What is a Retrial?

In the cases specified in the Code of Criminal Procedure , a retrial is the process of conducting a new trial, either in favor of or against the convicted person, regarding a final judgment rendered by the court .

Retrial under the Code of Criminal Procedure

The reopening of a trial, also known as a retrial, is regulated in Article 311 of the Criminal Procedure Code. As a rule, a dispute that has been decided by a final judgment cannot be retried. Therefore, this demonstrates that the reopening of a trial is an extraordinary legal remedy. To initiate a retrial, an application for a reopening of the trial must be submitted to the court that rendered the final judgment.

Reopening of Trials in Civil Cases

In legal cases, the reopening of trials is an institution that ensures the truth is revealed by correcting errors and mistakes made during the trial that directly affect or have the potential to affect the verdict, thereby strengthening public trust in the judiciary and the legal security of individuals, and is a requirement of the rule of law principle.

The reopening of a trial is stipulated in Article 375 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Reasons for such reopening include: the trial not being conducted in accordance with the law; the judge being prohibited from hearing the case or having their recusal request accepted; the decision being rendered in the presence of persons who are not representatives or legal counsel; a document that could not be obtained by a person against whom a judgment was rendered due to reasons beyond their control being obtained after the judgment; a document that is the subject of a judgment being determined to be forged, or the forgery of the document being explicitly stated before the court or an official authority; a witness whose testimony is included in the judgment being definitively proven to have given false testimony after the judgment; an expert or translator making false statements about the subject of the case; and a party in whose favor the judgment was rendered being definitively proven to have perjured under oath.

Reasons for Reopening the Trial

(CMK) reopening a trial . A case that has reached a final judgment, other than the emergence of new evidence or events, can be reopened under certain conditions. These include: the use of forged documents in the trial, giving false testimony or expert opinion, the judge committing a crime while performing their duties, the annulment of another judgment on which the conviction was based, and the identification of a human rights violation in accordance with a European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decision. Grounds for reopening a trial in favor of the convicted person include: the use of forged documents, the defendant's confession, and the judge's negligence in favor of the convicted person.

Reopening of Trial under the Code of Civil Procedure

Articles 374 to 381 of the Code of Civil Procedure specify which matters fall within the scope of a request for retrial. The use of the phrase "case for retrial" in the law clearly indicates that a request for retrial can be brought as a lawsuit. Accordingly, a request for retrial is filed and examined as a lawsuit. A person requesting a retrial must write a petition containing this request. General provisions regarding the petition apply to the content of the case for retrial.