Right not to be labelled in Turkish law

Humans, unlike other creatures, need a dignified life. The need to live an honorable life throughout the history has caused concepts such as human rights, fundamental rights and freedoms to be born and regulations for the protection of human dignity to take place in legal texts. Right not to be labelled which aims to protect the honor, dignity and reputation of people in the society, serves people to lead a dignified life. Right not to be labelled is very important in criminal proceedings along with the presumption of innocence. While the presumption of innocence is protected to not be treated as criminals by courts and public authorities, right not to be labelled guarantees not to be treated as a criminal before the society. However, the right not to be labelled is not only about the consequences of criminal proceedings but, it is also closely related to human rights and their sub-elements such as freedom of speech, right to privacy, and freedom of press. Defamation, labeling of individuals when using freedom of expression, attempts to humiliate people by intervention of private life, damaging people's honor and dignity through lying, misleading or distorting news and media activities constitute a contradiction to right not to be labelled.