DELETION OF CRIMINAL RECORD

What Is a Criminal Record?

A criminal record, also known as a judicial record, is a type of record defined in the Judicial Records Law No. 9391. It contains information about finalized convictions and security measures imposed on an individual. In this context, a criminal record provides a legal summary of a person’s criminal history and may include conviction decisions issued by both Turkish courts and foreign courts (recognized under Turkish law).

It is also important to note that for a criminal record to be created, the relevant court decision must be finalized. Court decisions that are not final are not included in the criminal record.

Interpretation of the Codes in the Criminal Record

In a criminal record, there are various letters and numbers that may appear complex at first glance. We will explain the meanings of these characters through the following example:

● C: 009999998C0017319 10.06.2016 5607SA 3/5-1.C 62/1 52/2-4 53/3 54/1
MERSİN; 1ST CRIMINAL COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE 2Y6M IMPRISONMENT 13/09/2017 2016/341 2017/492 28/12/2017

Regarding the offense committed on 10/06/2016, the individual was sentenced under Article 3, paragraph 5, subparagraph 1 of Law No. 5607 (Anti-Smuggling Law). A discretionary reduction was applied to the sentence pursuant to Article 62/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TPC). Articles 52/2-4 were also applied, and under Article 53/3, the individual was deprived of certain rights, while Article 54/1 governed the confiscation of goods.

The judgment was rendered by the Mersin 1st Criminal Court of First Instance, sentencing the individual to 2 years and 6 months of imprisonment. The decision was issued on 13/09/2017 with the case file numbered 2016/341 and judgment numbered 2017/492, and it became final on 28/12/2017.

How to Delete a Criminal Record and What Are the Conditions for Its Deletion?

The conditions for the deletion of a criminal record are regulated by the legislator under Article 9 of the Criminal Records Law. Accordingly, the information in the criminal record:

1. Upon the completion of the execution of the sentence or security measure, the withdrawal of a complaint or effective remorse that eliminates the conviction and its legal consequences, the expiration of the statute of limitations, or in the case of a general amnesty, the record is deleted by the General Directorate of Criminal Records and Statistics and transferred to the archive.
2. In the event of the individual’s death, the record is completely deleted.
3. For custodial sentences imposed on Turkish citizens by foreign courts, the record is removed from the criminal registry and transferred to the archive by the General Directorate of Criminal Records and Statistics once the period specified in the conviction decision has elapsed from the date the judgment became final.

When Is a Criminal Record Deleted?

As a rule, the criminal record is deleted and transferred to the archive after the sentence imposed on the convict has been executed. Accordingly, the archived record of the convict is deleted after 5 years.

Frequently Asked Questions

1.How and When Is a Criminal Record Deleted?

Conviction records added to the criminal record do not get deleted automatically due to the occurrence of another event. Each conviction record has its own effect, and a new record does not affect the previous one. However, under the circumstances mentioned below, a criminal record can be deleted or transferred to the archive record:

1. The completion of the execution of the sentence or security measure, withdrawal of the complaint or effective remorse that completely eliminates the consequences of the conviction, expiration of the statute of limitations, and general amnesty cases result in deletion by the General Directorate of Criminal Records and Statistics and transfer to the archive record.
2. In the event of the person’s death, the record is completely deleted.
3. For Turkish citizens, custodial sentences imposed by foreign courts are removed from the criminal record and transferred to the archive record by the General Directorate of Criminal Records and Statistics after the period specified in the conviction decision has passed from the date the sentence becomes final.

2.When Is the Criminal Record Archive Entry Deleted?

The archive entry defines a legal concept different from the criminal record. Accordingly, conviction decisions are first recorded in the criminal record and then transferred to the archive entry if certain conditions are met. The deletion of the relevant conviction decision from the archive entry can only occur if the following conditions are met:

a. Conviction decisions transferred from the criminal record to the archive entry for the convicted person are deleted after 5 years.
b. If the conviction decision leads to deprivation of rights imposed by laws other than the Turkish Penal Code, in this case, upon the execution of the sentence and at the request of the convicted person, if the court issues a decision for the restoration of prohibited rights, the archive entry is deleted 15 years after the date the conditions for archiving are met. However, if the decision for the restoration of prohibited rights has not been granted, the archive entry is deleted 30 years after the date the conditions for archiving are met.
c. The archive entry is also deleted due to reasons such as the death of the convicted person or the act no longer being considered a crime.

3.What Are the Crimes Not Recorded in the Criminal Record?

As stated in Article 5 of the Criminal Records Law,
“a) Convictions related to disciplinary offenses and purely military offenses,
b) Decisions regarding disciplinary or coercive imprisonment,
c) Decisions related to administrative fines,
are not recorded in the criminal record.”

4.Does the Decision to Postpone the Announcement of the Verdict (HAGB) Get Recorded in the Criminal Record?

The decision to postpone the announcement of the verdict essentially means that the punishment given to the defendant does not result in a conviction or legal consequences within a specified probation period.
If the defendant complies with certain conditions during this probation period, the punishment is annulled, and therefore the case is dismissed.
It should also be noted that the HAGB decision is not recorded in the defendant’s criminal record.

5.Where Should One Apply to Have Their Criminal Record Deleted?

As mentioned above, the deletion of the criminal record is carried out by the Directorate of Criminal Records and Statistics, and therefore, there is no need to file a lawsuit or take any similar legal action regarding this matter.

