Cirime of proessional misconduct in Turkish criminal law (TCK 257)

The crime of professional misconduct is regulated in the Turkish Criminal Law in Article 257 under the heading "Crimes against the reliability and functioning of the public administration" in the first section of the fourth part. This type of crime is a general, secondary and complementary crime and is one of the specific crimes and is committed only by public officials. During public activities, public officials are obliged to act according to the obligations required by their duties. Thus, it is imperative not to undermine the public confidence and belief that the public activity is carried out following lawful principles. The crime which is the subject of this thesis, has been sanctioned because it harms the interests of individuals and the state as it is regulated in the law. The scope and elements of the crime of professional misconduct are examined in light of the discussions in the doctrine and the current decisions of the Court of Cassation. Its differences are discussed since it has similar characteristics to extortion, bribery, and embezzlement crimes. The thesis study is evaluated under three main chapters; the first chapter includes general information on the definition of crime, definitions, and comparison of the crime with similar crimes; the second chapter consists of the elements of the crime, perpetrator, victim, reasons for compliance with the law, situations affecting culpability, particular appearance forms of the crime, the third chapter includes the titles of judgment and sanction, the statute of limitations.