, not leaving one's residence, not going to certain places, depositing security, and monitoring by electronic tag.

If the obligations of judicial control are not complied with, a detention order may be issued. For this reason, it is important not to fail to comply with the signing obligation and to observe the ban on leaving the country.

Yes. Persons who, after being lawfully apprehended or detained, are subsequently the subject of a decision of no ground for prosecution or acquittal, may seek compensation for their pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages.

The same right also exists for persons who were interrogated without being reminded of their legal rights, or who, despite being reminded, were not allowed to benefit from a defence lawyer, whose reasons for apprehension or detention were not communicated to them, and who were not brought before a judge despite the expiry of the custody period.

The claim for compensation must be filed with the high criminal court of the place where the injured party resides, within three months of service on the person concerned that the decision has become final, and in any event within one year of the date the decision became final.

The investigation is the stage from when suspicion of an offence is learned until the indictment is accepted, and it is conducted by the prosecutor's office. Prosecution, on the other hand, is the trial stage that begins with the acceptance of the indictment and continues until the judgment becomes final.

During the investigation stage, the person is called a suspect; during the prosecution stage, a defendant. The investigation is confidential, while the prosecution is, as a rule, conducted publicly.

At the end of the investigation, the prosecutor's office either prepares an indictment or decides that there is no ground for prosecution. An objection may be filed against this decision with the criminal judgeship of peace.

Yes. An objection may be filed with the criminal judgeship of peace against a decision of no ground for prosecution, within fifteen days of service of the decision. The objection must concretely show which evidence was not evaluated or which investigation was not carried out.

If the judgeship finds the objection justified, it sends the file to the prosecutor's office for an indictment to be prepared. If the objection is rejected, a new investigation cannot be opened for the same act unless new evidence emerges.

For this reason, the stage of preparing the objection petition is the last opportunity that determines the fate of the file. The evidence that was not fully gathered must be listed one by one, explaining why each is necessary.

Conciliation applies to offences whose investigation and prosecution are subject to a criminal complaint, as well as to certain other offences additionally listed in the law. This includes the basic form of intentional injury, negligent injury, threat, violation of the inviolability of the home, the basic form of theft, and the basic form of fraud.

Conciliation cannot be applied to offences against sexual inviolability, or where an offence that falls within the scope of conciliation is committed together with another offence that does not fall within that scope.

If conciliation is achieved, a decision of no ground for prosecution is made at the investigation stage, and a decision of dismissal of the case is made at the prosecution stage. If conciliation is not achieved, the process continues in its normal course, and rejection of the conciliation offer is not treated as evidence against the person.

The offence of insult is, as a rule, subject to a criminal complaint, and the right to complain must be exercised within six months of learning of the act and the perpetrator. Insulting a public official because of their duty, and certain aggravated forms, are not subject to a complaint.

The basic form of the offence of threat is not subject to a complaint; however, a threat directed at causing damage to property is subject to a complaint. This distinction is frequently confused in practice.

In insults and threats committed via social media, there is a risk that the content may disappear. For this reason, taking a screenshot may not be considered sufficient; a notarial determination or recording the address where the content is located is a safer method.

In offences subject to a criminal complaint, withdrawal of the complaint requires a decision of no ground for prosecution at the investigation stage, and a decision of dismissal of the case at the prosecution stage. For the withdrawal to take effect during the prosecution stage, the defendant must also accept it.

In offences not subject to a criminal complaint, withdrawal does not end the case. In such offences, the victim's statement is evaluated only as evidence and may be taken into account when determining the sentence.

As a rule, withdrawal cannot be revoked. For this reason, the consequences of conciliation and withdrawal decisions in particular should be evaluated before a decision is made.

The court with jurisdiction in criminal cases is determined according to the maximum sentence prescribed for the offence. The high criminal court has jurisdiction over offences requiring aggravated life imprisonment, life imprisonment, or imprisonment of more than ten years, while the criminal court of first instance has jurisdiction over the others.

As a rule, the competent court is the court of the place where the offence was committed. In the case of an attempt, the place where the last act of execution was performed is taken as the basis; in continuous offences, the place where the interruption occurred is taken as the basis.

In İzmir, the high criminal courts and the criminal courts of first instance operate at the İzmir Courthouse and the district courthouses. The criminal judgeships of peace, meanwhile, issue decisions on investigative measures such as detention, search and seizure.

Evidence obtained by unlawful methods cannot form the basis of a judgment. This rule has constitutional standing and is examined by the court ex officio. Statements taken by methods that impair free will, such as torture, force, threat or deception, are invalid even if consent was given.

Findings obtained as a result of a search, interception, or technical surveillance conducted without a judge's decision also fall within this scope. Failure to submit a written order, issued in cases where delay would be prejudicial, for the judge's approval within the period prescribed by law produces the same result.

For this reason, one of the first tasks of the defence is to review the manner in which every piece of evidence in the file was obtained. Procedural deficiencies in search and seizure records are often overlooked.

Suspension of the pronouncement of the judgment is a mechanism under which the judgment rendered against the defendant does not take effect during a certain period of supervision, resulting in dismissal of the case if that period is completed with good behavior. It requires that a prison sentence of two years or less, or a judicial fine, has been imposed on the defendant.

