The new draft law of punitive proceedings being studied by the Experts Commission of the Council of Ministers contains significant amendments of articles currently being applied. The new amendments state that the Commission for Investigation and Prosecution (CIP) has no right to file a punitive lawsuit or conduct investigation on private cases without the permission or the request of the plaintiff unless the CIP deems the case to be in the public interest. Article 112 in the new draft states that on the basis of the recommendation of the Chairman of the CIP, the Minster of Interior determines which major crimes or felonies necessitate detention. It also requires that all felonies be defined by the Minister of Interior and published in the official gazette to enable the public to know about them. Article 113 states that suspects or accused individuals could be detained for five days if investigators determine that detention is in the interest of the investigation. However, in such a case there must be enough evidence against the accused. Article 114 states that detention should not exceed five days unless the investigator wants more time to investigate. Before the expiry of the period of detention, the investigator should submit the papers of the accused to the head of the CIP in the region or to whoever represents him either to order his release or extend the detention for successive periods which in total should not exceed 40 days. The same article states that in cases that necessitate longer periods of detention, the matter should be brought to the attention of the Chairman of the CIP who must issue an order for the extension. However, in such a case each period should not exceed 30 days while all the extended periods should not be more than 180 days from the date the detention took place. Upon completion of this period, the detainee should be referred to the court of law or released. After the expiry of the 180 days defined in the law, the prosecutor should seek the permission of a court if he wants to extend the detention beyond this period. This, however, should only be done in exceptional cases. Article 115 states that the original detention order should be submitted to the director of the detention to sign. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior suggests that the detainee be given a chance to petition for a change in the decision that ordered the continuation of his detention.
