Arrest warrants can be issued during an investigation or a prosecution process in Turkey.  According to the Turkish Criminal Law, arrest warrants can be demanded by only prosecutors and issued by Sulh Ceza Courts (the Court of the Peace). In other words, Sulh Ceza Courts have the unique authority to issue arrest warrants during the investigation process in Turkey. However, other criminal courts can also issue arrest warrants after a criminal case is opened. Prosecutors can issue orders of detention, however, they do not have the right to issue arrest warrants.

Grounds for Arrest Warrant

The grounds for arrest warrant are stipulated in the article 100 of the Turkish Code of Criminal Procedure. Sulh Ceza Courts can release an arrest warrant:

• If the suspect or the accused had fled or eluded or if there are specific facts that he or she is going to flee.
• If there are specific facts that the suspect or the accused is going to destroy, hide or change the evidence,
• If there are specific facts that the suspect or the accused is going to put unlawful pressure on witnesses or the victims.
• If there are strong suspicion that the crimes listed below in article 100.

An arrest warrant can be granted in case of the commitment of a crime listed in the article 100. In addition, theoretically, it is possible for a judge to issue an arrest warrant if the maximum penalty of a the crime is over 2 years. However, in practice, it can be said that arrest warrants are granted in case of serious crimes such as murder, rape, aggravated robbery, aggravated assault with deadly weapons, etc. In case of other less serious crimes arrest warrants

Jail Release

An arrested person can be released during the prosecution process or at the end of a criminal case as a part of the final verdict.  Therefore, hiring a criminal defense lawyer and working with an experienced defense attorney is the key point of a jail release.

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Historic artifact smuggling is not defined in the Turkish Criminal Code. Smuggling is a general term used for a variety of contraband products, so some explanation is in order.  The smuggling crime mentioned here is defined in Act 2863 Law for Protection of Cultural and Natural Entities and is known as ‘historic artifact smuggling’ or ‘historic artifact trafficking’ by the public. It involves the illegal trade and smuggling of portable cultural products.

Smuggling of Historic Artifacts

Historic artifacts and cultural assets that comprise smuggling are as follows: All kinds of geologic, pre-historic and historic assets and artifacts with a value in terms of geology, anthropology, prehistory, archeology and art history in the form of documents or reflecting the social, cultural, technological and scientific properties of their period. In this sense, all kinds of animal and plant fossils, human skeletons, all kinds of tools, china, ceramics, and similar pots and pottery, sculptures, tablets, weapons, icons, glass artifacts, decorative items, jewelry, seals, masks, crowns, written or illustrated manuscripts, coins, sealed or written plates, books, miniatures, engravings, oil or watercolor paintings, orders, medals, china, soil, glass, trees, fabrics, and other portable items and their accouterments. Also, other cultural assets that reflect people’s social structure, human-made artifacts and tools, and scientific, religious, mechanical arts, and ethnographic assets are included in the same category. It is decided by experts in museums whether an artifact is historic or not. In other words, whether historic artifact smuggling is committed or not is decided with a report written by consultants.

Sale of Historic Artifacts

It is deemed in the law that anyone who breaches the law on purpose and without any justifiable excuse regarding unregistered cultural and natural assets will be sentenced from 6 months up to 3 years. The sale, purchase, or acceptance of unregistered cultural and natural assets constitutes historic artifact smuggling, punishable by a prison sentence between 2 and 5 years and a fine up to 5000 days. However, if the trafficking of unregistered cultural and natural assets is proven beyond a reasonable doubt, the punishment will be based on historic artifact smuggling, not also breaching the law against unregistered assets. If portable historic artifacts or cultural assets that can be traded with a permit are sold without a permit, this is also a crime punishable by a prison sentence from 6 months up to 3 years.

Cultural Assets and Trade of Historic Artifacts

It is deemed in Act 2863 that illegal transportation of cultural and natural assets is punishable by a prison sentence from 5 years up to 12 years and 5000 days in fines. As can be seen, legislators stipulated a much more severe punishment for the transportation of cultural assets and historic artifacts than trafficking in said artifacts.

Treasure Hunting and Sale of Historic Artifacts

As our legislation is rather restrictive and full of red tape; and also as people who find historic artifacts are not encouraged or incentivized, unfortunately, treasure hunts are not very common in our country.  Therefore, people interested in treasure hunts do it illegally most of the time and damage historic sites with the hopes of finding something of value. Also, treasure hunters are cited for historic artifact smuggling when they get caught.

