Impossible attempts

Impossible attempts can be defined as the impossibility of completing the crime from the beginning due to the inconvenience of the act or the absence of the object of the crime, although the perpetrator has tended to violate a penal norm. In cases of impossible attempts, although the perpetrator has demonstrated his will to commit a crime, he cannot create a concrete danger on the objective matter of the crime. For this reason, it has been discussed in the doctrine for many years whether it is necessary to impose a sanction on the perpetrator in cases of impossible attempts. In comparative law, some countries punish the perpetrator in cases of impossible attempts, while some countries do not impose any sanctions. This preference is the direct result of adopting a subjective or objective theory of punishment of the attempt. In countries where a subjective theory is adopted, the perpetrator is punished in cases of impossible attempts. On the other hand, in countries where an objective theory is adopted, the impossible attempt is left unpunished. In our country, there is no regulation regarding the possibility of imposing sanctions on the perpetrator in cases of impossible attempts. In addition, for the perpetrator to be held responsible for the attempt, it was required that he "begins the execution directly with convenient behaviors". Therefore, the perpetrator who performs an inconvenient act to commit a crime cannot be held responsible for this act. As a result, it can be easily said that the Turkish Penal Code adopts an objective theory in terms of punishing the attempt and leaves the cases of impossible attempts without sanctions. An impossible attempt is closely related to many issues of criminal law. In fact, there are two main problems that are sought to be solved in the issue of impossible attempts. The first is whether there is a need to impose a sanction on the perpetrator in cases of impossible attempts. The second is how to distinguish between a convenient attempt and an inconvenient attempt. If it is concluded that it is necessary to impose a sanction on the perpetrator in cases of impossible attempts, it will be necessary to add an article in this direction to the Turkish Penal Code. However, the answer to the question of how to distinguish a convenient attempt from an inconvenient attempt is very important in terms of Turkish law in force. Because, while the perpetrator can be punished in the case of a convenient attempt, no sanction will be imposed on the perpetrator in the case of an inconvenient attempt.