Children in conflict with the law

For many years, the Child Protection Law referred to a person under 18 who is investigated or prosecuted for allegedly committing an act defined as an offence, or for whom a security measure has been ordered because of such an act, as a "child pushed into crime" (suça sürüklenen çocuk). Law No. 7593 of 8 August 2026 changed the term to "child in judicial proceedings" (adli süreçteki çocuk) (Law No. 5395, Art. 3). The earlier term remains in public use. In international usage these children are referred to as children in conflict with the law.

The criminal liability of children, their trial and the enforcement of their sentences are governed by rules that differ from those for adults. The Law treats as core principles that measures restricting liberty and imprisonment are used only as a last resort for children, and that steps are taken to prevent others from identifying the child (Law No. 5395, Art. 4).

Criminal liability by age (TCK 31)

• Under 12: there is no criminal liability and no prosecution may be brought. Security measures specific to children may be applied.
• Aged 12–14: if the child cannot understand the legal meaning and consequences of the act or cannot control their behaviour, there is no criminal liability and a security measure is ordered. If the child has this capacity:
  • 13–18 years is imposed instead of aggravated life imprisonment,
  • 10–12 years instead of life imprisonment,
  • other penalties are reduced by one half, and the term of imprisonment for each act may not exceed 9 years.
• Aged 15–17:
  • 19–27 years is imposed instead of aggravated life imprisonment,
  • 15–18 years instead of life imprisonment,
  • other penalties are reduced by one third, and the term of imprisonment for each act may not exceed 15 years.

2026 amendment

Law No. 7593 entered into force on 18 August 2026:

• Penalty ranges were raised. For children aged 12–14 the earlier ranges were 12–15 years and 9–11 years, with a maximum of 7 years. For those aged 15–17 they were 18–24 years and 12–15 years, with a maximum of 12 years.
• Non-application of the reduction. If a child aged 15–17 commits intentional killing (TCK 81, 82) or injury with serious consequences (TCK 87/2 and 87/4), the court may decline to apply the age-based reduction, taking into account the gravity of the intentional fault, the aim pursued, the manner in which the offence was committed and whether the child has previously been sentenced to imprisonment for an intentional offence. The provisions for those aged 15–17 may be applied to a child aged 12–14 who has criminal capacity (TCK 31/4).
• Parental liability. If a mother or father who fails to fulfil the duty of care, education or support, or who seriously endangers the child’s safety through lack of care, thereby leads the child to commit intentional killing or injury with serious consequences, the parent’s penalty is increased by one half to two fold, without a complaint being required (TCK 233/4).
• Diversion measures. Social and community service, protection from digital risks, books and library, environmental clean-up and addiction programmes were introduced as security measures for children without criminal liability (Law No. 5395, Art. 5/A). Service measures range from 20 to 300 hours, and supervision of digital devices from 3 months to 2 years.
• Notification. When a public prosecution is filed against a child, the provincial or district directorates of Family and Social Services and of National Education are notified (Law No. 5395, Art. 15/4).

Investigation and trial

• The investigation is carried out in person by a public prosecutor at the juvenile bureau (Law No. 5395, Art. 15).
• A child taken into custody is held at the juvenile unit of the police or, where there is none, separately from adults. Children may not be handcuffed; the police may take precautions only where strictly necessary (Art. 16, 18).
• A child without a defence lawyer is assigned one without having to request it (CMK 150/2).
• If the defendant is under 18, the hearing is held in private and the judgment is also announced in private (CMK 185).
• Even where children commit an offence together with adults, their investigation and prosecution are conducted separately (Art. 17). Cases are heard by juvenile courts and juvenile assize courts (Art. 26).
• Judicial control measures are applied first; if they do not work, detention may be ordered (Art. 20). A child under 15 may not be detained for acts punishable by imprisonment with a maximum of 5 years or less (Art. 21).

Decisions and penalties

• Deferral of the public prosecution: the deferral period for children is 3 years. For children under 15, it can be applied to offences punishable by imprisonment with a maximum of up to 5 years (Law No. 5395, Art. 19).
• Deferred announcement of the verdict: the supervision period for children is 3 years. Since 2026, diversion measures have been applied as probation measures, and where the damage is minor, compensation may not be required (Art. 23).
• Mediation: the mediation provisions also apply to children (Art. 24). Where the victim is a natural person or a private legal entity, offences with a maximum penalty of 3 years or less are also eligible for mediation for children (CMK 253/1-c).
• Short-term imprisonment: imprisonment of 1 year or less imposed on a child with no previous sentence of imprisonment is converted into an alternative sanction (TCK 50/3).
• Suspension: for children, imprisonment of up to 3 years may be suspended (TCK 51).
• Deprivation of rights and recidivism: deprivation of rights such as holding public office, and the provisions on recidivism, do not apply to people who committed the offence before the age of 18 (TCK 53/4, 58/5).
• Limitation: for offences committed at ages 12–14, the case is dismissed when half of the limitation period has passed; at ages 15–17, when two thirds has passed (TCK 66/2).
• Enforcement: in calculating conditional release, each day spent in prison until the age of 15 counts as two days. Intentional killing, sexual assault and sexual abuse of children, drug trafficking and forming a criminal organisation are excluded from this rule (Law No. 5275, Art. 107/5).

Official statistics

Official figures on children who come or are brought to security units are published by TurkStat (TÜİK) in its annual bulletin, Statistics on Children Received into or Brought to Security Units.

How it is counted in the data

The site does not publish counts of children in conflict with the law, because the offender’s age is not reported in most news stories and no reliable count can be derived from them. Official figures are published in the TurkStat bulletin mentioned above.