Abstract:

The Constitutional Court rendered that the provisions of article 65/a and b of Law no. 2863 (Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection Act) were unconstitutional and thus should be annulled, and that the decision of annulment would come into force one year from the date of publication of the decision in the Official Gazette (on 13.10.2013). The constitutional provision of “Annulment decisions cannot be applied retroactively” contradicts one of the fundamental principles of law “No one shall be punished for any act which does not constitute a criminal offence under the law in force at the time committed” when it comes to the annulment of a criminal law provision. When an annulment decision concerning a criminal provision in favor of the offender is at stake, there is no doubt that in addition to the ‘legal certainty’ – which is aimed at with the principle of ‘non-retroactivity of annulment decisions’ – principle of ‘legality of offenses and penalties’ is important to achieve the respect for the rule of law and fundamental rights and freedoms. When criminal law regime is taken as a system of values, it is indisputable that the principle of legality is an indispensable element of this system. Qualifying the principle of legality – the origins of which date back to Magna Carta Libertatum of 1215 – as the corner stone of assurance function of criminal law and ensuring compliance with this principle are among main functions of the rule of law. In this respect, when there is a possibility of implementing criminal law sanctions, application of the ‘principle of legality’ should be preferred over ‘legal certainty’ by observing justice and equity, and the annulment decision in favor of the offender should be applied immediately

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