Some Supreme Court Decisions Regarding the Criminal Record

1. “Regarding the defendant M… K…, who was convicted of the offense of violating the Law No. 6136 on Firearms, Knives, and Other Tools, pursuant to Article 13/1 of Law No. 6136, Article 4 of Law No. 647 on the Execution of Sentences, and Article 72 of the Turkish Penal Code No. 765, and sentenced to a heavy fine of 4,070,000 Turkish Lira by the Sincan Criminal Court of First Instance in its decision dated 16.10.1997, numbered 1996/622 (file number) and 1997/645 (decision number), following the execution of this decision, the request for deletion of the defendant’s criminal record and archive record was rejected by the Sincan 1st Criminal Court of First Instance’s additional decision dated 18.03.2011, file number 1996/622. Upon objection to this rejection, the file including the decision of the Sincan 2nd Heavy Penal Court dated 04.04.2011, file number 2011/962, regarding the deletion of the archive record, was reviewed. Since the content of the notification by the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor to the Supreme Court, based on the Ministry of Justice’s request for annulment in the interest of the law, was found to be appropriate, the decision of the Sincan 2nd Heavy Penal Court dated 04.04.2011, file number 2011/962, was annulled pursuant to the relevant article of the Criminal Procedure Code.” (Supreme Court 8th Criminal Chamber, Decision dated 15.12.2011, file number 2011/16743, decision number 2011/16146)
2. “… It is seen that the sentence given to the defendant is a conviction included in Article 76 of the Constitution and that according to the temporary Article 2/2 of Law No. 5352 amended by Article 3 of Law No. 6290, deletion from the archive record is only possible if the conditions in Article 12/1-b of the same Law are met. Since the conditions for the deletion of the said conviction record from the archive have not yet been fulfilled, and according to temporary Article 2/3 of Law No. 5352 added by Article 3 of Law No. 6290, the archive records can be deleted by the General Directorate of Criminal Records and Statistics of the Ministry of Justice only after the conditions are met as of the effective date of Law No. 6290, 11/04/2012, the written decision was found incorrect. Therefore, based on the relevant article of the Criminal Procedure Code No. 5271, the request for annulment of the said decision was made. Upon examination of the file sent to our Chamber, it was discussed that according to Law No. 6290 on the Criminal Record, which entered into force with the Official Gazette dated 11.04.2012 and numbered 28261, and the Law Amending the Law on Prevention of Violence and Disorder in Sports, as of 11.04.2012, the deletion of criminal record and archive record must be done by the General Directorate of Criminal Records and Statistics of the Ministry of Justice. Furthermore, since the forgery offense in the defendant’s criminal record is among the crimes specified in Article 76 of the Constitution, it is mandatory to proceed according to Article 12 of Law No. 5352 as per temporary Article 2/2 of the same Law. The rejection of the request without considering this was unlawful, and the reasoning in the notification prepared based on the request for annulment in the interest of the law was found appropriate. Accordingly, the additional decision of the Istanbul 5th Heavy Penal Court dated 31.05.2012 and numbered 1996/89 (file) and 2000/70 (decision) is hereby ANNULLED pursuant to Article 309 of the Criminal Procedure Code.” (Supreme Court 11th Criminal Chamber, Decision dated 05.06.2013, file number 2013/11054, decision number 2013/9374)
3. “According to these explanations, when examining the concrete case; since the 3 years, 1 month, and 15 days imprisonment sentence given to the convicted … for attempted intentional homicide falls within the scope of Article 76 of the Constitution in terms of duration, and the time period stipulated in Article 12 of the Criminal Record Law has not yet passed, it is not possible to remove the archive record pursuant to paragraph 2 of temporary Article 2 of Law No. 5352. Therefore, the court’s decision to delete the archive record is found to be incorrect, and it was necessary to annul the decision of the … 1st Heavy Penal Court dated 31.10.2013 and numbered 2013/945 on the grounds of public interest in law regarding the deletion of the archive record.” (Supreme Court 1st Criminal Chamber, Decision dated 04.07.2014, file number 2014/3725, decision number 2014/3727)
4. “The conviction for which the deletion of the archive record is requested concerns the crime defined as ‘tax evasion’ under Article 359 of the Tax Procedure Law No. 213, and since this conviction involves deprivation of rights as stated in Article 3 of the Insurance Law No. 5684, according to the clear provision in paragraph 2 of temporary Article 2 of the Criminal Record Law No. 5352, which was in force at the time of the decision, it is not possible to delete the archive record related to this conviction. Therefore, instead of rejecting the request, the decision to delete the archive record is contrary to the law.” (Supreme Court 11th Criminal Chamber, Decision dated 05.04.2017, file number 2017/1485, decision number 2017/2541)
5. “Although the court decided to delete the criminal record based on temporary Article 2/2 of Law No. 5352 before the amendment made by Law No. 6290 dated 05/04/2012, this provision in effect at the time of the verdict does not apply to crimes committed after 01/06/2005. Accordingly, since the crime date mentioned in the verdict subject to the deletion of the criminal and archive records is after 01/06/2005, the petition should have been sent to the Directorate General of Criminal Records and Statistics for evaluation of the convict’s request. However, temporary Article 2/2 of Law No. 5352 and the provision effective at the time of the verdict were misinterpreted, and the conditions in Article 12 of the said Law were not considered. Therefore, the decision to delete the criminal and archive records is contrary to the law.” (Supreme Court 18th Criminal Chamber, Decision dated 12.03.2018, file number 2017/5885, decision number 2018/3392)

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