Prison Law (Turkey)

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The penal system in Turkey is regulated by the Turkish Penitentiary Act (tStVollzG) and regulations based on it, in particular the Penal Code (tStVollzO). The penal system takes place in closed and open prisons , with the former being divided into regular and high-security prisons.

Responsibilities

In principle, the prison system in Turkey is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice, which has set up a General Directorate for penal and detention centers for this purpose. However, Jandarma , assigned to the General Staff, is responsible for external security . The use of soldiers has been criticized many times because it is said to have been attacks, especially when transporting prisoners for treatment or to court appointments. The Turkish government has repeatedly assured the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) that it will take measures to ensure that the Ministry of Justice has sole authority.

In 2008, a draft law was introduced to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey , which provides for a gradual reduction in military personnel in prisons from 2009. Of the four committees dealing with the draft, only the Committee for Harmonization with the European Union had commented on the draft by August 2009.

Classification of prisoners

At the beginning of detention (in the narrower sense only criminal detention), the prisoners are subjected to observation ( gözlem , formerly müşahade ) in order to classify them. The procedure is regulated in Articles 23, 24 TStVollzG and Articles 74, 75 TStVollzO.

It is about the physical and psychological characteristics of the person, their social environment, professional activities, moral ideas, but also a classification of the offense and the corresponding prison. This should be done in observation centers ( gözlem merkezleri ) (which are yet to be set up) or in the corresponding sections of the closed prisons. The monitoring is carried out in single cells , Art. 23 lit. d tStVollzG. All persons who have been sentenced to a prison term of two years or more are observed with the aim of determining the type of prison system (called “regime”; previously the word tretman was used based on the English word treatment ) to determine. Observation must not exceed 60 days.

The file is then sent to the Ministry of Justice, which determines which prison the prisoner will be placed in. According to Article 24 tStVollzG, a distinction is primarily made between the following groups: first-time or repeat offenders, the mentally ill, people who require special treatment because of their age or health, dangerous prisoners, perpetrators of terrorism, members of criminal organizations. Via Art. 186 StVollzO, Art. 75 tStVollzO can also apply to prisoners on remand.

Various inmates and prisons

The second part of the Prison Act (Articles 8–15) describes the different prisons in Turkey . Some special features are:

Art. Institution Details
8th closed institution Contact with each other and with the environment is possible, focus: improvement
9 Maximum security prison Rooms and corridors always locked, cells for 1–3 people
10 closed institution (women) Internal supervision by women
11 closed institution (children) Inmates 12–18 years old, focus: preventing escape and training
12 closed institution (youth) Inmates 18-21 years old, young people according to Art. 9 of Law 5275 are to be accommodated in security departments
14th open institution No personnel for external security, improvement as well as employment and occupation are in the foreground, with first sentences under 2 years open execution, under certain conditions such as z. B. Relapse can also be transferred to a closed prison.
15th Upbringing (children) No personnel for external security, focus: education or profession and reintegration into society

More details under List of prisons in Turkey

Execution of aggravated life imprisonment

Article 25 tStVollzG lays down the conditions for the execution of sentences in the event of a difficult life sentence. This type of prison sentence replaces the death penalty , which was abolished in 2002 . Here it is in detail:

  • Art. 25 lit. a: The convict is placed in a solitary cell.
  • Art. 25 lit. b: The convicted person has the right to walk in the yard and exercise for one hour a day.
  • Art. 25 lit. c: With due regard for the security situation and with good leadership and efforts in the educational program, the courtyard walk can be extended and, to a limited extent, the opportunity to meet other prisoners in the same building unit during the courtyard walk.
  • Art. 25 lit. d: If the premises permit and the management finds it appropriate, manual or professional activities can take place.
  • Art. 25 lit. e: If the prison administration deems it appropriate, a convicted person can telephone a person named under f) once every two weeks for up to ten minutes.
  • Art. 25 lit. f: Spouses, parents, children and siblings are allowed to visit the convicted person on a specific day every two weeks for up to one hour.
  • Art. 25 lit. g: Under no circumstances may the convict work or stay outside the institution.
  • Art. 25 lit. h: The convicted person is not allowed to participate in any sporting or reformatory activities that are not provided for by the internal guidelines.
  • Art. 25 lit. i: The execution of the sentence of the convicted person may in no case be suspended. All health measures for the convicted person except medical control and necessities must take place in the prison; where this is not possible, they should take place in a fully equipped state hospital or university clinic in high-security rooms for prisoners.

