WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU HAVE A WARRANT FOR ARREST
It is very normal to be scared when you or your loved one
has a warrant for arrest, especially when you are in Turkey and you are a
foreigner. It is a scary thing wherever you are but is extra hard when you are
in a foreign country you do not know the language and the law of. That is why
you might need help from an English-speaking criminal defense lawyer in
Istanbul. So that they can guide and help you through this process.
What is an arrest?
Arrest (tutuklama), is a protection measure that is
temporarily applied for reasons such as the preservation of evidence,
preventing the suspect or defendant from escaping, etc. A warrant for arrest must
be issued by a judge, whether at the investigation or prosecution stage. During
the investigation phase, the arrest warrant is issued by the Criminal Judgeship
of Peace (Sulh Ceza Hakimliği) and during the prosecution phase it is issued by
the court where the criminal case is filed.
Even if there are reasons for arrest in a case, if it is
possible to conduct the trial by taking a judicial control decision instead of
issuing an arrest warrant for the suspect or defendant, the arrest measure
cannot be applied.
What is the purpose of a warrant for arrest?
An arrest warrant is issued for a suspect or an accused
person. Suspect refers to the person who is under suspicion of a crime during
the investigation phase, and accused refers to the person who is under
suspicion of a crime during the period from the commencement of the criminal
case and the prosecution phase until the finalization of the verdict.
An arrest warrant has two main purposes:
To ensure the preservation of evidence: If the behavior of
the suspect or defendant creates a strong suspicion of attempting to exert
pressure on witnesses, victims or others, an arrest warrant may be issued to
preserve evidence. In criminal procedure, there are three types of evidence:
documents, statements and indications. It is possible to issue an arrest
warrant if it is understood from the behavior of the suspect or defendant that they
may attempt to obscure, destroy, change the nature of any evidence, etc.
Preventing the suspect or accused from escaping: If there is
a strong suspicion of fleeing based on facts in the behavior of the suspect or
defendant, an arrest warrant may be issued for them. It should be emphasized
that the suspicion of fleeing must be based on concrete facts. Subjective assessments
that the person will flee without facts cannot be accepted as a reason for
arrest.
Who Can Appeal an Arrest Warrant?
The right to object to arrest mainly belongs to the arrested
person, the suspect or the accused. Apart from the suspect or defendant, the
following persons also have the right to object to arrest:
The application for objection to arrest can also be filed by
the lawyer of the arrested suspect or defendant.
The legal representative of the arrested person (father,
mother or other legal representative, if any) may also object to the arrest
warrant.
The spouse of the arrested person may also object to the
arrest warrant.
There are also timelines you need to keep up with and certain
authorities you need to appeal, and all of these can get tricky without
professional help. That is why it is the best seeking help from a criminal
defense attorney.
This is intended for general informational purposes only and
not intended as a substitute for the advice and counsel of a criminal defense
attorney. If you want to contact an English-speaking lawyer in
Istanbul for more information you can click here.
