Compulsion imprisonment is a type of sanction imposed for the debtor to perform or fulfil an act when an act that must be performed is not performed. By applying this sanction, the debtor will be imprisoned and the debt will be paid. Compulsory imprisonment is not a sanction imposed due to money debt, but it is a legal institution imposed as a result of the violation or non-fulfilment of certain obligations imposed by the Laws, and it is applied with the aim of fulfilling the obligation that a person has neglected due to non-fulfilment of an obligation, not due to money debt. Compulsory imprisonment is foreseen in some laws. These are the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law and the Law No. 6284 on the Protection of the Family and Prevention of Violence against Women. We can list the situations in which pressure imprisonment will be applied as follows:
Pursuant to Article 338/2 of the Execution and Bankruptcy Law, a debtor who has been granted a certificate of insolvency maintains a subsistence above the minimum wage;
According to the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law, anyone who makes the required declarations in a false manner shall be sentenced to imprisonment from three months to one year upon the creditor’s complaint. If the debtor, for whom a certificate of insolvency has been obtained, is found to be earning a living above the minimum wage upon the application of the creditor of the insolvency certificate within five years at the latest after the attachment of the receivable to the certificate of insolvency, he is obliged to deposit the part of his income above the minimum wage, which the enforcement court will determine not less than one quarter, to the enforcement office within one month at the latest after the finalisation of the decision of the enforcement court and every month until the payment of the debt in the certificate of insolvency. The debtor who fails to fulfil this obligation shall be sentenced to compulsory imprisonment for up to one year. If the debtor pays the full amount of the debt or the amount he is obliged to deposit to the execution office until that date, he shall be released; if he stops his payments again, a new decision shall be taken for the imprisonment under compulsion. However, it is stated that the duration of compulsory imprisonment for a debt cannot exceed one year.
The act of violating the commitment in accordance with Article 340 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law regulated under the title of Violating the Debtor’s Payment Condition;
The debtor who violates the condition of payment of the debt agreed in the execution office for payment in instalments or with the consent of the creditor without a reasonable reason, upon the creditor’s complaint, shall be sentenced to compulsory imprisonment for up to three months. If the debtor pays the full amount of the debt or the amount he is obliged to deposit in the execution office until that date, he shall be released; if he ceases to pay again, the judgement of compulsory imprisonment shall be re-issued against him. However, it is stated that the duration of compulsory imprisonment for a debt cannot exceed three months.
Opposition to the provisions regulated in Article 343 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law regarding the performance or non-performance of a work to be performed by the person alone, or the establishment or removal of an easement right;
It is stated that debtors who violate the provisions of the decree on the performance of a work to be done by themselves, or the non-performance of a work, or the establishment or removal of an easement right, without a reasonable excuse, shall be sentenced to compulsory imprisonment for up to three months upon the complaint of the person in whose favour the judgement was rendered.
Failure to pay the alimony debt according to Article 344 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law;
The debtor who does not fulfil the requirements of the decisions regarding alimony, upon the creditor’s complaint, is sentenced to compulsory imprisonment for up to three months. Pursuant to Article 354 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law, there is a statute of limitations of 2 years from the finalisation of the decision for the execution of the decisions of the court of execution.
The Law on the Protection of the Family and Prevention of Violence against Women becomes operational in cases such as violation of the injunction decisions;
According to the Law No. 6284, in the event that a person who has been given a preventive cautionary decision in accordance with Article 5 due to violence acts in violation of this decision, even if his/her act constitutes an offence, he/she will be subjected to compulsion imprisonment by the decision of the judge according to the nature of the measure violated and the severity of the violation. According to Article 13 of the Law, if the perpetrator of violence against whom a cautionary decision has been issued violates the requirements of this decision, even if his/her act constitutes an offence, he/she shall be subjected to compulsion imprisonment from three days to ten days by the decision of the judge depending on the nature of the measure violated and the severity of the violation. In each repetition of the violation of the requirements of the measure decision, the duration of the compulsion imprisonment is from fifteen days to thirty days, depending on the nature of the measure violated and the severity of the violation. Decisions on compulsory imprisonment shall be executed by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. These decisions are notified to the relevant provincial and district directorates of the Ministry.
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