When did law no. 7593 enter into force?
Law no. 7593, which makes wide-ranging changes to the Child Protection Law, was passed by the Grand National Assembly on 8 August 2026 and published in the Official Gazette of 18 August 2026, issue 33344.
Although one subparagraph concerning the sale of knives takes effect on 1 December 2026, all the provisions bearing on child protection entered into force on the date of publication. The measures described below are therefore already available.
The amendment does more than create new measures: it also introduces a sanction directed at families. It accordingly has direct consequences for parents whose child enters the judicial process.
A change of terminology
Article 15 of the law replaced the expression "child pushed into crime" with "child in the judicial process". The change was made not only in the Child Protection Law but also in the Social Services Law and in article 253 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which governs conciliation.
Although this may look like a drafting change, it answers the criticism that describing a child as having been "pushed into crime" before the process concludes sits uneasily with the presumption of innocence.
In practice the change will be reflected in the wording used in indictments, records and decisions. It does not affect the merits of a file, but it is significant for the language used in a child's records.
Guidance measures: five new categories
Article 9 of the law added article 5/A to the Child Protection Law, creating a new category alongside the existing protective and supportive measures: guidance measures. These are understood as security measures specific to children, for children in the judicial process who bear no criminal responsibility.
Five categories are listed. The social and community services measure involves taking on duties contributing to the child's psychosocial development at sports clubs, youth centres and sports facilities, for between 20 and 300 hours. The books and library measure involves duties at libraries and reading rooms within the same range, or reading works identified by the institution. The respect for the environment measure involves environmental cleaning, planting and landscaping in a designated park, garden or shoreline area.
The fourth is the protection from digital risks measure. The telephone, computer, tablet or similar device used by the child is notified; its activity after the order is opened to monitoring by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority and the Cyber Security Directorate through tracking software for not less than 3 months and not more than 2 years, and access to certain platforms identified as risky may be blocked.
The fifth is the addiction measure, covering tobacco, nicotine, alcohol, gambling, narcotics and behavioural addictions, through treatment and rehabilitation programmes delivered by the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Family and Social Services and the Green Crescent. The procedures will be set out in a regulation issued by the Ministry of Family and Social Services.
Coercive detention for parents who breach a measure
The provision families most need to note is the paragraph added by article 14 of the law to article 45 of the Child Protection Law. A mother, father, guardian or person responsible for the care and supervision of the child who acts contrary to the requirements of a protective or supportive measure is subject, by order of the children's judge, to coercive detention of three to ten days.
Two features stand out. The sanction applies even where the act constitutes an offence, so separate criminal proceedings do not displace it. And the length is set by reference to the nature of the measure breached and the gravity of the breach, assessed together.
An objection may be brought under article 14 of the Child Protection Law. Orders of coercive detention are enforced by the public prosecutor's office once final, and are notified by the children's judge to the relevant institution.
The practical consequence is that a measure imposes obligations not only on the child but on the family. Clarifying at the outset what is expected of whom, when the order is served, is important in avoiding this sanction later.
Emergency protection orders in health institutions
The paragraphs added by article 10 of the law to article 9 of the Child Protection Law establish a procedure governed by strict time limits for children who come, or are brought, to health institutions.
Where a child is assessed as posing a serious danger to themselves or others by reason of mental illness, mental deficiency, alcohol or drug dependency, behavioural addiction or a seriously dangerous communicable disease, and a specialist doctor establishes a need for treatment, a report is drawn up within twenty-four hours.
The health institution applies to the children's judge within twenty-four hours at the latest of the report being drawn up. An official health board report prepared by three specialist doctors is submitted to the court within forty-eight hours of the application, and the judge decides within forty-eight hours.
Necessary medical intervention and treatment continue throughout. Having regard to the best interests of the child, the judge may also order that the child's whereabouts be kept confidential and may establish or restrict personal contact.
Social investigation and return of the indictment
Article 13 of the law amended article 35 of the Child Protection Law. A social investigation is now mandatory for children under fifteen. Where no social investigation is carried out in respect of a child who has reached fifteen, the reasons must be stated expressly in the indictment or in the decision.
That requirement is mirrored in procedure. Under subparagraph (e), added by article 4 of the law to article 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code, an indictment drawn up without a social investigation in respect of a child under fifteen is returned.
The social investigation report sets out the family, educational and environmental circumstances of the child, and is the principal document on which the judge relies in choosing a measure. An incomplete or superficial report may result in a measure that does not match the child's actual needs.
Deferral of judgment and making good the loss
Article 12 of the law added two paragraphs to article 23 of the Child Protection Law. Under the first, where deferral of the announcement of the judgment is ordered in respect of a child in the judicial process, one or more of the guidance measures in article 5/A are applied as probation measures.
The second paragraph removes an obstacle frequently encountered in practice: where the loss suffered by the victim or by the public is small, the condition that the loss be made good need not be required for deferral of the announcement of the judgment in respect of children in the judicial process.
This softens the position in which a child could not benefit from deferral because the family lacked the means to pay. The provision confers a discretion rather than imposing a duty; whether the loss is "small" is assessed by the court on the facts.
Practical consequences for families
There are three concrete consequences. First, a measure now imposes obligations directly on the family, and breach carries coercive detention.
Second, because a social investigation is mandatory for children under fifteen, the questions put to the family and the home visit conducted at that stage may directly affect the outcome of the file.
Third, as the protection from digital risks measure opens the child's devices to monitoring, exercising the right of objection within time is important in relation to both the scope and the duration of the order.
In files heard in Antalya and Kepez, the process runs through the children's courts and children's judges at the Antalya Courthouse. For more on our work in this field, see our family law page.
Resources
- Child Protection Law no. 5395, arts. 5/A, 9, 15, 23, 35 and 45 (as amended by law no. 7593) — mevzuat.gov.tr
- Law no. 7593 Amending the Child Protection Law and Certain Other Laws — Official Gazette of 18 August 2026, issue 33344
- Criminal Procedure Code no. 5271, art. 174 (return of the indictment)
You can access the current versions of legal texts via mevzuat.gov.tr.