How Did a Safeguard for Disadvantaged Groups Turn Into the Weapon of Oppression?: Normative Distortion of the article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code

Year 2019, Volume: 7, 1 - 25, 14.01.2020

Kasım Akbaş , İlker Gökhan Şen

Abstract

This study
deals with the fallacious use of the Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code.
This norm, which was created to protect vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in
a society, has turned into a legal tool to oppress those who should be under
protection. An examination to the causes of this situation calls for a holistic
reflection on diverse subjects such as; the universalist-cultural relativist
controversy on human rights, concepts of indeterminacy of norms and hate speech
in international and domestic law. The status of freedom of speech in terms of
the said article will be tackled at the end of this study, which will lead to a
relatively new concept: the normative distortion.

Keywords

Turkish penal code, normative distortion, freedom of speech, hate speech

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