A complaint is a request by the victim of a crime to the competent authorities to investigate and prosecute the crime they have suffered. Reconciliation is the resolution of a criminal case through a mediator, with the participation of the perpetrator, the victim, and the complainant. A compensation lawsuit, on the other hand, is the request by a person to seek compensation from the civil courts for the material and moral damages suffered due to an unlawful act, to be recovered from the perpetrator of the unlawful act. While complaints and reconciliation fall under criminal law, compensation lawsuits fall under private law. In this article, we will examine the relationship between these three concepts; and the impact of reconciliation and complaints on compensation lawsuits.
Regarding Complaints:
Firstly, the primary purpose of a complaint is to ensure that the offender is punished under criminal law. Compensation for the material and moral damages suffered by the victim is the subject of civil lawsuits. Therefore, there is no prerequisite for filing a complaint with the prosecutor's office to initiate a compensation lawsuit in civil courts regarding an unlawful act constituting a crime.
The second point to address is whether a person who has filed a complaint but later withdrawn it can file a compensation claim in civil courts. There is a difference in this regard between the repealed Turkish Penal Code No. 765 and the current Turkish Penal Code No. 5237. According to Article 111 of the repealed TCK, if a person harmed by a crime caused the dismissal of the public prosecution by withdrawing their complaint, they had to declare that they also reserved their personal rights. However, Article 73/7 of the current TCK No. 5237 revises this matter. According to this article, if a person harmed by a crime causes the dismissal of the criminal case by withdrawing their complaint, and explicitly declares that they also relinquish their personal rights at the time of withdrawal, they cannot file a lawsuit in civil courts regarding the act in question. As can be inferred from the opposite meaning of this article, unless the person harmed by the crime explicitly declares that they relinquish their personal rights when withdrawing their complaint, it is possible for them to file a claim for material and moral damages in civil courts. "For a party's withdrawal of a claim outside of a civil lawsuit to have legal effect, they must have withdrawn their complaint before a judge after a public prosecution has been initiated, and also declared that they were waiving their personal rights. (4th Civil Chamber, 06.03.2006, E.2005/3344 – K.2006/2188)" As seen in the aforementioned Supreme Court decision, court precedents also support this situation.
In terms of reaching a compromise:
If a settlement is reached, unlike the institution of withdrawing a complaint, its effect on material and moral compensation will be negative. As clearly stated in Article 253, paragraph 19 of the Criminal Procedure Code No. 5271, which regulates the concept of settlement, if a settlement is reached between the suspect and the victim of the crime, a compensation lawsuit can no longer be filed. Furthermore, according to the same provision, any compensation lawsuit filed in civil courts before the settlement will be considered waived upon reaching a settlement, and the pending compensation lawsuit will be dismissed.