The Turkish Criminal Code grants witnesses a number of rights and obligations. Some of these include appearing before the competent authority that summoned them, taking an oath, and giving testimony. In order for the trial to be concluded fairly, witnesses have an obligation to tell the truth. Making false statements is defined as a crime in the law because it violates these obligations.
As false testimony is, by its nature, a specific crime, it can only be committed by witnesses. On the other hand, it should be noted that persons heard without taking an oath cannot be perpetrators of this crime. A victim who has suffered harm from the crime can be heard as a witness and can be the perpetrator of the crime of false testimony as long as they are not involved in the case. If experts make false statements, they commit the crime of “expert witness making statements contrary to the truth.” This crime is excluded from the scope of crimes committed against the judiciary, and the state is the victim. The person against whom the testimony is given is also the person harmed by the crime.
According to Article 272/1 of the Turkish Criminal Code, the main form of this crime is making a false statement before a person or committee authorized to hear witnesses in the context of an investigation initiated due to an unlawful act. The investigation referred to in the relevant regulation applies only to judicial investigations for which the prosecutor is responsible. The person or body authorized to hear witnesses includes judicial police officers, officials under Law No. 4483, other public officials, persons appointed for preliminary examination under the law on the trial of arbitrators, and foreign officials.
The act of this crime is actually making a false statement. Accordingly, the act element can be fulfilled by concealing information about the subject matter of the case, making a false statement, or denying the truth. On the other hand, a witness’s false statement does not always lead to the crime of perjury. What is important here is that the witness recounts the event as they perceived it. In summary, the witness’s perception and explanations are taken into account. Despite the contradictions between the accounts, there is no evidence that the crime of perjury has been committed, and no final decision is made here until it is determined that the defendant lied.
In addition to the objective information obtained by the witness about the events they heard or saw, their personal impressions are not included in the witness statement. In other words, even if the witness’s own assessments are contrary to the truth, this does not constitute a crime. Furthermore, the witness must recount everything they saw in its entirety. On the other hand, if the subject matter recounted is of such importance that it could influence the court’s decision or is indisputably important, silence constitutes this crime.
Once false testimony has been given, the crime of perjury is committed, even if no case has been brought against the witness or it has been decided that no penalty will be imposed. For the crime to be committed, it is not necessary for the false testimony to cause specific harm or affect the penalty.
The fact that the trial was conducted incorrectly is sufficient for the crime to be committed. For the relevant crime to occur, the testimony given contrary to the truth must have the opportunity to affect the outcome of the case. Witness statements consist of two parts: information about the events that are the subject of the case and information about identity. If the answers about identity are false, the crime does not occur because identity statements are not technically included in the witness statement. The essence of this crime consists of statements about the events that are the subject of the case.
For a crime to be committed, the person must knowingly and willingly give false testimony. The rules of participation apply to the person being tried for the crime of perjury. (This person is the defense counsel.)
Conclusive evidence is required to establish the existence of the crime of perjury. Inaccuracies in partial details of a witness statement due to reasons such as forgetfulness cannot be classified as perjury. Words spoken by mistake or unknowingly do not constitute the elements of the crime of perjury. The perpetrator’s giving false testimony through threats and deception also does not lead to the commission of this crime.
The relevant crime is TCK 272. It is regulated in the first paragraph of the article, and the penalty is imprisonment from 4 months to 1 year. The competent court is the Criminal Court of First Instance. The statute of limitations for criminal proceedings is 8 years. No complaint is required for this crime; it is officially investigated and prosecuted.
QUALIFIED CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CRIME;
Anyone who makes a false statement before a court, before a person authorized to hear witnesses under oath, or before a panel shall be punished with imprisonment for one to three years.
A person who commits perjury in the investigation or prosecution of a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than three years shall be punished with imprisonment for two to four years.
If any protective measure other than arrest and detention has been applied to the person against whom the testimony was given, the penalty shall be reduced by half, provided that the person has been acquitted on the grounds that they did not commit the act or that there are no grounds for prosecution.
He stated that if he is acquitted, the arrest or detention of persons who testify against him does not constitute a crime under the provisions governing the decision on whether to bring actual charges or prosecute; furthermore, persons who give false testimony will be held indirectly responsible for the crime of deprivation of liberty.
If a person testifying against him is sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment or life imprisonment, he shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a term of twenty to thirty years;
If the imprisonment sentence imposed on the person testifying against him has begun to be served, the penalty to be imposed under Article 6 shall be increased by half.
If a judicial or administrative sanction other than imprisonment has been imposed on the person who testified against them, the person who gave false testimony shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of three to seven years.
GROUNDS FOR MITIGATION OF PUNISHMENT
a) Giving false testimony on a matter that could lead to the investigation and prosecution of oneself, one’s superior, subordinate, spouse, or sibling,
b) If, despite having the right to refuse to testify, the person gives false testimony without being reminded of this right, the penalty may be reduced; the court may also refuse to impose a penalty.
The Crime of False Testimony and Its Penalty