Liability of Failure to Report Historic Findings

Those who find portable or immovable historic artifacts randomly or in their property have to report it in 3 days to the nearest museum or governorship office. If they fail to do so without a justifiable excuse,  they can be sentenced to a penalty from 6 months up to 4 years. If on top of the failure to report them, they also try to sell, give away or buy them, they can be sentenced from 2 to 5 years in prison and plus a fine. Since the punishment for this crime is quite severe, we advise those who are under investigation or on trial to get professional defense support by hiring a criminal defense attorney in Turkey.

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Drug possession or drug use, a.k.a ‘drug crime’ is defined as purchase or acceptance of a narcotic substance according to the Turkish Penal Code.  Using drugs and drug dealing constitutes a crime in Turkey, just like in many other countries.  However, the Turkish Criminal Code designates a comparatively lighter punishment for drug possession than drug trafficking.

Drug Trafficking

As far as the commitment of the crime is concerned, there is no difference between a purchase of a drug or its acceptance free of charge; and it does not change the penalty.  The essence of drug-related crimes is whether there is an intention for individual use or not. Drug possession crime is committed if a person buys or accepts the narcotic substance for personal use only. If someone buys or accepts drugs with the intention to sell or give away instead of personal use, then we should consider Article 188 of the Turkish Penal Code, which is “Drug trade or drug trafficking.”

Drug Possession

The essence of this crime involves possession with the intent to use personally.  It does not make a difference in terms of the crime or the punishment whether the offender possesses drugs, at home, or in his/her car. What matters is that the offender has the drug in small enough amounts for personal use. If the offender possesses the substance to sell or give to others, it becomes ‘drug trade and drug trafficking’ according to Article 188 of Turkish Panel Code.

Drug Possession Penalties

Until amendments were made in 2014, the sentence for personal drug possession and use was stated as ‘from 1 year up to 2 years’. However,  it has been changed as ‘from 2 years up to 5 years’ with the Act 6545 implemented on June 18, 2014. In other words, contrary to the change of the approach on general legal

If a suspect is prosecuted for this crime, the prosecutor decides to suspend a criminal case for 5 years; and warns the suspect about the possible legal consequences of violations of bans and responsibilities during that time period. Also, the suspect is put on parole for at least one year. This period may be prolonged for another year every 3 months by the order of the prosecutor. During the parole period, the suspect may be asked to undergo treatment, if deemed necessary. If the suspect behaves in accordance with the required conditions of the parole and treatment and does not relapse into committing the same crime, no charges will be brought against him or her, leading to non-prosecution.

If the suspect persists in committing the same crime or does not fulfill his or her obligations during this 5 year period, the prosecution goes ahead and starts a public lawsuit. After the lawsuit started, if the defendant commits the crime of drug possession and personal use, the delaying procedure will not be implemented this time.  Alexander Patrick Solicitors is specialized in Criminal Law and gives legal counseling and defense for criminal investigations and criminal cases related to drug crimes.

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Migrant smuggling and human trafficking crimes are implemented in article 79 of the Turkish Penal Code. According to the Turkish Criminal Code,  migrant trafficking is defined as illegally transporting a foreign person into or out of the country or keeping them in the country for direct or indirect financial gain.  As can be seen from the definition,  migrant trafficking can be committed in one of two ways. First is by illegally transporting a foreign person into the country, and the second is keeping such an individual in the country. Therefore, the word ‘migration’ in the definition does not include legal migration status.

The most important component of migrant trafficking is material gain procured by the commitment of the crime. If there is no such material gain, aiding and abetting someone being transported into or out of the country will not constitute the crime. In a similar case, the Supreme Court made a verdict in 2014:“In the case at hand, the accused tried to transport his brother in law V and the brother of his friend M out of the country in his car and got caught at the border checkpoint in İpsala. There is not sufficient evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the said accused perpetrated this act with the purpose of material gain. Therefore,  he will be acquitted of the said crime and the assigned court will be notified accordingly.  

