This is the English version of a Turkish article. The original, with further detail and linked petition templates, is at Hırsızlık Suçu: Nitelikli Hâller, Şikâyet ve Etkin Pişmanlık.
What decides a theft case is whether the conduct falls within one of the aggravated forms (Articles 141 and 142 of the Criminal Code). Theft is as a rule prosecuted of the authorities' own motion; only the reduced forms in Article 144 are subject to complaint and fall within criminal mediation. Returning the property brings the provisions on active remorse into play and produces a marked reduction in sentence.
Theft is among the most frequently prosecuted offences and the aggravated forms are numerous. The same act can produce very different outcomes depending on how it was carried out.
This article explains the distinction between simple and aggravated theft, the circumstances that reduce the sentence, and the effect of returning the property.
What Is Simple Theft?
Article 141: a person who takes movable property belonging to another from where it is kept, without the consent of the possessor and with a view to securing a benefit for themselves or for another, is punished.
The elements are that the property is movable, that it belongs to another, that the possessor has not consented, and that there is an intention to secure a benefit.
Under the final paragraph of Article 142, where violation of the inviolability of the home or criminal damage is committed in order to commit theft, no complaint is required for those offences to be investigated and prosecuted.
The provisions on theft also apply to electrical energy (Article 142/3, the unlawful abstraction of electricity).
Which Circumstances Increase the Sentence?
Article 142 lists the aggravating circumstances. Those most often encountered are theft:
- of property, whoever it belongs to, located in public institutions or in places set aside for worship
- of property left in a place open to everyone but secured by a lock, or kept within a building or its outbuildings
- of property left in the open by custom, by allocation or by the nature of its use
- committed by taking advantage of a person's inability to protect their property, or of their death
- committed by snatching property carried in the hand or on the person, or by special skill (pickpocketing, snatching)
- committed by taking advantage of the fear or disorder caused by a natural disaster or by civil disturbance
- committed by opening a lock, or preventing it from locking, with a key unlawfully held or a counterfeit key or another instrument
- committed by the use of information systems
- committed by taking measures to avoid recognition, or by assuming an official capacity without authority
- committed in respect of energy in liquid or gaseous form and at installations for its transmission, processing or storage
Where theft is committed at night, the sentence is increased under Article 143.
The sentence is also increased where the offence is committed against a person unable to defend themselves physically or mentally.
| Situation | Prosecution | Criminal mediation |
|---|---|---|
| Simple theft (Art. 141) | Of the authorities' own motion | Outside its scope |
| Theft on jointly owned property (Art. 144) | Upon complaint, 6 months | Within its scope |
| Theft to collect a debt under a legal relationship (Art. 144) | Upon complaint, 6 months | Within its scope |
| Theft committed in a dwelling | Of the authorities' own motion | Outside its scope |
| Breaking a lock or defeating a security system | Of the authorities' own motion | Outside its scope |
| Theft committed at night | Of the authorities' own motion | Outside its scope |
| Property held in a public institution | Of the authorities' own motion | Outside its scope |
| State of necessity (hunger, pressing need) | The sentence may be reduced or not imposed at all | — |
The reduction for active remorse depends on when the property is returned: return during the investigation secures the largest reduction.
Which Circumstances Reduce the Sentence?
Article 144 sets out the circumstances that reduce the sentence. Where theft is committed:
- in respect of property owned in common or jointly
- in order to collect a debt arising out of a legal relationship
the sentence is reduced and investigation and prosecution depend on a complaint.
Article 145: where the property that is the subject of the theft is of low value, the sentence may be reduced, and having regard to the manner and features of the offence the court may also decline to impose a sentence at all.
Article 147: where the theft is committed to meet a grave and urgent need, the sentence may be reduced or, depending on the circumstances, not imposed at all.
These last two provisions should always be considered by the defence.
How Does Returning the Property Affect the Sentence?
Article 168 governs active remorse in offences against property and has significant consequences for theft.
Where the perpetrator, the instigator or an accessory makes good the victim's loss in full, by restitution in kind or by compensation, before the prosecution begins, the sentence is reduced by up to two thirds.
Where active remorse is shown after the prosecution has begun but before judgment, the sentence is reduced by up to one half.
Where restitution or compensation is only partial, the provisions on active remorse apply only with the victim's consent.
This is a practical opportunity for both sides: the victim recovers the property or its value, and the accused obtains a substantial reduction.
How Does Criminal Mediation Work?
In the cases subject to complaint — theft on jointly owned property and theft to collect a debt — the offence falls within criminal mediation.
Aggravated theft is as a rule outside its scope and is prosecuted of the authorities' own motion.
What a victim should do: report the incident to the police at once, give the features of the stolen property and any serial numbers, ask that security camera footage be obtained, and produce any invoices.
If a mobile telephone has been stolen, reporting it with its IMEI number and having the line barred is important.
For a suspect, the first step is to speak with defence counsel before giving a statement. The reductions and the possibility of no sentence under Articles 144, 145 and 147, together with active remorse, are central to the defence strategy.
Under Article 168, where the loss is made good in full before the prosecution begins, the sentence is reduced by up to two thirds; where it is made good after the prosecution has begun but before judgment, by up to one half. Partial restitution requires the victim's consent.