Determination and criminalisation of preparatory acts in Turkish criminal law

Preparatory acts, which are acts that are carried out with the aim of enabling or facilitating the commission of a future crime, are as a rule not punished in criminal law systems. However, in various legal systems including Turkish law, there are many exceptions to this rule and it can be seen that these exceptions are increasing in modern times. The aim of this study is to explain the method used in Turkish criminal law for the determination of the contours of preparatory acts and to evaluate the conformity of the punishability of preparatory acts with the basic principles of Turkish criminal law, taking into account the views put forward in comparative law and testing the applicability of these views to Turkish law. The study consists of two parts. The first part examines the views on the separation of preparatory acts from the execution of the offence and identifies the characteristics of preparatory acts in the light of these views. The second part of the study categorises the forms of punishment of preparatory acts in legal systems, determines the qualities of a punishable act within the framework of the basic principles and assumptions of Turkish criminal law, and questions the legitimacy of punishment of preparatory acts by evaluating the doctrinal attempts in Turkish and German literature to justify such criminalisation.