CRIME OF KILLING BY MISTAKE IN ISLAMIC AND OTTOMAN CRIMINAL LAW

ABSTRACT Homicide is one of the oldest and most severe crime in the human history. This crime can be committed both with malice aforethought or wrongfully. These crimes, which is named mainly "manslaughter" in modern criminal law, war regulated under the title of "killing by mistake" in Islamic and Ottoman criminal law. In Islamic criminal law, crimes are generally divided into three part: crimes required Hudud punishments, crimes required Quesas (retaliation) and diyya (blood money) and crimes required Ta'zir punishments. The basis, principles, committing types and sanctions of the crime of killing by mistake, which one of the Quesas (retaliation) and diyya (blood money) crime, have been handled and discussed seriously by Islamic jurists. The separation aspects of the crime of killing by mistake from the intentionally killing and determination of the sanctions of the crime of killing by mistake are the basis of these discussions. The regulations of the Ottoman criminal codes were largely in line with the classical Islamic criminal law. But also there are some points where the Ottoman criminal law diverges from this tradition. Approaches of the other civilizations to the crime of killing by mistake, despite to the time, place and cultural differences, is very similar to the Islamic criminal law