Isolation and Decree No. 45/1

According to Article 16 of the Anti-Terror Law (ATG), prisoners to whom this law was applied had to be accommodated in prisons that were structured according to the cell system (single cell or cells for three people). According to the will of the legislators, they should not have any contact with one another. There has been long-term resistance from prisoners to being transferred to such prisons (see Type F prison for details ). It was only after the Ministry of Justice's decree No. 45/1 from 2007 that the resistance ended.

The decree issued by the Ministry of Justice on January 22, 2007 is very extensive. In the first part, the various institutions of the penal system and the prisoners housed in them are listed. A second part deals with transfers from one prison (type) to another prison. The third part is about communal activities that were previously limited to 5 hours a week in the high-security tracts.

Important details of this third part of the decree are:

  • Prisoners are divided into groups (among other things according to the type of crime they have committed, leadership, etc.) and can take part in sports, school and cultural programs in groups of a maximum of ten people.
  • According to Art. 102 Para. 1 tStvollzG and a number of recommendations of the European Committee of Ministers, help from social institutions and social services should be used as far as possible.
  • The administrative or observation councils ( idare ve gözlem kurulları ) decide when prisoners are excluded from the programs (e.g. after breaking rules).
  • Anyone who does not take part in the programs without excuse more than three times can be excluded.
  • Prisoners in the high-security units who have been sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment may, with restrictions, be allowed to participate in such programs with prisoners in the same unit.
  • As long as it does not jeopardize security, prisoners, who are appointed by the administrative or observation councils, can meet in groups of a maximum of ten in rooms for open visits under the supervision of the administration.
  • Prisoners who have been punished with solitary confinement may participate in these activities after their sentence has expired, while prisoners who have received a different disciplinary penalty may participate in these activities without any condition of enforcement.

Conditional release

According to Article 19, Paragraph 1 of the old Prison Act, prisoners who had to serve early custodial sentences could in principle be released halfway through their prison term if they were well behaved. For the months that were spent in open ( açık ) and semi-open ( yarı açık ) institutions, a deduction of six days per month was made in accordance with Article 2, so that prisoners were usually released after less than half of their imprisonment period. The additional article 2 also applied to prisoners in the closed prison, insofar as they would have had the right to be transferred to the open or semi-open prison. Due to the broad interpretation of “good conduct” in practice , prisoners were usually released after two fifths of the prison term to be served. For persons who were convicted under the Anti-Terrorism Act, three quarters of the prison term (Art. 17 ATG old version) was valid for conditional release ( Turkish şartla salıverme ). Special regulations applied to those sentenced to life.

Since the reform of the penal system, Art. 107 of Law No. 5275 has regulated parole (Turkish: koşullu salıverme ). According to Art. 107 (2) tStVollzG, people who have been sentenced to a more difficult (with more stringent execution) life imprisonment can be released after 30 years (after 36 years if they have been sentenced several times to this sentence) with good conduct . People who have been sentenced to a single life imprisonment can be released after 24 years (in the case of multiple life sentences, the time increases to 30 years). Two thirds of the term of imprisonment must be served from early prison sentences.

According to Art. 107 Para. 4 TStVollzG, persons who have been convicted of founding or leading a criminal organization or while working for a criminal organization must serve three quarters of the early prison sentence for any release. In the case of life imprisonment with stricter enforcement or simply life imprisonment, a minimum of 36 or 30 years applies here. In the case of multiple life sentences, a minimum of 40 or 34 years applies.

Also applies to prisoners who were sentenced after the ATG that they can not be released early if during the pre-trial detention have fled or later while in custody one escape attempt have taken or have been convicted of a rebellion against the prison administration. The same applies if she was arrested three times as a disciplinary measure (Art. 17 ATG). Article 17 of the ATG also stipulates that paragraph 4 of Article 107 and Article 108 of the TStVollzG apply to persons convicted under this Act. First of all, this means that they cannot be conditionally released until they have served three quarters of their prison sentence at the earliest.

