Execution law to change in 10th Judicial Package: Work by day, prison by night
The new Judicial Package expands the scope of home, nighttime, and weekend execution practices. A regulation for home-based execution is also being introduced for pregnant women, the elderly, and the seriously ill. A model of working during the day and staying in prison at night will be implemented for minor offenses.
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Comprehensive changes to the Penal Execution Law are planned with the new Judicial Package prepared by the Ministry of Justice and the AKP group management.
According to a report by the pro-government newspaper Türkiye Gazetesi, the current 3-year sentence limit for practices such as home execution, nighttime execution, and weekend execution will be increased to 5 years. Thus, convicts with less than 5 years remaining on their sentences will have the opportunity to complete their sentences outside of prison.
Under current legal regulations, alternatives for home, nighttime, or weekend execution were only offered for negligent crimes with sentences of up to 3 years. However, since there was no "actual time served" requirement for sentences under 3 years, these methods could not be used effectively in practice. With the new regulation, more convicts will be able to benefit from these execution methods.
NEW REGULATION FOR PREGNANT WOMEN AND THE ILL
The new package introduces flexible execution regulations, especially for pregnant women, women with small children, the elderly, and the seriously ill. Elderly and seriously ill individuals who cannot sustain their lives alone in prison due to their health conditions will be able to gain the right to home execution 10 years before the completion of their sentences.
WORK BY DAY, PRISON BY NIGHT
A "nighttime execution" practice will be introduced for those convicted of minor offenses. In this system, convicts will continue their jobs during the day and stay in an open prison at night. According to the weekend execution model, inmates will be free during the weekdays and will only be in prison on Saturdays and Sundays. Convicts who stay in prison for two days will be considered to have completed one week of their sentence.
AKP sources emphasized that these flexible execution practices will only apply to minor offenses; intentional homicide, sexual assault, and terrorism crimes will be kept outside this scope. Furthermore, it was stated that convicts who escape will be sent directly to a closed prison.