Criminal Law
Criminal law usually enters a company's agenda at an unexpected moment: notice of an investigation, a complaint, an internal report. Our work in this area covers defence at the investigation and prosecution stages in white-collar files arising from commercial activity, financial reporting, information security and personal data and, where an allegation surfaces inside the company, the lawful conduct of an internal investigation.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can the company itself be criminally sanctioned, or only its executives?
Under Turkish law legal entities are not subject to criminal penalties such as imprisonment; criminal liability rests with the individuals who commit or participate in the offence. The company can nonetheless face security measures such as revocation of its operating licence and confiscation where it has benefited from an offence, and substantial administrative fines for certain offences. Executives can be held personally liable for their decisions and instructions.
We have been summoned by the prosecutor to give a statement. What should we do?
Attending with a lawyer is a right, and at this stage it is the one that makes the most difference. First, find out in what capacity you are being called (as a suspect or a witness) and what the file concerns; a person heard as a suspect has the right to remain silent. A statement given unprepared can set a framework that is very difficult to correct later.
We suspect misconduct within the company. How should we start an internal investigation?
The first step is preserving evidence: measures to prevent relevant e-mails, files and records from being deleted or altered should be taken immediately. Then the scope of the investigation, who will conduct it and to whom the findings will be reported should be decided. Especially where executives are involved, an independent investigation matters both for the credibility of the findings and for the company's position in any later criminal proceedings.
Can we review employees' company e-mail and computers?
Reviewing company-owned accounts and devices is possible, but not without limits. Employees must have been clearly informed in advance that such reviews may take place, the review must pursue a legitimate aim, and it must remain proportionate to that aim. Findings obtained without meeting these conditions create a separate data protection risk and may not be usable as evidence in court.
Can an incident involving personal data or IT systems turn into a criminal case?
Yes. Unlawful recording or disclosure of personal data, failure to destroy it, unauthorised access to IT systems and corruption of data are all offences under the Turkish Criminal Code. The administrative fine process under the data protection law and a criminal investigation can run independently of each other. Every statement and notification made after a data breach should therefore be prepared with a possible criminal file in mind.
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