Prisons in the Ottoman Empire (1839-1908)

The basis of the understanding of the Ottoman Empire is based on Islamic law. This management style was effective in the field of law as well as in every field.Ottoman law was seperated into two groups as sharia and custom, and it was seenthat the Ottoman Empire kept the balance between crime and punishment with this system. A new era tarted with the Tanzimat edict, werstern law was adopted, and a series of changes were made with the understanding that "an unlawful crime is not considered as a crime". The foundations of a new order were laid with the penal laws adopted. Especially after Tanzimat edict, The Ottoman Empire, which used structures due to the excess number of prisoners. Some problems apperad with the establishment of the prisons. For example, epicdemics, the absence of a separete prison for women, and a lack of staff. The first provisions regarding the improvement of the situation in prisons in the Ottoman Empire were found in the Islahat edict. Some of regulations made in addition to this are the 1859 statute of limitations, the instructions fort he guard in the 1876, the 1880 Detention house and the regulation on the administration of prisons.