Acquittal In Criminal Proceedings
The decision of acquittal is regulated in Article 223/2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Within the scope of this article, the cases in which an acquittal decision will be given are listed one by one. Acquittal is a decision on the merits, which is the most favourable to the defendant among the types of verdicts regulated in the Criminal Procedure Code, and means that the defendant is not sentenced to punishment. In order for the court to acquit the perpetrator, one of the following reasons must be realised
The act charged is not defined as an offence in the law,
It is fixed that the charged offence was not committed by the defendant,
Absence of intent or negligence on the part of the perpetrator in respect of the charged offence,
Although the charged offence was committed by the accused, there is a reason of lawfulness in the incident,
It must not be established that the charged offence was committed by the defendant.
The criminal court must clearly indicate in its judgement which of these reasons it relies on when making an acquittal decision. Due to the possibility of causing confusion, the Court of Cassation accepts the use of the word acquittal, which is not specified in the law, instead of the word acquittal, as a reason for reversal.
According to Article 223/9 of the Code of Criminal Procedure; in cases where a decision of acquittal can be made immediately, a decision of suspension, dismissal or no sentence to be imposed cannot be made. Again, according to Article 193/2 of the same law; if it is concluded that a decision other than conviction should be made according to the evidence collected about the defendant, the case may be concluded in the absence of the defendant, even if the interrogation was not conducted.
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