Restriction of freedom for the purpose of protection in Turkish Civil Law

Human rights, which are also guaranteed by universal norms and the constitution, can only be restricted in the form and conditions specified in the law. Human rights are among the fundamental rights that are considered to be inherent, personal, inviolable, non-transferable, inalienable and must be protected. No one can be deprived of his/her liberty except for the conditions and reasons determined by law. At this point, the institution of restriction of freedom for the purpose of protection, which is a new institution in terms of guardianship law, is regulated between Articles 432-437 of the Turkish Civil Code No. 4721, which entered into force on 01.01.2002. The main purpose of the restriction of freedom for the purpose of protection, as can be understood from the wording of the legal regulation, is to ensure that persons who pose a danger to society due to their physical or mental illnesses and who have no other means of protection are placed in a suitable institution for their education, treatment or rehabilitation. The reasons for restriction of freedom (mental illness or mental weakness, drug or alcohol addiction, vagrancy or carrying an infectious disease that poses a serious danger) are listed in Article 432 of the Turkish Civil Code. Since the restriction of freedom for the purpose of protection, which is the main subject of this thesis, involves the restriction of a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution, a person's freedom cannot be restricted for other reasons other than the reasons for restriction specified in Article 432 of the Turkish Civil Code, even for the purpose of protection. Since it is regulated that the person will be placed or detained in a suitable institution for treatment, education and rehabilitation of the person pursuant to Articles 432 etc. of the Turkish Civil Code, the relevant institution must have appropriate conditions for this purpose in terms of physical conditions, technological conditions and appropriate personnel competence. In the following chapters of this thesis titled "Restrcition of Freedom for the Purpose of Protection in Turkish Civil Law", all the conditions required for the application of the institution of restriction of freedom for the purpose of protection and its comparison with similar institutions are examined in detail. At the same time, after analysing the problems arising from the application of the institution, solution suggestions will be presented for these problems. Keywords: Guardianship Law, Personal liberty, Freedom, Protection, Restriction of Freedom