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Postponement of Sentence Execution: Conditions, Periods and Application Procedure Postponement and Suspension of the Execution of Prison Sentence within the Scope of Law No. 5275, Article 16, Article 17 and Article 17/A. This guide has been updated as of 2026, based on the Law No. 5275 on the Execution of Sentences and Security Measures, the Turkish Penal Code and the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Appeals.
Postponement of execution is the temporary postponement of the execution of a finalized prison sentence to a later date. Postponement upon the request of the convict is possible for imprisonment sentences of three years for intentional crimes, five years or less for crimes committed by negligence, and is decided by the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office upon the request of the convict upon call. Postponement cannot exceed one year at a time; The total period cannot exceed two years for intentional crimes and three years for reckless crimes. Terrorist crimes, crimes committed within the framework of organizational activities, crimes against sexual immunity, those subject to the execution regime specific to repeat offenders, and those sentenced to disciplinary or repressive imprisonment cannot benefit from this opportunity. In cases of illness, pregnancy and severe disability, a separate postponement regime applies. Postponement is not an amnesty; When the time expires, the convict is obliged to surrender.
In criminal law, the word postponement refers to two separate institutions, and mixing them leads to applications to the wrong authority and loss of time.
The first is the postponement of the prison sentence regulated in Article 51 of the Turkish Penal Code. Here, the decision is made by the court during the trial and the sentence is, as a rule, never executed; The convict is subject to a period of supervision. The second is the postponement of execution regulated in Law No. 5275. This institution comes into play after the verdict is finalized and does not eliminate the punishment; it merely moves the start of the execution to a later date.
The second institution, namely the postponement of the execution of the final sentence, is discussed in the guide. Postponement upon request of the convict, illness and pregnancy, and suspension of execution by the court are examined separately.
criterion Postponement of Sentence (TCK Article 51) Postponement of Execution (5275 s.k. art. 16-17)
Stage During the trial, while the verdict is being established After the verdict is finalized, in the execution phase
decision maker The court that gave the verdict Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor, in certain cases, the court
Penalty limit 2 years or less imprisonment 3 years for intentional crimes, 5 years or less for reckless crimes
Conclusion The sentence is deemed to have been executed if the probation period is completed with good behavior. Execution is postponed to a later date; withdrawn at the end of the period
Audit period Cannot be less than 1 year, not more than 3 years Unforeseen; Guarantee requirement may be required
Execution of prison sentences of three years for intentional crimes and five years or less for crimes committed by negligence may be postponed by the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office upon the request of the convict upon summons. The phrase "on call" in the article is decisive: a convict who has an arrest warrant or who has not surrendered cannot benefit from this opportunity.
The law binds postponement to the existence of mandatory and very urgent situations and lists these situations with examples:
The convict can complete his higher education.
It becomes impossible to carry out the family's commercial activities or cultivate agricultural lands due to the death of mother, father, spouse or children, or the permanent illness or disability of these people.
The convict's illness requires constant treatment.
The count is not limiting; Other similar, mandatory and urgent situations may also be subject to evaluation. Acceptance of the request is at the discretion of the public prosecutor, and when using this discretion, the personal, social and economic conditions of the convict as well as the duration of the sentence are taken into account.
Postponement cannot exceed one year at a time. The total postponement period cannot exceed two years for crimes committed intentionally and three years for crimes committed recklessly. The public prosecutor may make the postponement conditional on providing assurance. When determining the security amount, the economic situation of the convict is taken into account; For the convict who does not have the ability to pay, a decision can be made without seeking assurance.
Who Cannot Benefit?
Those convicted of terrorist crimes and crimes committed within the framework of organizational activities.
Those convicted of crimes against sexual immunity.
Those who have been decided to apply the execution regime specific to repeat offenders.
Those sentenced to disciplinary or coercive imprisonment.
The request is made to the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, which carries out the execution procedures. The process works as follows:
After the verdict is finalized, the convict is notified of the summons and is asked to surrender.
The convict applies to the execution prosecutor's office upon call and notifies in writing his request for postponement and the reasons on which he bases it.
Documents proving the alleged reason are attached to the request. This includes student certificate, health board report, treatment plan, death certificate, records related to business or agricultural activities.
If the application is made to a place other than the prosecutor's office that issued the call sheet, the decision must be notified to the relevant enforcement prosecutor's office.
If the request is rejected, a complaint can be made to the enforcement judgeship; It is also possible to object to the decision of the execution judgeship.
Applications without documentation and based on abstract justifications will not yield results. Demonstrating the elements of necessity and urgency with concrete documents directly affects the likelihood of the request being accepted.
Postponement based on the convict's health condition is subject to a regime independent of postponement upon request. Here, no upper limit is required for the duration of the sentence and a different evaluation is made in terms of the crime groups excluded from the scope.
Mental illness: The execution of the sentence of the convict suffering from mental illness is postponed and the convict is taken under protection and treatment in the health institution specified in Article 57 of the Turkish Penal Code until he recovers. The time spent in a health institution is considered to have been spent in prison.
Other diseases: As a rule, execution continues in the sections reserved for prisoners in official health institutions. However, if the execution poses an absolute danger to the prisoner's life, the execution is postponed until he recovers.
Pregnancy and birth: The execution of the sentence of women who are pregnant or who have not passed one year and six months from the date of giving birth is postponed.
Serious illness or disability: The execution of the sentence of a convict who cannot sustain his life alone in prison conditions due to serious illness or disability and who is considered not to pose a serious and tangible danger to public security may be postponed for a certain period of time.