Article 108 of Law 5275 actually refers to repeat offenders . Repeat offenders are not entitled to parole if they have "relapsed" two or more times. These people must also have served three quarters of their sentences before they can be released on parole.

Conditional release is not possible for persons who have been sentenced to life imprisonment with more stringent execution for crimes that they have committed within an organization against the state security, against the constitutional order and its functioning or against the national defense (Art. 107 para . 16 tStVollzG). They remain in custody until physical death.

If a prisoner is conditionally released, he is initially on probation . The probation period usually ends with the expiry of the prison sentence originally to be served. In addition, the conditional release can be revoked during this probation period, for example in the event of violations of conditions. If sentenced to more difficult life imprisonment, 39 years are to be served and in the case of simple life imprisonment, 30 years are to be served before parole.

Detention leave

Section 7 of the Prison Act (Articles 92–97) and Section 8 of the Prison Code (Articles 137–142) ​​determine the possibilities of detention leave. In addition to vacation to look for work and special occasions (such as death in the family), prisoners can receive home leave of three days (plus travel times) up to three times a year if they are in open prison or only stayed in closed prison because of overcrowding are, although they could be in open execution.

Web links

References and comments

  1. ↑ Law No. 5275 of December 13, 2004 on the enforcement of criminal and security measures, RG No. 25685 of December 29, 2004.
  2. ↑ Ordinance on the Administration of Prisons and the Enforcement of Criminal and Security Measures, Rg No. 26131 of April 6, 2006.
  3. ↑ See: No more torture and impunity ( memento of the original from March 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.amnesty.de archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Amnesty International country report , November 8, 2001. Retrieved August 29, 2009.
  4. ↑ See Turkey: Visits December 2000 - January, April and May 2001 . CPT Report, December 13, 2001, paragraph 29. Retrieved August 29, 2009. (English)
  5. ↑ See Turkey: Visit 16/07/2000 - 24/07/2000 . CPT Report, Nov. 8, 2001, paragraph 50. Retrieved August 29, 2009. (English)
  6. ↑ Ceza İnfaz Kurumları Dış Güvenlik Hizmetleri Kanunu Tasarısı . Text of the design. (PDF, 1.59 MB; Turkish)
  7. ↑ According to decree 45/1 of the Ministry of Justice of January 2007, these institutions did not yet exist.
  8. ↑ Law No. 4771 of August 9, 2002 (the 3rd package of adaptation to the EU) completely abolished the death penalty in peacetime, and Law No. 5218 of July 14, 2004.
  9. ↑ Act No. 3713 of April 12, 1991 on Combating Terrorism, RG No. 20843 of April 12, 1991.
  10. ^ Small Group Isolation in Turkish Prisons: An Avoidable Disaster . Human Rights Watch , May 24, 2000. Retrieved August 29, 2009. (English)
  11. ↑ Ceza İnfaz Kurumlarının Tahsisi, Nakil İşlemleri ve Diğer Hükümler Hakında Genelge ( Memento of the original from December 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mevzuat.adalet.gov.tr archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Text of the decree. (Turkish)
  12. ↑ Act No. 647 of July 13, 1965 on the execution of sentences, RG No. 12050 of July 16, 1965.
  13. ↑ Article 89 of Act No. 5275 and Article 133 of the Prison Code cite the criteria for good conduct: the prisoner must be convinced of the rules of the institution, use his rights with good intentions, fulfill his duties without exception and by participating in the Reform programs have shown that he is ready to integrate into society.
  14. ↑ Christian Rumpf: Introduction to Turkish Law . CH Beck, Munich 2004, ISBN 978-3-406-51293-3 , p. 434.
  15. ↑ Christoph Zehetgruber: The honor killing in Austria, Germany and Turkey. Criminal law issues of a social phenomenon. In: Heike Krieger (Hrsg.): Berlin online contributions to international and constitutional law. No. 6/2007, 2–3, p. 82 ( PDF; 771 KB ).