The Value Of Fingerprint as Evidence In Rubbery And Murder Crimes

Abstract

Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. This issue has been expressed in Mecelle (Ottoman Code of Civil Law) as "Beraet- i zimmet asildir" (Everyone is innocent until proven guilty) with its coinage as a general rule. The means of evidence of crime have been determined in all legal systems. However, there have been a lot of changes and developments in law of evidence during the historical process as in many areas. In this process, some of the means of evidence have maintained their value, while others have lost or increased value according to circumstances and time. Thus; some methods that have not been regarded as evidence in the past or are considered weak can go beyond the classical means of evidence by the contribution of technology. Indeed, today's scientific work has shown that fingerprints are not of poor quality in terms of evidence, which reduces the penalties of retaliation and may even be stronger in some circumstances than witnesses and concession. In this study, fingerprints assessed with a different view from the 19th century onwards have been handled in this context and it has been concluded that the judge will be able to use the judicial discretion and decide for penalty of retaliation for the purpose of ensuring the public security because it may be a subject of opinion in theft and homicide.