Minister Tunç: 'Good conduct' sentence reduction should be re-evaluated, 'Criticisms have always persisted'

Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç made statements to members of the press. Responding to questions, Minister Tunç addressed the inquiry, 'Will there be changes to the Execution Law?' Minister Tunç stated, 'The good conduct sentence reduction should be debated.'

'THE GOOD CONDUCT REDUCTION MUST BE RE-EVALUATED'

We had proposed that individuals must serve a certain period in prison to benefit from the one-year probation period. We will propose this again. Furthermore, there has always been public criticism regarding individuals receiving sentence reductions based on their attire during court hearings. In the previous legislative term, we introduced a regulation stating that attire alone should not be a reason for a reduction, but criticisms on this matter have persisted. Now, this good conduct reduction needs to be re-evaluated.

PROBATION 

Naturally, we need to discuss whether the good conduct reduction should continue with our criminal law experts, academics, practitioners, and especially our members of parliament. Because there is a lower and an upper limit for sentences, and judges make decisions within these limits based on the case file. When a good conduct reduction is applied, we face public backlash, especially regarding certain crimes. In this situation, it needs to be reviewed again. We need to discuss with our criminal law experts whether probation should be applied to certain crimes or not.

'WE MUST TAKE PUBLIC CRITICISM INTO ACCOUNT'

You can see that probation applications for crimes such as intentional homicide and intentional injury cause criticism in society. We have to take these criticisms from society into account. And above all, we must protect society from crime. The purpose of criminal law and criminal justice is to protect society from crime. In this sense, preventive measures against the commission of crimes are the most important aspect. Both educational efforts and awareness programs for families are necessary, and after a crime is committed, the investigation must be conducted effectively. For an investigation to be effective, the police and the prosecutor's office must maintain a very good working relationship and collect evidence to uncover the material truth.