A number of rights and obligations have been imposed on the witness by the Turkish Penal Code. Some of these are to come before the calling authority, to swear an oath and to make statements. In order for the trial to reach a fair conclusion, the witness has an obligation to tell the truth. It is defined as a crime in the law to testify with false statements as it contravenes these obligations.

False testimony is a crime that is unique in its nature and can only be committed by witnesses. On the other hand, it should be noted that those who are listened to without being sworn in cannot be the perpetrators of this crime. Unless the victim or the victim is involved in the case, he or she may be heard as a witness and may be the perpetrator of the crime of false testimony. In the case of expert witnesses making false statements, the ‘crime of expert witnesses with false statements’ is committed. The aforementioned crime is arranged among the crimes against the court and the state is in the position of victim. The person who testifies against him is also harmed by the crime.

TCK m.According to 272/1, the basic form of this crime is to testify against the truth before the person or board authorized to listen to a witness in the context of an investigation initiated due to an unlawful act. The investigation in the relevant regulation applies only to the judicial investigation in which the public prosecutor is in charge. The person or board authorized to listen to witnesses are persons, arbitrators, foreign authorities assigned to the preliminary examination in accordance with the Law No. 4483 on the prosecution of civil servants and other public officials. Testifying against the truth constitutes the actual crime. Accordingly, an act can be carried out by withholding information about the case, making false statements or denying the truth. On the other hand, the witness’s testimony against the truth does not always lead to the crime of false testimony. What matters here is that the witness describes the incident as he perceives it. In summary, the perception of the witness and its explanations are taken into consideration. Although there is a contradiction between the statements, there is no evidence that the crime of false testimony occurred and no conviction is made without the defendant being found to be lying.

The personal impressions of the witness as well as the objective information the witness has obtained about the events he has heard or seen are not included in the witness statement. So even though the witness’s own assessment is untrue, it does not constitute the crime. In addition, the witness is required to fully describe everything he saw. The state of silence, on the other hand, gives the body to this crime if the matter being kept is of importance or arguably important to the court which may affect the judgment.

Although no public action has been filed against the person who testified against him after the occurrence of false testimony or it has been decided that there is no room for punishment, the crime of false testimony will occur. For the occurrence of the crime, false testimony is not required to cause a specific harm or to be effective in the judgment. The fact that the trial is wrong is sufficient for the crime to occur. In order for the relevant crime to occur, the testimony made contrary to the truth must have the opportunity to influence the outcome of the case. Witness statements consist of two parts: information about the case and information about identity. If the answers to the identity are false, no crime occurs because the identity statements are not technically included in the witness statement. The basis of this crime is the statements relating to the case.

In order for the crime to occur, the person must knowingly knowingly give false testimony. The provisions of participation shall apply to the directing person for the crime of false testimony. (person, state of Defense guidance)

Conclusive evidence is required to acknowledge the existence of a crime of false testimony. Partial falsehoods regarding details that will occur in witness testimony for reasons such as forgetfulness cannot be characterized as false testimony. False or unknowingly uttered words do not constitute elements of the crime of false testimony.The fact that the perpetrator is intimidated and deceived by false testimony does not result in the occurrence of this crime.

Related crime TCK 272. It is regulated in the first paragraph of the article and its sanction is a prison sentence of 4 months to 1 year. The court in charge is the Criminal Court of First Instance. The statute of limitations for the case in crime is 8 years. There is no requirement for a complaint in this crime, which is being investigated and prosecuted.

QUALIFIED STATES OF CRIME;

Anyone who testifies contrary to the truth before the court or before the board or the person legally authorized to listen to a witness by taking an oath shall be sentenced to imprisonment from one to three years.;

A person who gives false testimony as part of an investigation or prosecution of a crime requiring a prison sentence of more than three years shall be sentenced to imprisonment of two to four years .

If another protection measure other than detention and arrest is applied in relation to the person who testified against him, the penalty shall be increased by half, provided that an acquittal decision or a decision that there is no place for prosecution has been made because of the fact that he did not commit the actual act.;

In case of detention or arrest of the person who testifies against him, provided that he has been acquitted or decided that there is no place to prosecute for not committing the actual act, the person who gives false testimony shall also be held liable as an indirect perpetrator in accordance with the provisions relating to the offence of depriving the person of his liberty;

If the person who testifies against him is convicted of aggravated life imprisonment or life imprisonment, he shall be sentenced to twenty to thirty years imprisonment.;

If the execution of the prison sentence against which the person who testifies is convicted is initiated, the penalty to be given in accordance with the sixth paragraph shall be increased by half.

If a judicial or administrative sanction is imposed against the person who testifies against him other than a prison sentence, the person who gives false testimony shall be punished with a prison sentence of three to seven years.

REASONS FOR COMMUTING THE SENTENCE

(A) to give false testimony in relation to a matter which may cause him, his superior, subordinate, spouse or brother to be investigated and prosecuted.,

b) although he has the right to abstain from testimony, if he testifies contrary to the truth without being reminded of this right, he may be reduced in the penalty to be given or he may be stopped from giving punishment.