What Does the New Legal Arrangements Regarding Convicts Bring?

1. General 

With the Law No. 7456 published in the Official Gazette on 15 July 2023, the provisional article 10 was added to the Law on Execution of Sentences. With the added article, the conditions under which convicts who are on leave from the pandemic period until 31 July 2023 will not return to penal execution institutions and the conditions required for the convicts in closed penal execution institutions to leave to open penal execution institutions are regulated. The relevant regulation entered into force on 31 July 2023.

2. How Did the Execution Process Work from the Pandemic Period to 31 July 2023?

A. Who were the convicts on leave during the pandemic period?

With the provisional article 9 introduced on 14.04.2020 in the Law on the Execution of Criminal and Security Measures, it was regulated that "due to the Covid-19 epidemic disease in our country; convicts who are in open penal execution institutions, convicts who are in closed penal execution institutions but who are entitled to be allocated to open penal execution institutions, convicts who are sentenced to execution of their sentence by applying probation measures and convicts who benefit from probation measures in accordance with other laws shall be deemed to be on leave until 31/5/2020". In the same article, it is regulated that if the epidemic continues, this period may be extended nineteen times by the Ministry of Justice upon the recommendation of the Ministry of Health, each time not exceeding two months, and in this context, this period has been extended by the Ministry of Justice on various dates. However, as of 31 July 2023, it is no longer possible to extend the period. Therefore, the new regulation mentioned above has entered into force. In this process, since the convicts who are in open prison or who are entitled to leave to open prison are considered to be on leave, it is useful to know the concept of open penal execution institution and the conditions under which they will be entitled to leave to open penal execution institution. 

B. What is an Open Penal Execution Institution? Who is admitted to the Open Penal Execution Institution?

1) What is Open Penal Execution Institution?

Open Penal Execution Institution is defined as "Open Penal Execution Institution" in Article 4 of the Regulation on Separation to Open Penal Execution Institutions issued on the basis of the Law on the Execution of Criminal and Security Measures as "penal execution institutions for male, female and young convicts under the supervision and control of institution officials in terms of security, where priority is given to employment and vocational training within the scope of the improvement of convicts, where there are no obstacles against escape and external security guards. Article 5 of the Regulation on Separation to Open Penal Execution Institutions regulates the convicts who will be taken directly to the Open Penal Execution Institution, and Article 6 regulates the convicts who will be separated from the Closed Penal Execution Institution to the Open Penal Execution Institution. 

2) What are the Conditions for Transferring to Open Penal Execution Institution? 

(a) Convicts to be directly transferred to Open Penal Execution Institution  

Except for terrorist offences, offences committed within the scope of the activities of an organisation and offences against sexual immunity;

(1) Those who have been sentenced to imprisonment for a total of three years or less for intentional offences,

(2) Those who have been sentenced to imprisonment for a total of five years or less for negligent offences, 

(3) Those whose judicial fine is converted into imprisonment,

(4) Those who are subjected to compulsory imprisonment in accordance with the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law dated 9/6/1932 and numbered 2004 are taken directly to open prisons.