Misuse of public duty (TCC art. 257)

By Article 257 of the Turkish Criminal Code, excluding any situation defined elsewhere as a separate offence in law, “by acting contrary to the requirements of his office” (TCC art. 257/1) and “by failing to discharge his duty, by omission or delay” (TCC art. 257/2) any public officer who causes any loss to an individual or public damages or secures unjust benefit for another is punished. The legal nature of “cause any loss to an individual or public damages or secure unjust benefit for another” are controversial issues. In the reason of the article 257, it has been stated that these issues are foreseen as the objective condition of punishment for this crime to occur. In the doctrine, the difficulty in determining types of crime involving the objective condition of punishment and uncertainty about the legal nature of the institution has led to different approaches to subjects such as the formation of the offense of misuse of public duty and the scope of the intent. In this article, the crime of misuse of public duty is analyzed taking into account to the judgements of the Supreme Court of Appeals