WHAT IS REPETITION IN CRIME?
Repetition in offences is regulated in Article 58 of the Turkish Penal Code No. 5237:
“(1) In the event that a new offence is committed after the judgement given for the offence committed previously has become final, the provisions of repetition shall apply. For this purpose, the penalty need not have been executed.
(2) The provisions on repetition shall be applied
a) In case of conviction to imprisonment for more than five years, five years from the date of execution of this sentence,
b) In case of conviction to imprisonment for a term of five years or less or to a judicial fine, it shall not apply for offences committed after three years from the date of execution of this sentence.
(3) In case of repetition, if the article of the law relating to the subsequent offence stipulates imprisonment and judicial fine as an option, imprisonment shall be sentenced.
(4) Repetition provisions shall not apply between intentional offences and negligent offences, and between purely military offences and other offences. Except for the offences of intentional killing, intentional wounding, plunder, fraud, manufacture and trafficking of narcotics or stimulants and forgery of money or precious stamps; the judgements given by the courts of foreign countries shall not be the basis for repetition.
(5) Repetition provisions shall not be applied for offences committed by persons who have not attained the age of eighteen at the time of committing the act.
(6) In case of repetition, the sentence shall be executed according to the execution regime specific to repeat offenders. Furthermore, a probation measure shall be applied to the repeat offender after the execution of the sentence.
(7) In the judgement of conviction, it shall be stated that the execution regime specific to repeat offenders and the probation measure shall be applied to the convict after the execution of the sentence.
(8) The execution of the sentence and the implementation of the probation measure shall be carried out in the manner specified in the law.
(9) The execution regime specific to repeat offenders and the supervised release measure after the execution of the sentence shall also be applied to the habitual offender, the person who takes crime as a profession or the offender who is a member of an organisation.”
WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS FOR THE APPLICATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF REPETITION IN CRIME?
Some conditions are sought by law for the application of the provisions of repetition in crime. To look at these conditions;
There must be a criminal conviction involving imprisonment or judicial fine.
A new offence must be committed before the 3 or 5-year periods expire.
Intentional offences must be committed after intentional offences and negligent offences must be committed after negligent offences.
The person must be over 18 years of age in the conviction decision given for the previous offence.
The condition that the judgement taken as the basis for repetition is not final (Except for the convictions to judicial fines converted from imprisonment pursuant to Article 272/2-a of the Criminal Procedure Code, the convictions to judicial fines, including 3.000 TL, which are directly imposed, are final).
The criminal conviction that is the basis of the repetition must remain in existence.
WHAT ARE THE CASES WHERE REPETITION OF OFFENCES WILL NOT BE APPLIED?
Pursuant to Article 58 of the Turkish Penal Code, it is stated that some offences will not constitute a repetition of each other, and in some cases, the provisions of repetition cannot be applied. These are
If the perpetrator has not completed the age of 18 at the time of committing the act, the provisions regarding repetition shall not apply to the offences he/she will commit later.
In case of the existence of an offence committed deliberately and an offence committed negligently, the provisions regarding repetition shall not be taken as basis.
Pursuant to Article 58/4 of the Turkish Penal Code, the provisions on repetition shall not apply between purely military offences and other offences.
Pursuant to Article 58/4 of the TPC, the provisions on repetition shall not be applied between crimes and misdemeanours.
The provisions on repetition shall not be applied between the judgement of conviction given in the courts of a foreign country and the judgement of conviction given in the courts of Turkey.
WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF REPETITION IN CRIME?
Repetition in crime leads to a heavier sanction for the second offence committed by the accused. In case of recidivism, three legal consequences are realised against the defendant in the field of criminal law and execution law:
The Special Execution Regime for Repeat Offenders is Applied: The convict to whom the provisions of repetition in the offence are applied is subjected to Article 108 of the Law No. 5275 on the Execution of Criminal and Security Measures. The “execution regime specific to repeat offenders” regulated in Article 108 of the Law on the Execution of Criminal and Security Measures numbered 5275 is applied. The execution regime specific to repeat offenders causes the convict to stay in prison longer.
If the penalty of the second offence committed in case of repetition (the offence to which the provisions of repetition will be applied) is prescribed as an optional prison sentence or a judicial fine, a prison sentence is imposed. The imprisonment sentence cannot be converted into a judicial fine.
Probation Measure is Applied: In case of repetition, it is decided to apply the “Probation” measure to the convict to come after the execution of the sentence.
If the local court does not decide to apply the provisions of repetition even if the conditions are met, if there is no appeal against, the defendant’s vested right arises.
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