The Bill on Amendments to the Child Protection Law and Some Laws, signed by AK Party deputies and containing regulations regarding children dragged into crime, was submitted to the Presidency of the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
With the proposal, a new article is created in the Law on Firearms, Knives and Other Tools. Accordingly, the person who causes the firearm to be seized by a child by keeping it in violation of the duty of care and attention will be sentenced to imprisonment from 1 to 3 years, unless the act constitutes another crime requiring a more severe penalty.
With the amendment made to the Turkish Penal Code, those who were over 12 years old but not 15 years old at the time of committing the act will not be criminally responsible if they cannot perceive the legal meaning and consequences of the act they committed or if their ability to direct their behavior is not sufficient, but these people will be subject to security measures specific to children. If the person has the ability to perceive the legal meaning and consequences of the act he committed and to direct his behavior in relation to this act, these people will be sentenced to imprisonment from 13 to 18 years if the crime requires aggravated life imprisonment, and from 10 to 12 years if it requires life imprisonment. Half of the other sentences will be reduced and in this case, the prison sentence for each act cannot exceed 9 years.
Persons who were over 15 years of age but not 18 years old at the time of committing the act will be sentenced to imprisonment from 19 to 27 years if the crime requires aggravated life imprisonment, and from 15 to 18 years if it requires life imprisonment. One third of other sentences will be reduced and in this case, the prison sentence for each act cannot exceed 15 years.
With the new provision added to the Turkish Penal Code, considering one or more of the following: the gravity of the fault based on intent in the concrete case, the aim and motive, the way the crime was committed, and the fact that they were previously sentenced to imprisonment for an intentional crime, no age reduction may be applied to children in the 15-18 age group who commit the crimes of intentional murder and aggravated wounding due to its consequences, and the judge has the discretion to apply the penalty regime of a higher group to children in the 12-15 age group. is known.
With the amendment made to the "Recidivism and special dangerous criminals" provision of the Law, the age exception in the application of recidivism provisions is reduced from 18 to 15. Accordingly, recidivism provisions will not be applied for crimes committed by people who were under the age of 15 at the time of the crime.
The proposal aims to protect the family institution, and especially children, by increasing the penalties for crimes included in the "Violation of obligations arising from family law" provision of the Law. Accordingly, the prison sentence of "up to 1 year" is regulated as "3 months to 2 years" upon complaint for a person who does not fulfill his/her obligation to provide care, education or support arising from family law. The limit of imprisonment from 3 months to one year for anyone who abandons his wife, whom he knows to be pregnant, or an unmarried woman, with whom he constantly lives and whom he knows to be pregnant, will be increased from 6 months to 2 years. If the child commits the crime of intentional murder and aggravated injury due to these acts, the penalty to be given to the perpetrator in accordance with the provision will be increased by half to 2 times, without requiring a complaint.
Even though custody rights have been abolished, the limit of prison sentence imposed on parents who seriously endanger the morality, safety and health of their children due to habitual intoxication, use of drugs or stimulants, or lack of material and moral care as a result of degrading attitudes and actions will be from 1 to 3 years instead of "3 months to one year".
One day spent by the convict in the prison until he turns 15 will be counted as 2 days.
With the regulation made in the Code of Criminal Procedure, after all documents related to the investigation phase are examined within 15 days from the date of submission of the indictment and investigation documents by the court, it will be decided to return the indictment prepared for children under the age of 15 without a social examination to the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, stating the missing or incorrect points.
With the amendment made to the Law on the Execution of Sentences and Security Measures, it is stipulated that instead of the execution of the prison sentences of juvenile convicts directly in juvenile educational institutions, the execution will begin in closed juvenile penal institutions and if they are determined to be of good behavior, they will be allocated to educational homes.
The regulation ensures that the types of crimes are taken into account when housing children between the ages of 12-18 in closed juvenile prisons. Accordingly, children in the 12-18 age group will be housed in separate sections of closed penal institutions, taking into account their crime type, gender and physical development status.
The decision to transfer juvenile convicts from a juvenile closed penal institution to a juvenile education facility will be made as a result of the evaluation made by the administration and observation board with the participation of at least one expert officer such as a psychologist, pedagogue, child development specialist, social activist, psychological counselor, guidance specialist and teacher. The period for re-evaluation of juvenile convicts whose attitudes and behaviors are evaluated negatively regarding their allocation to juvenile education institutions cannot exceed 6 months.
Excluding terrorist crimes, crimes of establishing, managing or being a member of an organization, and crimes committed within the scope of organizational activities, the sentences given to juvenile convicts who are sentenced to a total of 3 years or less in prison for intentional crimes and a total of 5 years or less in prison for reckless crimes will be carried out directly in juvenile educational institutions.
Among the juvenile convicts in these institutions, including those who are directly taken to children's educational institutions, those who have escaped or an arrest warrant has been issued for another act, those who have received a disciplinary penalty of being returned to a closed penal institution or confined to a room, by the decision of the administration and observation board, or those whose actions pose a danger to the order of the institution or personal security, even if the disciplinary penalty has been finalized, will be sent to juvenile closed penal institutions by the decision of the administration and observation board.
The procedures and principles regarding whether juvenile convicts should be allocated to juvenile educational institutions according to their crime and punishment types, the time they will spend in juvenile educational homes, their sending to juvenile closed penal institutions, their direct admission to juvenile educational homes, sending those directly taken to juvenile educational homes to juvenile closed penal institutions, and other matters will be specified in the regulation.
With the amendment made in the Law, 1 day spent in the execution institution until the convict turns 15 will be taken into account as 2 days in the calculation of the conditional release period, excluding the crimes of intentional murder of the Turkish Penal Code, crimes against sexual immunity, the crime of manufacturing and trading drugs or stimulants, and the crime of forming an organization for the purpose of committing a crime.