About General Amnesty
What is a general amnesty? You can easily access the answers to all the questions you are curious about, such as which crimes are covered by a general amnesty, through this page. You can also easily ask more detailed questions you may have about general amnesty to criminal lawyers at Izmir branches.
What Is General Amnesty?
Amnesty is one of the most important issues affecting prisoners and their families. Our law divides the amnesty system into general amnesty and special amnesty. Amnesty is a legal practice that dismisses public prosecutions and removes criminal convictions and their consequences.
Special amnesty, on the other hand, is a legal practice that may reduce a sentence, convert it into a judicial fine, or completely eliminate it. Neither type of amnesty eliminates the crime itself. For this reason, crime victims may file material or moral compensation lawsuits to obtain their rights. Independently of amnesty, it is not possible to recover fines paid for the crime or confiscated property.
By choosing Izmir Lawyer branches, you can obtain much more detailed information about general amnesty laws.
Which Crimes Are Covered by General Amnesty?
An amnesty may be issued to eliminate all legal consequences related to a crime or a group of crimes committed before a certain date, or it may be issued to eliminate all legal consequences of a specific crime.
The legal consequences of an amnesty include the following:
- If an amnesty is declared, an ongoing criminal investigation ends with a decision of non-prosecution.
- Public cases filed and ongoing before criminal courts are dismissed.
- Finalized criminal convictions are eliminated together with all their consequences. In short, the sentence is not executed.
- All amnesty-related penalties are removed from the criminal record by deleting the criminal record.
- Even if an amnestied offender commits a new crime, recidivism rules are not applied. If an amnestied offender commits another crime, a decision of suspension of the pronouncement of the judgment may be rendered as a result of the trial. However, for offenders who reoffend, a decision to postpone the sentence cannot be made.
- If disciplinary penalties imposed on public officials result from a conviction, these disciplinary penalties are generally also pardoned together with the general amnesty. If disciplinary penalties were not imposed as a conviction, general amnesty laws do not apply to such penalties.
What Happens If a General Amnesty Is Declared?
According to Article 65 of the Turkish Penal Code, if a general amnesty is declared, pending public cases are dismissed and finalized sentences are eliminated together with all their consequences. Depending on the sentence imposed, the deprivation of rights specified in the penalty provisions continues.
General Amnesty: It is a criminal law institution concerning the dismissal of public cases or the elimination of all consequences of criminal sentences. It is also possible for a general amnesty to be issued for a single specific type of crime. General amnesty applies to both imprisonment sentences and judicial fines.
By consulting an Izmir criminal lawyer, you can inquire whether your case is subject to general amnesty provisions.
Who Decides on the Declaration of a General Amnesty?
The legal basis of general and special amnesties derives from the Constitution. The authority to declare an amnesty or special amnesty belongs to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. An amnesty decision may be adopted by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey with a three-fifths majority of the total number of members. In other words, at least 360 members of parliament must vote in favor of an amnesty or special amnesty decision. Amnesty may be enacted by members of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, while special amnesty may be enacted by the decision of these members and the President. However, no amnesty may be declared for crimes committed against forests.
By choosing the Izmir Lawyer branch, you can much more easily access answers to all your questions and information about your cases.