Demand for private investigators surge across Türkiye
ISTANBUL
Despite lack of legal regulation in Türkiye, demand for "private investigator" services have been increasing day by day.
Private investigators, who work under legal regulations in many countries, do not have a legal regulation that outlines the framework of the profession in Türkiye. However, neither is their service considered a crime.
As there is no regulation preventing the presentation of evidence in favor of or against the defendant and complainant acquired though private investigation, many people now opt for private investigators for evidence collection in legal cases. Limits to this practice in scope of jurisprudence are violation of private life and illegal evidence collection.
For example, surveillance camera footage collected in an investigation into an incident, external examination for evidence detection, taking photographs of the crime scene can be used in court.
However, stalking and photographing for the purpose of entrapment, or documenting message-call records on a personal device without consent constitutes a crime.
Women are the leading demographic seeking the service. "Is my husband or lover cheating on me?" is the primary issue that women want investigated, often for divorce cases. In such cases, family courts do not accept photographs taken in secret or obtained through surveillance as evidence.
In the meantime, there are two separate decisions of the Court of Cassation regarding private investigators.
The 13th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation, in its Decision No. 2016/5174 and 2018/12127, justified the enforcement proceedings initiated by private investigators who could not receive the fees for their services.
The 4th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation, on the other hand, in its Decision No. 2014/9209 and 2014/16818, considered photographs taken by a private investigator submitted to the file as evidence by the plaintiff, who filed a lawsuit for moral damages against the person with whom his wife had a relationship.
