In short
A victim's rights speak of the requests to join, for information, and for protection. They do not take the place of the prosecution office.
The requests to join, for information, and for protection are spoken of. They do not take the place of the prosecution office.
The procedure of the complaint is separate according to the type of offence.
The victim's counsel not missing the hearing is the following of the papers.
Related notes: investigation.
First determine the capacity of victim and the stage of the file
The victim is the person who is alleged to have suffered direct harm from the offence. The complainant means the person who notifies the competent authority of the will to complain. The intervening party is the person who joins the public prosecution in the prosecution stage, with the court's acceptance. The same person can carry more than one of these capacities during the process. For the use of the rights, the concepts are not the same.
Whether the file is at the stage of investigation or of prosecution also matters. The investigation is conducted by the prosecution office. Evidence is collected, and whether a public prosecution will be brought is assessed. With the acceptance of the indictment, the prosecution begins, and the hearing process runs before the criminal court.
The use of a right begins with these two pieces of information: what is your capacity, and at which stage is the file? If only "a person with information" is written in the minutes of the application, and you think you are in fact the victim, it can be a matter that should be corrected. A correct record of the capacity can affect the rights of notification, of counsel, and of a legal remedy.
Understand the difference between a complaint and a report
A report is the notification to the competent authority of a suspicion of an offence. A complaint, in offences that depend on a complaint, carries a special result as to the victim's explaining the will for investigation and for prosecution. The investigation of every offence does not depend on the victim's complaint. Some offences are inquired into ex officio.
The victim's task is not to write the article of the offence and its legal name in a settled way. They need to tell the event in full as to the date, the place, the persons, and the acts. The competent authority makes the legal characterisation. Even so, because the period and the declaration of will matter in offences that depend on a complaint, the application should not be delayed.
The application can be made to the law-enforcement unit or to the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. If there is an urgent danger, help should be asked for through 112. Giving a petition does not take the place of a measure of physical safety. A statement of withdrawal from the complaint, or of conciliation, should not be signed before its results are understood either.
Make the first application with a clear chronology and a list of documents
For the application to be effective, not only the result of the event but also its course needs to be told. The sentence "I was defrauded", "I was threatened", or "I was beaten" is a beginning. When, where, by whom, and by which means the event occurred should be explained.
This order can be used in preparing the application:
- A timeline of the date and the hour of the event
- The identity and contact information known about the suspect
- The acts seen or heard directly
- The message, the receipt, the contract, the photograph, and the health documents
- Which event the witnesses saw
- A continuing risk to safety, or of the loss of evidence
- The applications made earlier
The originals of the documents should not be altered. The before and the after of digital recordings should be preserved. Before the minutes of the application are signed, it should be checked that your words were written correctly and that your will to complain and your requests for evidence were entered on the record clearly. As a concrete example of practice, the guide on a complaint of fraud can be examined.
Use the right to be informed and to follow the file
The victim should be informed about their rights and about the process. The decisions on the result of the investigation should be notified in proper form. It should not be assumed that there is unlimited access, at every moment of the investigation, to every document on the file. There can be statutory limitations for the purpose of the investigation and for the requirement of confidentiality.
This information should be kept for the follow-up:
- The investigation number or the merits number
- The prosecution office and the court concerned
- The date of delivery of the application and of the annexes
- The address for service and the information for electronic notification
- The decision given and the dates of the hearing
- The counsel or the contact information
A document not appearing on UYAP may not mean that the file has been closed. Official service and the decision are taken as the basis. If a change of address is not notified, learning of the decision can be delayed, and the period for an application can come into risk. The stages of a prosecution-office investigation set out the points of follow-up in detail.
Presenting evidence and asking for evidence to be collected
The victim can present the lawful evidence in their hand, and can ask the competent authority for certain evidence to be collected. Camera recordings, bank movements, communication records, health documents, location, or institutional entry data can matter according to the character of the event. The request should be written together with the place where the evidence is found and with the fact it will clarify.
An early request for preservation is needed for a camera or platform recording that can be deleted in a short time. Rather than the general expression "let everything be investigated", the address of the workplace, the direction of the camera, and the interval of time should be stated. The competent authority assesses the request for its relevance, its necessity, and its lawfulness.
The capacity of victim does not give authority to collect evidence by an unlawful method. Entering the suspect's account without permission, placing a camera in a hidden area, or publishing personal data on social media can give rise to a new dispute. The original recording should be preserved, and an expert examination should be made in the official process.
Benefiting from the assistance of counsel and from support services
The victim can be represented through a lawyer they choose themselves. The appointment of counsel, on request or as mandatory, can also come onto the agenda in the conditions the statute determines, such as the offence, age, a disability, or being in a condition in which the person cannot defend themselves. It cannot be said that the same right to counsel free of charge exists on every file for every victim.
Counsel can assist in the preparation of the application and of the requests for evidence, in the examination of the file to the statutory extent, in attendance at the hearing, and in the follow-up of the legal remedies. Counsel's duty is not to build a narration contrary to the truth in the victim's name. It is to secure that the rights are used in accordance with procedure.
For victims who are children, who have a disability, who speak a foreign language, or who have lived through a severe trauma, additional safeguards such as an interpreter, specialist support, and a suitable setting for the statement can be in question. The need should be notified before the transaction begins. The judicial support units in Ankara, and the referrals, should be learned from the current official channel.
Make the requests for protection and for privacy concrete
After the offence, a threat, persistent following, a close relationship with the perpetrator, or pressure on a witness can continue. In such a situation, not only the criminal complaint but also protective measures fitting the concrete risk should be assessed. In an urgent danger, the support of the law-enforcement unit should be asked for.