The other conditions are that the defendant has not previously been convicted of an intentional offence, and that the damage suffered by the victim or the public has been fully remedied by restitution in kind, restoration to the previous state, or compensation. A prior conviction for a negligent offence does not constitute an obstacle.

The period of supervision is five years for adults, and three years for those under eighteen years of age at the time of the offence. If the period is completed with good behavior, the case is dismissed, the judgment is deemed never to have existed, and it does not appear on the criminal record.

Yes. This matter changed in 2024, and many sources still contain outdated information. The Constitutional Court, by its decision dated 1 June 2023, annulled the rule governing the suspension of the pronouncement of the judgment.

Following the annulment, a new arrangement was made by Law No. 7499, which entered into force on 2 March 2024. Under the new arrangement, an appeal and an appeal to the Court of Cassation may be filed against decisions on the suspension of the pronouncement of the judgment.

Another important consequence of the new arrangement is that the court may render such a decision ex officio, without requiring the defendant's acceptance. Under the previous practice, the defendant's consent was required; this requirement has been removed.

An appeal against a court decision is filed within seven days of the pronouncement of the judgment. If the judgment is pronounced in the absence of the defendant, the period runs from the date of service. The appeal is filed by a petition submitted to the court that issued the decision, or by making a statement to the court clerk.

The period for appealing to the Court of Cassation against a decision of the regional court of appeal is fifteen days from the pronouncement or service of the decision. Not every decision is subject to appeal to the Court of Cassation; the decisions that cannot be so appealed are separately listed in the law.

An appeal not filed within the time limit is rejected, and the decision becomes final. For this reason, a schedule of deadlines should be worked out immediately after the decision given at the hearing, and a petition to preserve the appeal period should be filed without waiting for the reasoned decision.

The penalty for the offence of intentional injury is determined according to the result of the act and the manner in which it is committed. In addition to the penalty prescribed for the basic form, a lesser penalty is imposed where the effect of the act on the person is minor enough to be remedied by simple medical treatment, and this form is subject to a criminal complaint.

Committing the offence against an ascendant, descendant, spouse or sibling, with a weapon, with a savage motive, or against a public official because of their duty, is among the aggravating forms that increase the penalty. Consequences such as the act causing permanent weakening of the function of a sense or organ also aggravate the penalty.

The medical report is decisive in this offence. Whether the injury can be remedied by simple medical treatment, its degree, and the recovery period are all assessed on the basis of the report. For this reason, it is important to apply to a healthcare facility without delay after the incident.

In fraud, the perpetrator deceives the victim through fraudulent conduct and obtains an unlawful benefit from the outset. In breach of trust, however, the property was initially delivered to the perpetrator lawfully and with consent; the perpetrator later uses it for a purpose other than intended, or fails to return it.

The distinction is made by looking at the intent at the moment the property was obtained. If deception occurred from the outset, it is fraud; if the possession was later abused, it is breach of trust.

Committing fraud by using information systems as a means constitutes an aggravated form and increases the penalty. Using banks or credit institutions as a means produces the same result.

Driving under the influence of alcohol can produce two separate consequences. The first is an administrative sanction under the Highway Traffic Act: an administrative fine and confiscation of the driving licence. In case of repetition, the period and the amount increase.

The second is criminal liability. A person who drives while unable to safely operate the vehicle due to the effect of alcohol or drugs is punished for the offence of endangering traffic safety.

If the measurement is to be objected to, it is necessary to request that a blood sample be taken. In addition, the calibration records of the device and the procedural compliance of the measurement record can be checked.

Once the judgment becomes final, proceedings are initiated by the execution prosecutor's office. A summons is sent to the convict; if they fail to surrender within the specified period, an arrest warrant is issued.

How much of the sentence is served in a penal execution institution varies according to the type of offence and the situation of the convict. The rate for conditional release, and the periods during which the sentence may be executed by applying the measure of probation, are set differently according to the type of offence.

For convicts who meet certain conditions, there is the possibility of executing the sentence at home, or being admitted directly to an open penal execution institution. Whether these options can be used should be planned before the judgment becomes final.

Conditional release means that, if the convict serves the portion of the sentence prescribed by law with good behavior, they serve the remaining portion outside, under supervision. The rate varies according to the type of offence; higher rates are prescribed for certain offences.

A certain period before the conditional release date may be spent outside the institution by applying the measure of probation. The length of this period is also determined according to the type of offence and the situation of the convict.

In the calculation, time spent in pre-trial detention is deducted. The accuracy of the calculation in the release schedule should be checked; if there is an error, an application should be made to the execution judgeship.

A criminal record is deleted from the criminal record and moved to the archive record once execution of the sentence or security measure is completed. The same procedure applies where a suspended sentence is deemed to have been executed, and in cases of withdrawal of the complaint or effective remorse that remove all consequences of the criminal conviction.

The archive record is deleted once the periods prescribed by law have elapsed. The period varies according to the type of sentence and the nature of the conviction. An application must be made to the Directorate General of Criminal Records and Statistics for deletion.

A decision on the suspension of the pronouncement of the judgment does not appear on the criminal record; such decisions are kept only in a system specific to this type of decision and may be examined by the relevant authorities only in the cases listed in the law.