1. Recording Drug Offenses in the Criminal Record
Decisions by the Court of Cassation explicitly confirm that convictions for drug trafficking and possession of drugs for personal use are recorded in the judicial record (criminal record).
Drug Trafficking:
Prison sentences and judicial fines given for this offense are recorded in the criminal record (Court of Cassation 10th CD-2019/5755, 2nd CD-2020/25874). Finalized drug trafficking convictions of Turkish citizens received from foreign courts are also recorded in the criminal record upon the request of the public prosecutor (Court of Cassation 10th CD-2016/3266K).
Possession of Drugs for Personal Use:
Convictions and prison sentences issued under Article 191 of the TCK (Turkish Penal Code) are also included in the criminal record (Court of Cassation 4th CD-2024/7269K, 6th CD-2021/12958K).
2. Deletion and Archiving of Criminal Records
In accordance with Article 9 of the Judicial Record Law No. 5352, if the execution of a sentence or security measure imposed for drug offenses is completed, these records are deleted from the judicial register and transferred to the archive record (Supreme Court 10th Criminal Chamber-2019/852, 20th Criminal Chamber-2018/5956). With the completion of the execution, the record is removed from the active register but continues to be kept in the archive.
3. Conditions and Periods for Deletion of Archive Records
The complete deletion of archive records related to drug offenses is subject to different periods depending on the nature of the crime and whether it resulted in a deprivation of rights:
Convictions Causing Deprivation of Rights: The crime of drug trafficking is considered a “conviction causing deprivation of rights” because it leads to consequences such as disqualification from public service or deprivation of certain rights within the scope of Article 76 of the Constitution and special laws (e.g., Law No. 3298) (Supreme Court 10th Criminal Chamber-2020/17819, 2019/4033). For the deletion of records within this scope:
Provided that a decision for the restoration of prohibited rights (restitution of forbidden rights) is obtained, 15 years must have passed from the date when the conditions for the record to be archived were met,
Without requiring a decision for the restoration of prohibited rights, 30 years must have passed (Supreme Court 10th Criminal Chamber-2019/852, 9th Criminal Chamber-2013/17188).
Other Convictions: If the conviction does not result in a disqualification, it can be erased 5 years after the date on which the conditions for archiving are met, in accordance with Article 12/1-c of Law No. 5352. The Council of State has stated that the crime of using narcotic substances may be considered within this scope in some cases and should be erased after 5 years (Council of State 10th Chamber-2015/4996).
Special Cases: Regarding drug offenses listed under Law No. 3298, some decisions state that it is not possible to erase the archive record (Supreme Court 10th CD-2014/1380, 9th CD-2016/78). Furthermore, for deferred sentences given during the period of the repealed Turkish Penal Code No. 765, it has been stated that if no crime is committed at the end of the probation period, the conviction will be considered “as if it never occurred” and can be erased (Supreme Court 10th CD-2006/597, General Criminal Assembly-2015/159K).
4. Competent Authority for Erasure Process
In accordance with the amendment made by Law No. 6290, as of 11.04.2012, the process of erasing criminal records and archive records is exclusively carried out by the General Directorate of Criminal Records and Statistics of the Ministry of Justice. It is considered contrary to the law for courts to directly order erasure after this date (Supreme Court 10th CD-2022/8905, 2021/13941, 20th CD-2019/260).
5. Secondary Source Evaluation
Although the decisions presented as secondary sources do not directly focus on drug offenses, they provide the following additional contexts regarding the general criminal record regime:
It is emphasized that the deletion periods from the archive for “disgraceful” crimes or crimes restricting rights (theft, forgery, etc.), as stipulated in Article 76 of the Constitution and Article 48 of Law No. 657, should be applied as 15 and 30 years (Supreme Court 6th Criminal Division-2011/16286, 11th Criminal Division-2023/5142).
The fact that a prison sentence has been deferred may not prevent the emergence of disqualifications, such as holding public office; this situation is a factor affecting the duration of the record’s retention in the archive (Constitutional Court-2019/16656).
It has been noted that even if the archive record is deleted, administrative investigations can be carried out within the framework of some special legislations (e.g., the regulations of the Presidency of Religious Affairs) regarding whether the person has lost the “common qualification” requirement (Council of State 12th Chamber-2021/297). A paper suggestion.
