Article 140: Monitoring by technical means

(1) Where there are strong grounds for suspicion, based on concrete evidence, that the following offences have been committed and evidence cannot be obtained by other means, the activities of the suspect or accused in places open to the public and his or her workplace may be monitored by technical means, and audio or video recordings may be made:

a) Under the Turkish Penal Code;

1. Migrant smuggling and human trafficking (Articles 79, 80) and trafficking in organs or tissues (Article 91),

2. Intentional killing (Articles 81, 82, 83),

3. Added: 21/2/2014, Law No. 6526, Art. 14 Qualified theft (Article 142), robbery (Articles 148, 149) and qualified fraud (Article 158),

4. Manufacture of and trade in narcotic or stimulant substances (Article 188),

5. Counterfeiting money (Article 197),

6. Repealed: 21/2/2014, Law No. 6526, Art. 14; Re-enacted: 24/11/2016, Law No. 6763, Art. 28 Establishing an organisation for the purpose of committing offences (Article 220, paragraph 3),

7. Added: 25/5/2005, Law No. 5353, Art. 19 Prostitution (Article 227)

8. Bid rigging (Article 235),

9. Added: 24/11/2016, Law No. 6763, Art. 28 Usury (Article 241),

10. Bribery (Article 252),

11. Laundering of assets derived from offences (Article 282),

12. Amended: 2/12/2014, Law No. 6572, Art. 43 Disrupting the unity of the State and the territorial integrity of the country (Article 302),

13. Added: 2/12/2014, Law No. 6572, Art. 43 Offences against the Constitutional Order and the Functioning of this Order (Articles 309, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316),

14. Offences against State Secrets and Espionage (Articles 328, 329, 330, 331, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337),

being offences under that Code.

b) Offences of arms smuggling (Article 12) defined in the Law on Firearms, Knives and Other Instruments.

c) Offences defined in the Anti-Smuggling Law that are punishable by imprisonment.

d) Offences defined in Articles 68 and 74 of the Law on the Protection of Cultural and Natural Property.

(2) Amended: 24/11/2016, Law No. 6763, Art. 28 Monitoring by technical means shall be decided by a judge or, in cases where delay would be prejudicial, by the public prosecutor. Decisions given by the public prosecutor shall be submitted for the approval of the judge within twenty-four hours. The judge shall give his or her decision within twenty-four hours at the latest. Upon expiry of the time limit or where the judge decides otherwise, the recordings shall be destroyed immediately.

(3) Amended: 21/2/2014, Law No. 6526, Art. 14 A decision for monitoring by technical means may be given for a period of at most three weeks. This period may, where necessary, be extended by one more week. However, where deemed necessary in relation to offences committed within the framework of the activities of an organisation, the judge may, in addition to the above periods, decide on extensions not exceeding one week each time and not exceeding four weeks in total. Sentence added: 15/8/2017, Decree-Law No. 694, Art. 143; adopted without amendment: 1/2/2018, Law No. 7078, Art. 138 Where an undercover investigator is assigned together with the measure of monitoring by technical means, the periods specified in this paragraph shall be applied doubled.

(4) The evidence obtained may not be used outside the investigation and prosecution relating to the offences listed above; where it is not necessary for the purposes of the criminal prosecution, it shall be destroyed immediately under the supervision of the public prosecutor.

(5) The provisions of this Article may not be applied in the dwelling of a person.