Impossible attempts in Criminal Law

Impossible attempts has a special position in criminal law as a concept which can not lead to completion of the offence in contradiction with the offenders' envisagement, due to the initial impossibilities resulting from objective elements of the offence. Impossible attempts may arise with different forms, depending on the objective element of the offence which is the cause of the inaptness. Impossible attempts has many problematic points as well as close relations with some important terms of criminal law. For this reason, it is a current issue in the criminal law doctrine. Debates on impossible attempts is focused on its punishability. Whether an act that does not expose the object of the offence in concrete danger and that, has zero probability of succeeding requires the intervention of criminal law is a matter to be examined. Impossible attempts and its punishability is in fact directly related to the approach adopted in the criminal codes regarding the attempt to the offence. In the face of the subjective understanding in which the revealed offender's intent to commit an offence is deemed sufficient, there is an objective understanding in which the act's aptness for succeeding is required. Impossible attempts, which seems a sharp distinction point between these systems, is becomes a matter cannot be reached a solution when both are strictly accepted. In this study, we tried to examine impossible attempts in all its aspects. Additionally, this study is focused on its punishability problem. Keywords: Impossible Attempts, Aptness-Inaptness, Inaptness due to the Objective Elements of the Offence, Putative Offence, Punishability Problem of Impossible Attempts.