Perjury crime (TCC Art. 275)

The offence of perjury is regulated in three paragraphs in Article 275 of the Turkish Penal Code (TPC) No. 5237. The oath, which is the subject of this offence, is regulated under Articles 225 to 239 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) No. 6100. The oath regulated in the CCP is among the conclusive evidence in terms of its legal nature. In the event that the oath is duly fulfilled by the party concerned, the case subject to the dispute will be proved before the court in favour of the party taking the oath, and the untrue fulfilment of the oath will both deprive the other party to the civil lawsuit of the right to a fair trial and prevent the reliable execution of judicial activities. In order to eliminate these dangers, the legislator felt the need to regulate perjury as an offence under Article 275 of the TPC. In order to address the offence of perjury, first of all, some basic concepts that are important within the scope of this offence should be put forward. In this respect, the offence of perjury is analysed by taking into consideration the provisions of Articles 225 et seq. of the CCP on oath and the regulations in comparative law. In this context, it is aimed to examine the crime of perjury in terms of the elements of the crime and the legal value protected by the crime in terms of the law that is (de lege lata) and the law that should be (de lege feranda). The TPC does not include the negligent form of the offence of perjury. However, the benefit to be obtained by the perpetrator as a result of committing this offence in a civil case and the difficulty experienced in proving the offence of perjury during the criminal proceedings may make the perpetrator risk committing the offence or enable him to commit this offence easily.