WHAT IS REPETITION IN CRIME?
Repetition in crime is regulated in Article 58 of the Turkish Penal Code No. 5237:
“(1) In the event that a new crime is committed after the judgment given for the crime committed previously has become final, the provisions of repetition shall apply. For this purpose, the sentence need not have been executed.
(2) The provisions on repetition shall apply
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 offenses 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 offense provides for an optional imprisonment and judicial fine, imprisonment shall be imposed.
(4) The provisions on repetition shall not apply between intentional offenses and negligent offenses and between purely military offenses and other offenses. Except for the crimes of intentional killing, intentional wounding, plunder, fraud, manufacture and trafficking of drugs or stimulants, and forgery of money or valuable stamps; the judgments rendered by the courts of foreign countries shall not be grounds for repetition.
(5) Repetition provisions shall not be applied for offenses 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 conviction decision, 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) It shall also be ruled that the execution regime specific to repeat offenders and the supervised release measure after the execution of the sentence shall be applied to the habitual offender, the person who takes crime as a profession or the offender who is a member of an organization.”
WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS FOR THE APPLICATION OF THE PROVISIONS ON RECIDIVISM?
Some conditions are sought by the 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 a judicial fine.
A new offense must be committed before the 3 or 5-year periods expire.
Intentional crimes must be committed after intentional crimes and negligent crimes must be committed after negligent crimes.
The person must be over the age of 18 in the conviction decision given for the previous crime.
The condition that the judgment taken as the basis for recurrence is not final (Except for the convictions to judicial fines converted from imprisonment pursuant to Article 272/2-a of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the convictions to judicial fines including 3.000 TL, which are directly imposed, are final).
The criminal conviction which is the basis for repetition must remain in existence.
WHAT ARE THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH RECIDIVISM DOES NOT APPLY?
Pursuant to Article 58 of the Turkish Penal Code, it is stated that some crimes 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 be applied in the crimes he/she will commit later.
The provisions on repetition are not based on the existence of a crime committed intentionally and a crime committed negligently.
Pursuant to Article 58/4 of the TPC, the provisions on recidivism shall not apply between purely military offenses and other offenses.
Pursuant to Article 58/4 of the TPC, the provisions on repetition shall not apply between crimes and misdemeanors.
The provisions on repetition shall not apply between the conviction decision given in the courts of a foreign country and the conviction decision given in the courts of Turkey.
WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF RECIDIVISM?
Repetition in crime leads to a heavier sanction for the second offense committed by the defendant. In case of recidivism, three legal consequences occur 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 on repetition of the crime 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 offense committed in case of repetition (the offense to which the provisions of repetition will be applied) is prescribed as an optional imprisonment or judicial fine, imprisonment is sentenced. The imprisonment sentence cannot be converted into a judicial fine.
Probation shall be applied: In case of repetition, the convict shall be sentenced to “Probation” to come after the execution of the sentence.
If the local court does not decide to apply the provisions of repetition even though the conditions are met, the defendant’s vested right arises, unless there is an appeal against it.