IN LIGHT OF THE DECISIONS OF THE COURT OF CASSATION
IN LIGHT OF COURT OF CASSATION DECISIONS
WORDS NOT CONSIDERED INSULT
This week, I will try to discuss with you, my esteemed readers, the words that are not considered insults, which are among the most curious topics in criminal law and frequently appear in precedent-setting decisions.
Within the scope of the Turkish Penal Code, the crime of insult is regulated in detail in Article 125. Accordingly, for the crime of insult to be established, it is necessary to attack a person's honor, dignity, and prestige by attributing a concrete act or fact that could offend their honor, dignity, and reputation, or by swearing at them. When the reasoned text of Article 125 of the Turkish Penal Code is examined, it is emphasized that the legal value protected by punishing the act of insult is a person's honor, dignity, and chastity, their reputation within society, and their prestige in the eyes of other individuals. The Court of Cassation demonstrates, through the precedent-setting decisions it has rendered, how these regulations should be applied to events experienced in daily life, what kind of words constitute the crime of insult, and what kind of words do not. Accordingly, the expressions listed below do not constitute the crime of insult:
Words and phrases that are in the nature of a curse
Words and phrases that are in the nature of criticism or harsh criticism
Rude forms of address and discourteous words and phrases
Purely annoying words and phrases
In law, each concrete case is evaluated within its own circumstances and conditions. Each event is also evaluated within itself. For this reason, a matter that the Court of Cassation does not accept as a crime of insult may be accepted as an insult when evaluated together within the context of another case. Therefore, the parties must be careful about statements that vary according to each individual case.