The conditions to apply the provision on remorse for the offences agains property

Abstract

The offender can display remorse after he/she has committed an offence. In this case, the offender does not insuppressible the offence. However, in some offences it is possible to remove the damage caused by the offence partially or totally. Having foreseen this possibilitiy, the law-makers set out the provision on effective remorse under Article 168 of Turkish Penal Code. In case the offender is regretful after the commission of the offence has been completed, it is only possible to mention about effective remorse which is an individual circumtance if the harm inflicted on the victim is repaired by returning the property acquired by way of the offence or compensating its value. There is no requirement to express the remorse by words, depending on particularities of the case, it can be expressed by words or acts. The phrase "displaying remorse individualy" contained in the wording of the article is a clear illustration of the importance attached to restitution and compensation after the remorse rather than to restitution and compensation alone. It is not easy to identfy the will for remorse, since it concerns inner world of the offender. For this reason, in case the offender does not display any words and acts both in trials and after the offence which reflects his remorse and the property is returned, the restitution must be p resumed t o b e c arried a s a r esult o f t he r emorse. It is not necessary for the offender to restitute the property personaly. The restitution carried out by others with the permission and approval of the offender is not impediment to apply the provision on remorse. This paper examines the conditions under which the provision on remorse is applied for property-related offences with different opinions and the judgments of the Court of Cassation in various aspects.