In these cases, the postponement decision is based on the report prepared by the Forensic Medicine Institute or by the health boards of full-fledged hospitals determined by the Ministry of Justice and approved by the Forensic Medicine Institute. The content of the report is the most technical stage of the process as it forms the basis of the decision.
Article 17/A, added by Law No. 7188 in 2019, is a narrow-scope regulation that is frequently misrepresented in practice. It is not a general method of procrastination.
The article can only be applied in terms of crimes committed together and in cases where the third paragraph of Article 280 and Article 306 of the Code of Criminal Procedure can be applied. These provisions regulate the possibility that the decision made as a result of the legal review may extend to other defendants who have not made an application. In cases where such a possibility exists, the court of first instance that rendered the verdict may be asked to decide on the postponement or suspension of execution.
The procedural features of the article are as follows: before the decision is made, the public prosecutor and the convict may be asked to express their opinions in writing; The decision is given without a hearing; Objection to the decision is open and acceptance of the request may be subject to assurance or other condition.
6. What Happens at the End of the Postponement Period?
Postponement of execution is not a state of amnesty or impunity. When the period expires, the convict is obliged to surrender to the execution prosecutor's office to serve the remaining sentence.
In case of non-surrender, an arrest warrant is issued immediately for the convict and this process is transmitted to law enforcement units electronically. If a guarantee is given, the guarantee will be recorded as income to the State Treasury due to non-delivery. The decision may also be revoked if the conditions underlying the postponement decision disappear; An appeal may be made to the execution judgeship against this decision.
The postponement period is not deducted from the penalty. Since the period spent in postponement is not considered to have been executed, the execution continues from where it left off, with the full penalty being served at the end of the period.
A notice of summons was notified to the person who was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison for negligent injury and whose sentence was finalized. The convict applied to the execution prosecutor's office, claiming that the management of the family business was left entirely to him due to his father's serious illness and that he was in his final year at university. Student certificate, health board report and business records are attached to the application.
Since the crime was committed recklessly, the five-year upper limit has not been exceeded and the option of postponement is open in terms of the type of punishment. Since the convict applied to the prosecutor's office upon summons, the basic condition required by the law was fulfilled. The reasons put forward can be evaluated within the scope of mandatory and urgent situations exemplified in the law; Having the request supported by documents increases the likelihood of acceptance. If postponement is accepted, the period cannot exceed one year at a time and since it is a negligent crime, the total period cannot exceed three years. The public prosecutor may require assurance to be provided. If the request is rejected, a complaint can be filed with the enforcement judge. In case of failure to surrender at the end of the period, an arrest warrant is issued and the security shown may be recorded as income to the Treasury.
Does postponing the execution eliminate the punishment?
No. A postponement merely moves the start of execution to a later date. At the end of the period, the convict is obliged to surrender and the time spent in postponement is not deducted from the sentence.
Can a person against whom there is an arrest warrant request a postponement? The law makes postponement dependent on the request of the convict who comes upon summons. A convict who has not surrendered or who has an arrest warrant cannot benefit from this opportunity. Therefore, responding to the call sheet is decisive.
What can be done if the postponement request is rejected? A complaint can be filed to the enforcement judgeship against the rejection decision of the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. It is also possible to object to the decision of the execution judgeship.
If the sentence is over three years, is no postponement possible? This path is closed when the penalty limit is exceeded in terms of postponement upon request of the convict. However, the postponement regime based on illness, pregnancy and severe disability is not dependent on the penalty period and is evaluated separately.
Is assurance required? It is not mandatory; It is at the discretion of the public prosecutor. In cases where the convict's economic situation is insufficient, a postponement decision may be made without seeking assurance.
Can the postponement period be extended? The postponement may be renewed for not more than one year at a time. The total period cannot exceed two years for crimes committed intentionally and three years for crimes committed recklessly.
Leaving the summons unanswered: An arrest warrant is issued for the convict who does not surrender, and the option of postponement upon request is effectively closed.
Confusion of two postponement institutions: The postponement in Article 51 of the Turkish Penal Code belongs to the trial phase; Applications made based on this article in the final judgment will remain inconclusive.
Application without documentation: If necessity and urgency are not demonstrated by concrete documents such as a health board report, student certificate or business records, the request is rejected.
Failure to surrender at the end of the period: In addition to issuing an arrest warrant, recording the security given as income to the Treasury comes to the fore.
Not using the complaint method against the rejection decision: When the opportunity to appeal to the enforcement judgeship is overlooked, a request that is essentially acceptable is considered final.
Postponement of execution is an institution that aims to make the consequences of a finalized prison sentence bearable in terms of the education, health and livelihood of the convict, but is subject to narrow conditions and short periods of time. Correctly determining which postponement regime will be applied, responding to the call sheet in a timely manner, supporting the elements of necessity and urgency with documents, duly obtaining medical reports, and using the complaint method against the rejection decision in a timely manner directly affects the result. Küheylan Law Firm provides legal support in the preparation of requests for postponement and suspension of execution, execution of medical report processes and complaint applications to the execution judgeship.
Important Legal Notice: The legal explanations and sample scenarios in this guide have been prepared by Küheylan Law Firm for general information purposes and do not constitute legal advice. Since the unique circumstances of each file may change the outcome, it is recommended to seek legal support from a lawyer from the first stage of the process. © 2026 Küheylan Law Firm. All rights reserved.
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