Continuing Offence

A continuing offence is the same offence committed more than once against a person at different times in execution of a single decision to commit it (Turkish Criminal Code Art. 43). The offender is not punished separately for each act; a single penalty is imposed and increased.

Conditions

• Same offence: The acts must constitute the same type of offence; the basic and aggravated forms count as the same offence.
• Single decision: The acts must be committed in execution of a single decision.
• Different times: The acts must occur at different times.
• Same victim: The offences must be committed against the same person. The rules also apply to offences without a specific victim.

The rules also apply where the same offence is committed against more than one person by a single act.

Penalty

A single penalty is imposed and increased by one quarter to three quarters. This usually results in a lower penalty than separate penalties for each act.

Excluded Offences

The continuing offence rules do not apply to intentional killing, intentional injury, torture and robbery.

In-house Misconduct

In-house misconduct often spans a long period:

• An employee embezzling collections over months (breach of trust),
• A manager using fake invoices on different dates,
• Repeated aggravated fraud.

In tax offences, issuing or using more than one fake document within the same calendar year is treated as a single offence; this is a special rule separate from the continuing offence rules.

In Practice

Continuing offence rules affect the penalty, when the complaint period starts and the calculation of limitation. Documenting the dates and amounts of each act separately in an internal investigation is therefore important.