Breaking News... New judicial package submitted to Parliament

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) has submitted the 11th Judicial Package to the TBMM. AKP Group Chairman Abdullah Güler provided information about the content of the package during a press conference.

Güler stated that they are working to ensure that trials are completed in a shorter time and to increase trust in the judiciary. He expressed that the new proposal was prepared with the aim of preventing the commission of crimes and increasing deterrence.

He also emphasized that there is a need to combat fraud and actions that disrupt traffic order more effectively.

Güler said, "We see that organized crime groups have recently been involved in incidents that threaten social peace. We are making changes to Article 220 of the Turkish Penal Code to make the fight against these organizations more effective."

DETAILS OF THE 11TH JUDICIAL PACKAGE ANNOUNCED

Penalties are also being increased for individuals who endanger public safety by firing guns into the air in crowded areas. It is envisaged that those who commit this crime will face up to 7 years and 6 months in prison.

Furthermore, the act of "blocking the road" in traffic is being defined as a crime in its own right. A person who stops a vehicle or prevents it from moving could be sentenced to up to 3 years in prison. In cases of negligent injury, the penalty is set at up to 2 years for simple cases, and up to 5 years if it causes the injury of more than one person.

NEW MEASURES FOR CYBERCRIMES INCLUDED IN THE PACKAGE

The 11th Judicial Package also introduces new measures to combat cybercrimes. Accordingly, it will not be possible to open a bank account without biometric verification methods such as photos, facial recognition, fingerprints, or chip-enabled ID cards. In suspicious cases, the relevant bank account can be suspended for up to 48 hours.

Additionally, a limit will be imposed by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) on the number of GSM lines that can be obtained in a person's name. Penal actions will be applied to individuals and operators who do not comply with the set limit.

NUMBER OF PRISONERS TO BE RELEASED HAS BEEN REVEALED

The package also includes a regulation regarding the execution regime. It will prevent the release of convicts who are "fully mentally ill" without being kept in a health institution for a certain period.

While the number of prisoners who will benefit from the judicial package was a matter of curiosity, Abdullah Güler announced the number of prisoners to be released as follows:

"As I said, there is a need for infrastructure preparation along with the preparations and practices of the Administrative Observation Boards regarding conditional release conditions as soon as the law is enacted. In other words, there is no issue that automatically enters into force as soon as the law is enacted. Each file scope is evaluated separately. It is checked whether the conditional release conditions are met, and a regulation is made accordingly. Therefore, our Ministry of Justice bureaucracy will make certain preparations from the moment this legislative proposal is submitted. I estimate that this legislative proposal will only come after the budget negotiations are completed, with the preparation of the opposition's dissenting opinion and the report. And I think we will discuss this legislative proposal in that final week.

Let me repeat it again. Friends, with the impact analysis, it is considered to be evaluated in the range of 54-55 thousand people in the first stage in a conceptual sense. Of course, this is a process. When the trial is ongoing and finalized in both the appellate and Supreme Court processes... Because this article is something that will enter into force upon the finalization of a conviction. It is not a situation related to detention cases. Therefore, it is an application that will enter into force in the coming years if any crime committed before July 31, 2023, is finalized. It is the application of increasing the 1-year probation period of conditional release conditions to 3 years. Let us state this as well. How many can be found in the coming years? It is stated that it could reach a situation within the scope of about 90 thousand, 95 thousand files in the coming years."

Güler's statements regarding the changes to be made in the execution law are as follows:

There is another important regulation in our legislative proposal. The principle of equality is one of the cornerstones of our justice system. As you all know, due to the pandemic that started in 2020, some measures were developed against the risks that could occur in penal institutions, which were extended every three months by our Ministry of Justice in line with the opinions and suggestions of the Ministry of Health's Scientific Committee. Within the scope of these measures, we had implemented some regulations in the execution law.

These regulations were applied for the last time to convicts in penal institutions as of July 31, 2023, and these measures ended. Opinions were conveyed to us by our citizens and political parties that this regulation, known among our citizens as the "19 regulation," caused inequality.

"WE HAVE RE-REGULATED THE SCOPE OF THE COVID-19 REGULATION"

Namely; even if they were committed on the same date, a difference in application had emerged between convicts whose sentences were finalized and who entered the penal institution as a result of the trial not being conducted quickly, and those whose sentences were not finalized during this period, regarding the conditional release and probation periods applied as of July 31, 2023.

We have re-regulated the scope of the COVID-19 regulation by taking all these opinions, objections, and expectations into account.

With this regulation, we are providing the opportunity for those who will be convicted due to crimes committed on or before July 31, 2023, to benefit from the regulation of transferring to an open penal institution earlier or being released on probation, which convicts in closed penal institutions could benefit from as of July 31, 2023.

Accordingly, for crimes committed on or before July 31, 2023:

We are introducing the opportunity to transfer to an open penal institution 3 years earlier from a closed penal institution,

And the opportunity to be released on probation 3 years earlier from an open penal institution.

In this way, by adding the phrase "those who commit crimes" to this administrative measure regulation applied to convicts before July 31, 2023, we will have ensured a rule of equality by applying it to new convicts as well.

We just wrote down exactly what the old practice was, whatever the concept and material content in the regulation regarding convicts before July 31, 2023. We just added one thing there: We added not those whose convictions, that is, the judgment, are finalized; but those who commit crimes. Whatever the old practice was, it will be the same. Only the concept of "those who commit crimes" is being renewed. There is no other addition or subtraction, friends.

"IT WILL BE CONDITIONAL RELEASE, NOT AN AMNESTY"

Friends, let us state this first: The COVID-19 regulation is not an amnesty. It does not fit into a general amnesty, nor is it a partial amnesty. It is not an amnesty; let us state this specifically.

Secondly; within the conditions of conditional release, that is, within the framework of the relevant convict's conditional release conditions in prison, in the closed penal institution; there are processes of one-year probation, moving from closed to open, and being released from open. We are only increasing the duration in this arrangement to three years. That is, moving from a closed penal institution to an open prison earlier and being released from an open prison earlier... It is a regulation regarding this duration.

Therefore, the conditions for conditional release are still valid and clear. These are matters that will be evaluated together with the opinions of the administrative observation boards within our Ministry of Justice's prisons and some prosecutor's offices.

In the first stage, with the application of this law according to the date of the crime; of course, there are also cases whose trials have not yet been completed or finalized. This is a process that will continue. However, in the first stage, I can say that it concerns approximately 54–55 thousand convicts currently in prison within this scope. We think that the total number to be affected as it is gradually finalized and activated over the next year could be around 80–90 thousand according to the coming years."

News Source: 12punto