Penalty for Migrant Smuggling

Regardless of how migrant smuggling is committed, it is punishable by a prison sentence from  3 years up to 8 years and a fine of up to 10,000 days. Even if migrant trafficking is not fully committed and is only attempted, the perpetrator will be punished to the full extent of the law. In case the victims of the crime who were illegally transported into or out of a country and forced to stay in a country where they may be in danger or subjected to humiliating treatment, the punishment will be increased by twofold or two-thirds of the punishment. Also, if migrant trafficking is committed as part of organized crime, the punishment will be doubled. As can be seen, if the migrant trafficking crime is proven, the court will issue a sentence of minimum 3 years in prison. In that case, the punishment will not be postponed, turned into fines or the announcement of the verdict will not be postponed. So, these perpetrators have to consult a professional specializing in this area, which constitutes a very serious crime.

Human Trafficking

According to Act 70 of the Turkish Penal Code, human trafficking involves forced labor, indentured servitude, prostitution, slavery, or intimidation, extortion, violence or threats in order to harvest organs, or abuse and misuse trust, influence or take advantage of and deceive people by way of preying upon their weaknesses or despair to smuggle people into or outside the country, kidnapping, transferring or harboring them. Although the crime resembles migrant trafficking in its definition, there is an important difference between them.

Penalty for Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is punishable by an 8 to 12-year prison sentence, and a fine calculated by 10,000 days.  As one might notice, human trafficking is a more serious crime than migrant smuggling; and its punishment is more severe. Even if the victim consents to the commitment of the crime, it still constitutes a crime in the eye of the law. Besides, if the victim is a minor, the perpetrator will be punished, just like in the crime of migrant trafficking, even if there has been no coercion, violence or deceit.

Attorney Orlando Atamer

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Hiring a criminal defense lawyer in Turkey is very critical, considering the fact that the Turkish Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law are highly complex legal fields in Turkey.  Another point is that a very limited number of lawyers are really specialized in Turkish Criminal Code. Therefore, it could be a major problem for whose who wish to hire an experienced criminal lawyer in Turkey.  And undoubtedly, it’s even more difficult for foreigners to hire a Turkish criminal defense lawyer.

English Speaking Criminal Lawyer

In Turkey, most of English speaking lawyers are corporate lawyers. However, as mentioned above, the number of criminal defense lawyers in Turkey is very limited. In addition to that fact, it can also be said that English speaking criminal lawyers are just a few, not only in Istanbul but all over Turkey. Because of this fact, finding an English speaking Turkish lawyer whose area of expertise is criminal law can be very challenging.

Criminal Law in Turkey

Turkey is one of the countries where the Roman (Civil) Law System is accepted. Therefore, the criminal law and the law of criminal procedure in Turkey are based on the inquisitorial system where judges are actively involved in investigating the facts. The criminal procedure in Turkey has two parts according to the Turkish Criminal Procedure Code. The first part is the investigation (pre-trial) process in which public prosecutors and the police (or the gendarmerie in rural areas) examine the facts to see whether a crime has been committed. After the gathering and examination of evidence, public prosecutors decide to open a criminal case or not.

Criminal Investigations and Cases

According to the Turkish Code of Criminal Procedure, a criminal case can be filed by only public prosecutors, not lawyers. Thus, the role of a criminal lawyer is to persuade prosecutors to open a criminal case by filing motions with adequate evidence.  At the end of the investigation process, if prosecutors gather persuasive evidence of any crime,  they prepare an indictment and present it to a criminal court to open a criminal case against suspects. The second part of a criminal procedure is the prosecution (trial) process which starts when a judge or a criminal court approves indictment. The second part of the criminal procedure basically consists of trials and as well as hearings. In this part, the role of a criminal defense lawyer is essential.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

If you have been under investigation or are accused of committing a crime, it is very critically important to find a criminal defense lawyer before the interview or interrogation in the police station or the prosecutor’s office. Working with a criminal lawyer makes all criminal procedures easier and less risky for suspects. Moreover, if the suspect is a foreigner and cannot speak Turkish, it will be more critical to work with an English speaking Turkish lawyer. If you are under investigation and if the police ask you to come for an interview or testimony, you should never talk to the police before you consult with a criminal defense lawyer. It’s always advised that people under suspicion should get legal assistance from an experienced criminal defense attorney in Turkey.

Turkish Criminal Lawyers

Alexander Patrick Solicitors has been providing legal advice, representation, and defense services for its clients from different countries for over 15 years. Please visit our contact page, if you need legal advice, professional representation, or defense from English speaking criminal defense lawyers in criminal law matters.

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