— Criminal Law
Article 31 of the Turkish Penal Code, which governs minority of age, was amended by law no. 7593, in force since 18 August 2026. Sentence ranges were raised for both the 12-15 and the 15-18 age groups, and a new paragraph allows the age reduction to be disapplied in cases of intentional killing and aggravated injury by result. As the change is unfavourable to the defendant, it does not operate retrospectively.
The change was introduced by law no. 7593, the Law Amending the Child Protection Law and Certain Other Laws. It was passed by the Grand National Assembly on 8 August 2026 and published in the Official Gazette of 18 August 2026, issue 33344, entering into force the same day.
This article deals not with the child protection limb of the package but with the provisions bearing directly on criminal responsibility: the sentence ranges in article 31 of the Turkish Penal Code, the paragraph added to that article, and the changes to the execution regime. The office's work in this field is set out on our Antalya criminal lawyer page.
One point deserves emphasis: this is not an amnesty or a reduction. On the contrary, it raises the sentence ranges applicable to children and allows the age reduction to be withheld in specified offences.
The provision can be consulted in the text as published in the Official Gazette.
Article 31 of the Turkish Penal Code is headed "minority of age" and divides the criminal responsibility of children into three bands.
Under the first paragraph, children who have not completed the age of twelve at the time of the act bear no criminal responsibility. No prosecution may be brought against them, although security measures specific to children may be applied. This paragraph was not amended by law no. 7593.
The second paragraph governs the twelve to fifteen band. Where the child cannot perceive the legal meaning and consequences of the act, or the ability to direct their conduct is insufficiently developed, there is no criminal responsibility and security measures specific to children are ordered instead. Where that capacity exists, a sentence is imposed but reduced.
The third paragraph governs the fifteen to eighteen band. Criminal responsibility exists as a rule, with a reduction in sentence. It is the post-reduction ranges in the second and third paragraphs that law no. 7593 altered.
Three figures changed in the second paragraph. Where the offence carries aggravated life imprisonment, the sentence was previously twelve to fifteen years; it is now thirteen to eighteen years.
Where the offence carries life imprisonment, the former range of nine to eleven years became ten to twelve years.
For other sentences the rate of reduction is unchanged: the sentence is reduced by one half. The ceiling, however, has risen: the term of imprisonment for each act, previously capped at seven years, may now not exceed nine years.
That last change has the widest practical effect. Offences carrying aggravated life or life imprisonment account for a small share of files, whereas the category of "other sentences" covers the great majority of files in this age band.
Three figures changed in the third paragraph as well. For offences carrying aggravated life imprisonment, the former range of eighteen to twenty-four years was raised to nineteen to twenty-seven years.
For offences carrying life imprisonment, the range of twelve to fifteen years became fifteen to eighteen years.
For other sentences the rate of reduction is again unchanged: the sentence is reduced by one third. The ceiling rose from twelve years to fifteen years; the term of imprisonment for each act may not exceed fifteen years.
Read together, the two paragraphs preserve the existing structure, under which the reduction narrows as the age band rises, while raising the floor in both bands.
The fourth paragraph, added by article 2 of the law, changes the character of article 31. It allows a court to withhold the age reduction in specified offences.
The paragraph permits the court to have regard to one or more of the following on the facts: the gravity of intentional fault, the aim and motive pursued, the manner in which the offence was committed, and a previous sentence of imprisonment for an intentional offence.
On that assessment, the third paragraph may be disapplied in respect of persons who have completed fifteen but not eighteen years of age and who commit intentional killing (arts. 81, 82) or injury aggravated by result (art. 87, paragraphs 2 and 4). A child in that band may therefore be sentenced as an adult would be.
The scope is limited in two respects: it applies only to the offences listed and only to children who have completed fifteen. The provision also confers a discretion rather than imposing a duty; the wording is "may be disapplied". Showing in the reasons which criterion rests on which established fact will accordingly become the central issue on appeal.
The second sentence of the fourth paragraph provides a further possibility. In respect of persons who had completed twelve but not fifteen years of age at the time of the act and who bear criminal responsibility, the third paragraph may be applied in place of the second.
The effect is that a younger child is subject to the narrower reductions of the higher band: a reduction of one third rather than one half, and a ceiling of fifteen years rather than nine.
The same four criteria and the same two offence types govern this sentence too. In practice it is expected to be assessed together with the social investigation report and findings on the child's capacity of perception.
