11th Judicial Package in Parliament: Covid leave expands, penalties increase

WISE NEWS PRESS / ANKARA, TURKIYE — NOVEMBER 27, 2025

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) has submitted the 11th Judicial Package, which has been awaited by the public for a long time and covers a wide range of issues from execution regulations to traffic crimes, to the Speaker's Office of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM).

The "Proposal for Law on Amending the Turkish Penal Code and Certain Laws," consisting of a total of 38 articles, opens the way for the release of approximately 55,000 people in the first stage by expanding the Covid-19 leave practice, while increasing penalties for "maganda" (stray) bullets and traffic crimes. Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç emphasized that the regulation is not a "general amnesty" but aims to eliminate inequality in execution.

Covid regulation and releases

The most striking article of the package was the expansion of the scope of the practice known to the public as "Covid leave." With the regulation, those whose sentences were finalized or not yet finalized for crimes committed on or before July 31, 2023, will be able to transfer to open penal execution institutions 3 years earlier and benefit from probation, just like during the pandemic period.

AKP Group Chairman Abdullah Güler stated that with the enactment of the regulation, 50-55 thousand people are expected to be released from prisons in the first stage, and this number could reach 80-90 thousand within a year. Minister Tunç stated, "There is no amnesty here, it is aimed to eliminate the inequality regarding the right to probation."

Scalpel to traffic crimes and "maganda" penalties

The proposal raises the lower and upper limits of penalties for some crimes that threaten public safety. The prominent changes are as follows:

• Negligent Injury: The penalty for the simple form is increased from 4 months to 2 years, instead of 3 months to 1 year imprisonment. If more than one person is injured, the penalty can go up to 5 years.

• Stray Bullets (Maganda): In the crime of intentional injury, if committed with a firearm, the lower limit of the prison sentence is raised from 6 months to 1 year, and the upper limit from 3 years to 5 years. If committed in crowded areas such as weddings or engagements, the penalty will be increased by half.

• Organized Crime: The upper limit of the penalty for establishing and managing an organization for the purpose of committing a crime is increased to 10 years, and the upper limit for being a member is increased to 5 years.

Combating internet and fraud crimes

The judicial package also introduces new measures in the digital field and fraud crimes. Foreign-sourced social network providers with more than 10 million daily accesses will face a penalty of up to 90 percent bandwidth throttling if they do not comply with content removal decisions.

In addition, banks will be able to suspend suspicious accounts for up to 48 hours in cases of "reasonable suspicion" in qualified fraud, theft, and credit card crimes. Qualified fraud cases will be transferred from heavy penal courts to criminal courts of first instance.

Other regulations

Within the scope of the package, it is envisaged to waive the collection of unpaid General Health Insurance (GSS) premium debts belonging to pre-2016. With the amendment made in the Attorneyship Law, disciplinary penalties are redefined in accordance with the decisions of the Constitutional Court.

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