The crime of bid rigging in Turkish Criminal Law

Public procurements are essential on the occasion of their economic and social consequences on the community as well as their direct concern to the government. For this reason, public procurements are legally regulated and violations of those regulations can be subject to administrative and/or penal sanctions. The two fundamental legislations governing public procurements are the State Procurement Law No. 2886 and the Public Procurement Law No. 4734. The procedures and principles regarding public procurements have been determined and the functioning of procurements have been placed on a legal basis. In order to ensure that the public procurements are being conducted in accordance with the law, some unlawful acts are regulated as bid rigging and subject to criminal sanctions within the scope of the Turkish Penal Code No. 5237. The main purpose of this study is to examine the irregularities in public procurements, which greatly affect and concern the government economically and socially, and therefore the crime of bid rigging. In this direction, firstly, the historical and conceptual framework of public procurements will be covered, and then the process and the principles to be followed in procurement process and illegal practices will be examined. Finally, the crime of bid rigging withing the Turkish Penal Code will be scrutinized.