20.05.2026 19:21
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced that the execution regulations for children aged 15-18 involved in crime will be changed, while also reporting that efforts are underway to observe children who have been involved in crime from the age of 11 in schools, follow them through family visits, and record them.
Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek announced that the execution regulations for children aged 15-18 will be changed, and children involved in crime from age 11 will be observed in schools and monitored through family visits.
MINISTER GÜRLEK'S STATEMENT ON THE 12TH JUDICIAL PACKAGE
Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek met with members of parliament from the Eastern Anatolia Region at an consultation meeting at Ankara Hakimevi. Gürlek stated that the evaluations made in the meetings are guiding in terms of accelerating judicial services and increasing their accessibility, adding that along with the needs for courthouses, lodgings, judges, prosecutors, and personnel, the demands and expectations of citizens are also important.
Gürlek said, "These meetings are beneficial for us. Especially you tell us the needs from the field in the region. If there is a need, satisfaction, or dissatisfaction from the citizen's perspective, you know. We have the 12th Judicial Package. The opinions of our MPs and the region regarding it are very valuable to us."
"WE HAVE MADE A REGULATION TO IMPOSE THE SAME RATE OF PUNISHMENT AS ADULTS"
Gürlek noted that they have made regulations regarding penalties for children pushed into crime, both at the trial and execution stages, and stated that some recent incidents have created a perception of "impunity" in society.
Gürlek used the following expressions: "There was a need in society to increase the penalties given to children pushed into crime. Unfortunately, as you know, some negative actions have occurred recently. The penalties given were creating a perception of impunity in society. We have made a regulation to impose the same rate of punishment as adults for children aged 15-18, particularly regarding penalties for actions such as homicide."
Announcing that changes will also be made to the execution system for children aged 15-18, Gürlek stated that the time served under the current system is applied differently, saying, "Normally, as you know, for children pushed into crime aged 15-18, there was an execution regulation where the time served would be 1 day for 2 days. We are changing this as well. Normally, it becomes a 1-to-1 execution regulation."
CHILDREN INVOLVED IN CRIME WILL BE MONITORED FROM NOW ON
Gürlek also stated that a new monitoring mechanism for children in schools is being studied, and work is being carried out to observe children involved in crime at an early age and track them in coordination with families.
Gürlek said, "From age 11, children who have been involved in such actions or crimes need to be observed and followed in schools, and then families need to be visited to record the current status of these children. We have established a joint commission with our Minister of Family and our Minister of National Education on this matter."
Also addressing social media regulations, Gürlek announced that provisions regarding an identity verification system for certain catalog crimes are being studied. Gürlek argued that claims that all citizens will be registered are not true, and stated that the aim is to determine identity information at the request of judicial authorities within the scope of investigating specific crimes.