Criminal Law
Criminal cases are public lawsuits filed by the prosecution to try individuals with “sufficient suspicion” of committing a crime. Regardless of their nature, all criminal cases are considered public lawsuits. The general courts responsible for handling criminal cases are the Heavy Penal Court and the Criminal Court of First Instance. In addition to general courts, some special courts are responsible for handling criminal cases due to the nature of the crime or the offender's status: Juvenile Court, Juvenile Heavy Penal Court, and Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights Criminal Court. Decisions on investigation procedures during the investigation stage, where a criminal case has not yet been opened, are made by the Peace Criminal Court. A criminal case is filed with the competent and authorized criminal court with an indictment. In crimes subject to complaint, the prosecution investigates whether the crime has been committed, by whom, and which crime has been committed, either upon complaint or on its own initiative. If the prosecution concludes that a crime has been committed by someone based on the evidence collected during the investigation, it is obliged to file a criminal case. A criminal case is filed with the competent and authorized criminal court with an indictment. In the indictment, the act constituting the crime and the law article of the crime are associated with the evidence obtained as a result of the investigation, and the defendant is requested to be tried. The preparation of the indictment means that there is sufficient suspicion that a crime has been committed. Sufficient suspicion means that the probability of the person under suspicion of a crime being convicted as a result of the trial is higher than the probability of acquittal. How is the first defense made in criminal cases? In a criminal case, the defendant can present their defense and evidence at every trial stage.
