The principle of legality in Turkish law on the execution of criminal sentences

In leaving certain matters that impact the core of sentences open to regulation by the administration's by-laws and disciplinary acts to have effect on actual time served by individuals, the law on the Execution of the Criminal sentences and Security Measures has made it possible for the administration to effect individuals' freedom. The principle of legality in crime and punishment requires all criminal punishments to be stipulated by laws. In this regard, our judgement is for this principle to not only be applied in the determination of the punishments imposed by the court in the sentence, but also in the law of execution which determines the actual number of days the offender will serve in penitentiaries. For this reason, the law of execution which has become incomprehensible and unpredictable needs to be simplified and renewed, thereby preventing the administration to impact individuals' freedom through its by-laws and acts. In our thesis, we identified the breaches of the principle of legality in the law of execution and proposed a series of amendments towards correcting these breaches.