Law no. 7593 also changed the execution regime. Under the paragraph added by article 6 of the law to article 15 of law no. 5275, sentences of child convicts sentenced to a total of three years or less for intentional offences and a total of five years or less for negligent offences are carried out directly in children's education houses.
A decision to transfer a child convict from a closed penal institution for children to a children's education house is taken by the administration and observation board following an assessment carried out at least every three months, with the participation of at least one specialist, who may be a psychologist, educationalist, social worker or a lawyer assigned by the children's rights commission of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations.
Child convicts who abscond, in respect of whom a detention order is issued, or whose disciplinary penalty of return to a closed institution or confinement to a cell has become final, are sent to closed penal institutions for children by decision of that board.
The fifth paragraph of article 107 of law no. 5275, on conditional release, was also rewritten. Under the provision now in force, and excluding intentional killing (arts. 81, 82 and 83), offences against sexual inviolability (arts. 102 and 103), the manufacture and trafficking of narcotics (art. 188) and the establishment of an organisation for the purpose of committing offences (art. 220), each day spent by the convict in a penal institution until completing the age of fifteen counts as two days in calculating the conditional release period.
The answer lies not in the transitional provisions of law no. 7593 but in the general provisions of the Turkish Penal Code. Under article 7, where the law in force at the time of the offence differs from a law that enters into force subsequently, the law more favourable to the offender is applied and executed.
The changes to article 31 raise the sentence ranges, and the new fourth paragraph allows the reduction to be withheld. Both are unfavourable to the defendant.
They therefore do not apply to acts committed before 18 August 2026; the earlier version of the article continues to govern those acts. The new provisions apply to acts committed on or after that date.
The date on which the investigation or prosecution began is not decisive; the governing criterion is the date of the act. Which text applies in a pending file therefore turns on how the date of the act is established in the indictment and in the judgment.
The amendment shifts the centre of gravity in children's files. Where the fourth paragraph may apply, the issue is no longer only whether the act is established, but whether the four criteria are made out on the facts.
The date of the act is the first matter to check; the new provisions are not engaged for acts before 18 August 2026. Determination of age comes second: where the civil register leaves room for doubt, age determination is a separate enquiry and fixes the boundary between the two paragraphs.
The social investigation report is the third element. The same law amended article 35 of the Child Protection Law to make a social investigation mandatory for children under fifteen, and the subparagraph added to article 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code provides for the return of an indictment drawn up without one.
Children's files in Antalya are heard by the children's courts and the children's assize court at the Antalya Courthouse. On rights during the investigation stage and the route followed, see our Antalya criminal lawyer page.
The questions below concern this provision; more general questions are answered on the frequently asked questions page.
Article 31 of the Turkish Penal Code was amended by law no. 7593, passed on 8 August 2026. The amendment was published in the Official Gazette of 18 August 2026, issue 33344, and entered into force the same day.
Yes. Post-reduction sentence ranges were raised in both the twelve to fifteen and the fifteen to eighteen bands. The ceilings applying to other sentences rose from seven to nine years and from twelve to fifteen years respectively. The rates of reduction, one half and one third, are unchanged.
The new fourth paragraph provides that, in cases of intentional killing (arts. 81, 82) and injury aggravated by result (art. 87/2 and 4), the third paragraph may be disapplied in respect of the fifteen to eighteen band, having regard to one or more of the four listed criteria. This is a discretion, not a duty.
Children who have not completed the age of twelve at the time of the act bear no criminal responsibility and no prosecution may be brought. Only security measures specific to children may be applied. Law no. 7593 did not change this rule.
No. Because the changes are unfavourable to the defendant, the principle of the more favourable law in article 7 of the Turkish Penal Code means they do not apply to acts committed before 18 August 2026. The governing criterion is the date of the act, not the date proceedings were issued.
Sentences of child convicts sentenced to a total of three years or less for intentional offences, or five years or less for negligent offences, are carried out directly in children's education houses. In cases such as absconding, detention or a final disciplinary penalty, they are sent to a closed penal institution for children by decision of the administration and observation board.
A social investigation is mandatory for children under fifteen. An indictment drawn up without one is returned under the subparagraph added to article 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Where no investigation is carried out for a child who has reached fifteen, the reasons must be stated in the indictment or in the judgment.
The first practical consequence in children's files is that the date of the act and the child's age must be established with precision at the outset. Together these two elements determine which paragraph, and which version of the text, applies.
The child protection measures and the administrative sanctions on carrying knives introduced by the same law are separate subjects. The office's fields of work are set out on our practice areas page, and requests for an assessment of a particular file are dealt with through the contact page.