The Employement of a Secret Invstigator in Turkish Law
One of the protection measures regulated by the Turkish Criminal Procedure Code is the measure of assigning a secret investigator. This measure is a special and confidential protection measure that can only be applied for the crimes listed in the criminal code.
There are two conditions required to apply for this measure; there are two conditions required to apply for this measure; the presence of a strong suspicion based on concrete evidence that the crime was committed and the lack of opportunity to obtain further evidence.
The appointment of a secret investigator is carried out during the investigation phase. The decision of employment is being made by the judge at the public prosecutor’s request.
People who can be appointed as secret investigators are limited. Only public officers can be secret investigators.
Secret investigators are being employed to track the actions of organizations. The investigator must carry out all kinds of research on the activities of this organization and collect evidence about the crimes committed within the framework of the organization’s activities. The investigator can listen to the phone calls within the scope of his/her duty, monitor with technical means, infiltrate into the organization when necessary, monitor and observe the members of the organization, collect and preserve the evidence and signs of the crimes committed by the organization. More than one intertwined measures are included in the measure of assigning secret investigators as can be seen.
A new identity is given to the secret investigator and the investigator is assigned for a long time. These two issues are the most important aspects that distinguishes the measure of assigning secret investigators from other investigative measures.
Secret investigators are different from cops who execute undercover investigation because these police officers do not have fabricated identities and they are not constantly acting as undercover investigators. The reason why it is stated that public officials other than the police can be appointed as secret investigators in terms of being employed as secret investigators is to ensure tax or customs officers to also be appointed as undercover officers.
The evidence obtained during the mission is considered unlawful if the secret investigator is being used when there is no suspicion of crime yet since there is an “entrapment ban” in Turkish law.
The secret investigators may approach provocation but the aim must be securing evidences.
The secret investigator is an agent or a spy to put that in a colloquial language. The use of agents in Turkish law has been accepted for a long time in Turkish doctrine and in Turkish judicial decisions.
The secret investigators cannot commit any crime when performing their duties. The investigators are not also responsible for the crimes committed by the organizations there are monitoring.
Antalya Criminal Lawyer and Antalya Criminal Attorney Baris Erkan Celebi and his Antalya Law Firm offer legal representation and consultation to the victims of crimes under Turkish Criminal Law.
