In short
Release is not an acquittal. Judicial control, or the investigation, may continue.
Release is not an acquittal. Judicial control may continue.
The definition of judicial control stands apart.
If there is no paper of the obligation, do not go to the signature unit by assumption. Ask for the paper.
Related articles: rights in police custody.
Separate release from the closing of the file
Going outside after police custody is an important result for liberty. It does not, on its own, show that the investigation has ended. Release means that the police-custody measure has ended. The prosecution office may continue the investigation, gather new evidence, have an expert examination made, or take the statement of other persons.
The person may have been released at the police on the prosecutor's instruction, after the prosecution office's assessment, or after the judgeship's act. Which authority's which decision the release took place by affects the later steps. If judicial control was applied by the judgeship, the person is free but is subject to certain obligations. Even if no measure was applied, new summonses and services should be followed.
The two extreme interpretations, "they released me, so they did not accept the accusation", or "the file will certainly turn into a case", are not correct either. The result of the investigation is understood only by the decision that the competent authority gave and that was notified in accordance with the procedure.
Examine all the papers given to you on the same day
The documents signed during release because of haste and tiredness can be forgotten later. After returning home, the summons paper, the statement minutes, the medical-report information, the arrest and police-custody records, the goods-delivery minutes, and the judgeship decision if there is one, should be arranged in date order. Which document's copy was not given can also be noted.
The following points should be checked in the decision or in the minutes:
- The investigation number and the unit that carried out the act
- The date and the hour of the release
- Whether there is judicial control or another measure
- The day, hour, and place of a signature obligation
- A restriction on leaving the country, or on communication
- The list of the goods that were seized or received
- A summons or a notification for the later act
Being told orally that "there is nothing" does not take the place of a written decision. If there is an expression on the document that was not understood, it should be clarified before the date of the first obligation, through the competent unit or through legal support.
If there is judicial control, form a calendar of the obligations
Judicial control is the person being followed with certain obligations without being detained. Giving a signature, not being able to leave the country, not approaching certain persons, or another limitation may be applied according to the character of the file. In the situations in which the release took place with judicial control, the obligations are judicial decisions that must be complied with. They are not a "suggestion".
The preparations that can be made on the first day are these:
- Keeping a legible copy of the decision
- Recording the signature days on a calendar and on a reminder
- Confirming the signature place in advance
- Comparing the travel or work programme with the bans
- Learning the method of notification in possible health and transport problems
If an excuse appears, it should be documented and notified to the relevant authority without waiting for it to be lost. If it is thought that the obligation has become unnecessary or disproportionate, a request for lifting or for changing it should be assessed, rather than stopping compliance of one's own accord. The detailed frame is in the guide what is judicial control?.
Keep the statement and medical minutes
The statement given during police custody may be a basic document in the continuation of the file. If you think that your words were not reflected correctly on the minutes, that the notification of rights was incomplete, or that a health problem was not passed onto the record, note this as early as possible. As time passes over the event, it is possible for the details to be forgotten.
In the medical check, the existing injury, condition, or regular medication need should have been passed onto the record. If a new finding appears after release, an application to a health institution should be made without delay. The earlier and the later reports should be kept together. The health application does not carry only the purpose of a complaint. It is also necessary for the person's treatment to continue.
If there is a claim of ill-treatment, pressure, or conduct contrary to the procedure, the date, the place, the order of the acts, the information of the officer, the witness, and the possibility of a camera can be noted. Rather than making a public accusation, a verifiable record should be formed for a legal application. For the basic safeguards at the police-custody stage, the content rights in police custody is complementary.
Follow the seized telephone and the other goods
During police custody, a telephone, a computer, a document, money, or other goods may have been received. It should not be assumed that every item of goods is in the same legal status. Some may have been taken temporarily for safekeeping. A seizure act may have been applied to some, or a digital-examination decision may have been given.
On the delivery minutes, the brand, model, serial number, physical state of the goods, and the accessories if there are any, should be checked. Acts such as a password being given, or a digital copy being taken, also require a separate legal assessment according to the file. It should be learned where the goods are held and which authority will give the return decision.
Going to the unit and asking orally for a return, on the thought that the examination was completed, is not always enough. When the goods no longer have the character of evidence, a request for return can be submitted. The decision and the procedure change according to the file. For a device for which there is an urgent need for work or for health, this situation can be documented. The return of the goods cannot be guaranteed. The request to follow them can be recorded.
Do not delete the evidence, and do not form a common account with the parties
After release, a wish to clear the telephone or the accounts may arise. Deleting the messages, the location history, the e-mails, or the files can harm the defence. Records that show a context in favour can also be lost. The original data should be kept. If it is needed, a working copy should be taken by a lawful method.
