This is the English version of a Turkish article. The original, with further detail and linked petition templates, is at Teşebbüs ve Zincirleme Suç: Ceza Nasıl Belirlenir?.
Two doctrines change the length of a sentence directly: the offence not being completed, and the same offence being repeated.
The first is attempt, the second the continuing offence. Both work in the defendant's favour, but their conditions are quite different. This article sets out the boundaries of each.
What Attempt Is
Under Article 35 of the Criminal Code, attempt is the offender beginning directly to execute an offence they intended to commit, by suitable acts, but failing to complete it for reasons beyond their control.
The offender is then sentenced not for the completed offence but on a reduced basis, the reduction depending on the gravity of the harm and danger caused.
Two concepts matter especially: the act being suitable, and execution having begun directly.
Preparation or Execution?
The boundary of attempt lies where preparatory acts end and acts of execution begin. Conduct that remains at the preparatory stage is as a rule not punishable.
Obtaining a weapon, reconnoitring a place or making a plan is preparation for most offences. Pointing the weapon, forcing the door, reaching into the pocket is execution.
The line is not always easy and turns on the facts. In practice it is among the most contested aspects of the characterisation in an indictment.
For some offences, conduct that would be preparatory is made a separate offence by the Act; liability then arises for that offence without any question of attempt.
Voluntary Withdrawal
Where the offender abandons the acts of execution of their own will, or prevents the result by their own efforts, they are not punished for the attempt.
They remain liable only where what was completed up to that point is itself an offence. Someone who abandons a theft after breaking the door may still be liable for criminal damage.
What decides it is the will: the withdrawal must come from the offender's own decision, not from an external obstacle. Running away for fear of being caught is not voluntary withdrawal.
The Continuing Offence
Under Article 43, where the same offence is committed more than once at different times in execution of a single decision to commit it, one sentence is imposed, increased by a set proportion.
The result favours the defendant: instead of ten sentences for ten acts, a single increased sentence.
Committing the same offence against several people by a single act is also treated as a continuing offence.
But the Act makes an exception: the provisions on continuing offences do not apply to intentional killing, intentional injury, torture and robbery.
Where Is the Line?
The key test is the single decision to commit the offence. Where the acts were committed on independent decisions, separate sentences are imposed.
What is weighed in practice:
- the interval between the acts — the longer it is, the harder it becomes to find a single decision
- whether the method and the victim were the same
- whether the acts served the same purpose
- whether an investigation or a warning intervened
Acts of embezzlement carried out piece by piece from the same workplace over months can be a continuing offence, while acts committed years apart and for different motives are treated as separate offences.
Suitability: Was the Danger Real?
One requirement of attempt is that the act be suitable: the means and method used must be objectively capable of producing the intended result.
Firing an unloaded weapon, or attempting to poison with a substance incapable of causing harm, raises the question of suitability. The assessment is made on the objective nature of the act, not on what the offender believed.
On the other hand, the means failing on the particular facts does not by itself mean it was unsuitable: a shot missing because the victim moved at the last moment does not negate the attempt.
One Act, Several Victims
The second form of continuing offence is the same offence committed against several people by a single act. Insulting several people in one social media post is the standard example.
Conduct that stops at the preparatory stage is as a rule not punishable; liability begins where execution begins directly, by acts suitable to produce the result. And a withdrawal counts only where it comes from the offender's own decision — not from fear of being caught.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between preparation and attempt?
Preparatory acts — obtaining a weapon, planning, reconnaissance — are as a rule not punishable. Attempt begins where execution begins directly, by acts suitable to produce the result.
Am I punished if I change my mind?
Not for the attempt, where you abandoned the act of your own will or prevented the result yourself. You remain liable for anything already completed that is an offence in itself.
Does running away count as withdrawal?
No. Withdrawal must come from your own decision, not from an external obstacle such as fear of arrest.
When do repeated acts count as one offence?
Where they were committed in execution of a single decision. The interval between them, the method, the victim and the purpose are all weighed.
Does that apply to every offence?
No. The provisions on continuing offences do not apply to intentional killing, intentional injury, torture or robbery.