Türkiye Barolar Birliği Dergisi 152.Sayı

Abstract: Persons and groups with different sexual orienta- tion around the world demand legal protection against prejudices, reactions and negative behaviors caused by various reasons in the society, not only asking them to respect these preferences and to remove various restrictions and obstacles in this field. As a result, many countries around the world are expanding some of the rights and removing restrictions in this respect. In Turkey, it is frequently expressed for a while that the demands and the preferences on sexual orientation should be considered rights based on prohibition of discrimination and that some arrangements should be made ac- cording to the developments in the world. Although there are different applications on the place and scope of sexual orientations in legal order, it is observed that the widespread legal practice on this issue prefers a libertarian ap- proach. There is no hesitation that some of these requests relate to the criminal law area, which is a part of the legal order. In this context, criticisms are frequently raised in the public opinion that article 122 of the Turkish Penal Code, which regulates hate and dis- crimination, does not protect different sexual orientations. The amendment of this legal provision in 2014 has increased the debate in this direction. This study aims to examine the function of protecting differ- ent sexual orientations of the regulation regarding discrimination crime in the context of criminal law and to make a legal contribution to the solution of the problems related to this issue. In this study, firstly, the concept of non-discrimination principle and its applica- tion in Turkish law will be explained. After that, Article 122 of the Turkish Penal Code, in which violating this prohibition is regulated as a crime, will be examined. Afterwards, some suggestions will be made by analyzing the legal situation after the changes made in 2014 and whether the regulation is sufficient. Keywords: Sexual Orientation, Discrimination, Prohibition of Discrimination, Hate Crime, Discrimination Crime, Criminal Law 1. Giriş Günümüzde insan hakları, insanın en üstün değer kabul edilme- sinden kaynaklanan ve bütün insanların eşitlik ilkesi çerçevesinde sahip olması gereken hakları içeren bir kavram olarak karşımıza çık- maktadır. 1 Bu bağlamda, temel insan haklarını tanımak ve korunması- nı sağlamak demokratik rejimlerin temeli olan hukuk devleti ilkesinin 1 Münci Kapani, Kamu Hürriyetleri, 7. baskı, Yetkin Yayınları, Ankara, 2013, s.14.; Yavuz Sabuncu, Anayasaya Giriş, 16. baskı, İmaj Yayınları, Ankara, 2014, s.42 vd.; Mümtaz Soysal, Anayasaya Giriş, 1. baskı, Ankara Üniversitesi Siyasal Bilimler Fakültesi Yayınları, Ankara, 1968, s.181.; Bülent Tanör, Türkiye’nin İnsan Hakları Sorunu, 3. baskı, İstanbul, 1994, s.14.