Getting in touch with the victim, the complainant, a witness, or the other suspects in the form "let us settle what we will say" is objectionable. Such a contact can turn into a claim of an effect on the evidence or of pressure. If there is a ban on communication or on approaching in particular, even a message that looks ordinary can constitute a breach.
Sharing the details of the police-custody process, the statement minutes, or the identity information of other persons on social media is also not recommended. Investigation information, personal data, and rights of reputation should be observed together. If a public statement is needed, the content and the scope should be assessed carefully.
Update the evidence and defence plan of the file
The questions asked during police custody can give a limited idea of which event and which evidence the prosecution office focused on. The whole content of the file cannot be drawn only from the questions. After release, in a calm setting, the statement, the summons, and the existing documents should be examined together, and the missing or wrong points should be identified.
If evidence in favour is of a kind that can be lost in a short time, a request can be prepared for it to be gathered. Camera records, entry and exit data, bank movements, or digital-platform records can be an example of this. In the request, where the evidence is, and which claim it will clarify, should be stated openly.
Submitting a new explanation is not always necessary or useful. An additional statement can be assessed when there is information that is truly new and verifiable, without giving rise to a contradiction with the first statement. The defence plan should rest on the official accusation and on the evidence that can be reached, and not on the accusation that is guessed.
Follow the service address and the movements of the file
While the investigation continues, a summons to a statement again, an expert act, a review of judicial control, or another notification may come. If a change of address is not notified to the competent authority, the service being missed can give rise to important losses of rights. If electronic notification systems are used, they should be checked regularly.
The following records help in following the file:
- The investigation number
- The relevant prosecution office and police unit
- Defence counsel, or the contact information
- The dates of delivery of the petition that was given and of the documents
- The decisions that were served
- The records of compliance with judicial control
The information that can be seen over UYAP may change according to the character of the investigation and to the access limitations. A document not appearing on the portal does not mean that the file has ended. The official decision and the service should be taken as the basis.
Which results can the investigation go to?
After release, the prosecution office completes the gathering of evidence. If it is assessed that sufficient suspicion has formed, an indictment may be drawn up. If sufficient evidence is not found, a decision that there is no ground for prosecution may be given. The file may also be the subject of reconciliation, joinder, lack of jurisdiction, or other procedural acts.
The drawing up of an indictment does not mean that guilt became final. It is a passage to the prosecution stage. The rights of defence continue before the court. A decision that there is no ground for prosecution should also not be assessed by relying only on oral information, without its reasoning and the state of service being seen. The stages of a prosecution-office investigation sets these possibilities out in detail.
Making a fixed estimate about the duration is not correct. A digital examination, an expert, the number of witnesses, and correspondence with institutions affect the tempo of the file. The judicial density in Ankara may also change the intervals of the acts. This situation does not do away with the basic procedural rules.
Act in a measured way on the return to daily life
The experience of police custody can leave an effect on sleep, work, family relations, and psychological well-being. Receiving health or psychological support is not an adverse admission as regards the file. On the contrary, if there is a need, it is important for the treatment to continue. How much information will be given to the employer or to relatives should be thought of according to privacy and to what is necessary.
When a journey, a change of work, or a change of address is planned, the judicial control and the state of service should be checked. Even if the passport is in fact in your hand, there may be a ban on leaving the country. The text of the decision should be looked at, rather than acting by an oral assumption.
Even if a pressure to make a continuous explanation about the event is felt, measured information should be given only to the necessary persons. The sound following of the file and the rebuilding of daily life can be carried on together.
A last assessment
After being released from police custody, the first task is to understand from the written document the kind of the decision and, if there are any, the judicial-control obligations. The statement, health, and goods minutes should be kept. The evidence should not be deleted. A common account should not be tried to be formed with the persons in the file. Release is an important stage. It is not the final decision of the investigation.
This text is for general information. The release decision, the accusation, the evidence, and the protective measures are different in every file. For the general frame of the rights, criminal law, for the police-custody acts, rights in police custody, and, if there is a measure, judicial control can be examined together.
How the release record is read
The release minutes are not counted as an acquittal record. A police-custody day that is not written in the file is not added. A judicial-control obligation is not read like a sentence that the file has closed, and the office in Çankaya does not change the competent authority.
An Ankara lawyer does not count the release as a judgment that the investigation has ended.
Conclusion
This article is for general information. The document, the period, and the procedure of the concrete event should be read separately. There is no promise of a result from memory.