Crimes Against Human Life in Turkish Penal Code

Abstract

Human life is one of the most important values protected by law. Crimes and punishments are legitimate and essential tools necessary to protect such values. Although most crimes concerned with the protection of human life are organized in the Turkish Penal Code, other regulations serving the same purpose do exist as well in other codes. It is not open to discussion that intentional crimes require heavier penalty than negligent ones and damage-causing crimes than life-threatening ones. According to the Turkish Penal Code, life exists when a person is born healthy and alive and perishes with that person’s death. Although birth and death have their own proof procedures and means in separate private law rules, no such rules are in fact regulated in Criminal Law. In Turkish Law the embryo and fetus are not considered as a human entity. The crime of killing a newborn baby within the frame of honor killing does not exist in Turkish law. Furthermore, killing people in the name of customs or vendetta is a crime frequently encountered in Turkey. Turkish legislation punishes all kinds of aid to suicide as well. Finally, death penalty does not exist in the Turkish legal system.