These risks can be explained in a request for protection:
- The perpetrator's knowing the victim's home or work address
- Earlier events of violence or of threat
- Communication continuing from different accounts
- Pressure through children or through relatives
- Information of a weapon or of following
- The breach of an existing measure
Health, sexual life, and identity information that concerns private life should be processed on the file to the extent necessary. Requests such as the confidentiality of the hearing, and the protection of the image and of the identity information, can come onto the agenda according to the character of the event. Because the victim's sharing that is open to the public can also increase the risk to privacy, care should be taken.
Arrange the documents of health, of psychological support, and of harm
If there is a physical injury, a health service should be taken without delay, how the event occurred should be told correctly, and the reports should be kept. The documents of continuing treatment after the first examination, of medicine, of inability to work, and of a lasting effect can also matter for the file. The earlier state of health and the findings after the event should be separated.
Taking psychological support does not mean weakness, or that the allegation is unreliable. The signs of trauma can require treatment. The records of the meetings and the documents of expense can be kept with privacy observed. The health service is first for the person's state of well-being. It should not be taken up only for the purpose of producing evidence.
As to pecuniary harm, payment receipts, invoices for property, the loss of income, and repair records can be arranged. Which document will be presented to the criminal file, and which will be used on the path of compensation, should be assessed apart.
An application against a decision that there is no ground for prosecution
If the prosecution office reaches the conclusion that there is not sufficient suspicion to bring a public prosecution, it can give a decision that there is no ground for prosecution. This decision should be read together with its reasoning. The person harmed by the offence, or the complainant, can apply on the path of objection within the statutory conditions.
An effective objection focuses on these questions:
- Which evidence was never collected?
- Why was the existing evidence assessed incompletely or wrongly?
- What kind of error is there in the legal characterisation of the decision?
- Which fact does the document newly presented show?
Only saying "I do not accept the decision" can leave the examination limited. The date of service should be recorded. The period and the competent authority should be checked from the text of the decision and from the current legislation. Certainty cannot be promised about the result of the objection.
Joining the case, and the rights at the hearing
When the prosecution begins with the acceptance of the indictment, the person harmed by the offence can make a request to join the public prosecution. Being a complainant may not confer the capacity of intervening party automatically. A request and a decision of the court are needed. The request can be made by a written petition, or by having it entered in the minutes at the hearing.
The capacity of intervening party can give rise to important procedural results as to the requests to present evidence and to put questions, as to following the hearing, and as to certain legal remedies. The court assesses every request inside the order of the proceedings and the rules of procedure. The result of not attending the hearing without an excuse can change according to the file and to the form of the summons.
The minutes of the hearing, the interim decisions, and the reasoned decision should be followed. The victim's telling the same event many times can have a traumatic effect. The need for specialist support and for a suitable method of statement should be notified to the court.
Separate the making good of the harm and the paths of compensation
The main purpose of the criminal proceedings is the determination of the offence and of the criminal responsibility. All of the victim's pecuniary and non-pecuniary harm is not made good automatically by the criminal court. According to the kind of event, insurance, a civil action, enforcement, a consumer path, or an administrative application can come onto the agenda.
The cost of treatment, the loss of income, the damage to property, the effect on the capacity to work, and the non-pecuniary harm carry a different need for evidence. The connection between the harm and the offence should be documented. A conviction or an acquittal in the criminal file can matter for the other paths. The effect of the results is assessed in the concrete legal frame.
When a proposal of conciliation or of payment arrives, which harm is met, the time of the payment, and the scope of the waiver should be clear. A broad release, or a statement of withdrawal from the complaint, should not be signed before its results are understood.
Care in an offence that depends on a complaint, and in a decision to withdraw
The investigation of some offences depends on the victim's complaint. In offences such as insult, the period for the complaint, conciliation, and the results of withdrawal can carry special importance. The offence of insult offers an example frame for an offence of this kind. Other offences can be investigated ex officio, and the process can continue even if the victim withdraws.
Withdrawal from the complaint, making peace with the perpetrator, the payment of the harm, and conciliation are not the same legal transaction. The effect of each on the criminal result and on the result in compensation can be different. The victim should not give a statement under pressure, under a threat, or under economic compulsion. If there is such pressure, it should be notified to the competent authority.
Where the record of the victim is read from
The capacities of victim, of complainant, and of intervening party are separated from the minutes and from the record of the stage. The complaint is not put in the place of a request for protection. The office being in Çankaya does not choose the authority of the investigation. That is read from the file number. A period that is not written on the file is not added.
In Ankara, the law-enforcement unit the victim applied to, the chief public prosecutor's office conducting the investigation, and the court hearing the case can be in different places. At every stage the file number and the record of delivery of the papers should be used. The sending of the file to another place because of venue does not mean that the application was wholly refused.
Judicial density can affect the periods of the hearing and of the examination. Rather than waiting for a fixed result or a fixed period, the matters of health, of safety, and of evidence that can be lost should be taken first. Official notifications should be followed. An expectation based on rumour about a particular judge, prosecutor, or unit should not be formed.
A closing assessment
Using a victim's rights effectively is not only giving a petition of complaint. The capacity and the stage of the file need to be known, a clear chronology needs to be presented, the collection of evidence needs to be asked for concretely, service needs to be followed, and, when needed, protection and the assistance of counsel need to be used. Joining in the prosecution, and the legal remedies after the decision, should be planned apart.
This note is for general information. The type of offence, the victim's age and situation, the conditions of the complaint, the harm, and the stage of the file change the scope of the rights. For the general frame, criminal law can be examined. For following the investigation, the prosecution-office investigation. For an example of an application, the content on a complaint of fraud.
Conclusion
This note 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 by rote.