Application by Court of First Instance Court to Annul a Certain Criminal Provision

The Turkish Criminal Code, Article 103, Number 5237, provides sentencing for child sexual abuse without graduating the sentence in proportion to the child’s age. The Bafra High Criminal Court applied to the Constitutional Court to annul this provision, and the Court annulled the following two provisions: (1) child sexual abuse carries a sentence between eight and fifteen years; (2) child sexual molestation carries a sentence between three and eight years. The Court reasoned that the legislature may consider the country’s moral values and social and cultural structure in determining the punishment, and while heavier sentences for crimes against younger children who are more vulnerable to sexual assault would be reasonable, the Court opined that in some cases the crime and the punishment might not be proportional, which would violate the “state of law” principle. Therefore, the Court annulled the sentencing guidelines, effective six months following publication in the Official Gazette.

Topics

• Sexual violence and rape
• Statutory rape or defilement

Geographical location

• Europe
• Turkey

Keywords

• child abuse
• child sexual abuse
• criminal law and procedure
• constitutional rights

Year

• 2016

External URL

• Application by Court of First Instance Court to Annul a Certain Criminal Provision

Court

• Constitutional Court

Type

• Domestic Case Law

Jurisdiction

• Turkey