The infectious disease called Covid-19, which emerged in China in 2020, spread rapidly and affected several people across the world. Although the molecular mechanisms beneath the corona virus’s exact human-to-human transmission pathway remains unresolved, the transmission principle of respiratory diseases in general is similar. Respiratory diseases are spread by droplet scattering. In this type of spreading, when a sick person coughs or sneezes, the people around him get exposed to the microbe. The current pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization, who reported that the speed, severity of the corona virus, and the failure of the authorities to take the necessary measures have raised alarms. Pandemic is the term conferred to an infectious disease that has threatened a large number of people simultaneously across the world.

Organisms that cause infectious disease can be viruses, bacteria, or fungi. These diseases are defined as infectious diseases owing to their ability to pass from one individual to another or from one species to another. With the fast pace at which people are currently moving at the global level, infectious diseases are spreading at unprecedented rates. Health systems are facing difficulties in responding to this situation. Therefore, it is necessary to identify infectious diseases quickly and to establish appropriate communication among countries to prevent its further spread. The development of effective communication and cooperation is also possible thanks to the international common will in such situations.

Protection of the public health is among the important issues for all societies. Since the protection of public health by combating infectious diseases is among the obligations of the public administration, states have brought some legal regulations toward protecting the health of individuals who contribute to keeping the society safe from attacks or dangers. A number of measures have been taken to prevent this disease from emerging in new regions or from spreading further. The administrative authorities possess the power to enforce sanctions in order to make it obligatory for individuals to comply with the measures instructed, and the violation of these measures is also sanctioned in the penal laws. In order to ensure that these measures are effective in preventing the spread of infectious disease, the act of violating these measures has been regulated as a crime of violating the measures related to infectious diseases as per the Article 195 of the Turkish Penal Code No. 5237. Any person who fails to comply with quarantine measures, imposed by the authorities on account of there being a person infected with a contagious disease or having died from such, shall be sentenced to a penalty of imprisonment for a term of two months to one year. The legislator can decide to quarantine the place where the person who was infected or died due to illness as a step to combat this infectious disease with the aim to prevent the actions of people who endanger the public health by violating the measures taken under the quarantine period.

Although it is a crime to act against the measures instructed by the competent authorities in order to prevent the spread of the disease, there are some structural deficiencies in the related crime type. This unclear situation damages the purpose of protecting the public health via prevention of the spread of the disease. In addition, deficiencies and contradictions in the relevant crime type may lead to unlawful punishments. For this reason, this article intends to contribute to the fight against the disease by the competent authorities by suggesting the relevant crime type, through revealing the missing and contradictory points in order for the crime type in the Article 195 to become effective.

The legal value protected by the crime of violating the measures related to infectious diseases is the protection of public health and public order. In addition, those who increase the outbreak intensity by not following the precautions also harm the freedom of the individual, as the people in the community restrict freedom of movement. The offender of the crime can be anyone, since a special feature is not required for the offender in the crime of violating the measures related to infectious diseases. Since the crime is not committed against certain people, there is a possibility that everyone living in that community will be harmed due to the violations of the measures, threatening the health of the public. For this reason, the victims of the crime are considered as the people who make up the society and who want to be protected by the measures instructed.

In the crime of violating the measures related to infectious diseases, there are some prerequisites that are included in the material element of the crime. For instance, the disease should primarily be an existing infectious disease. In addition, there must be someone who has contagious disease or had died due to the existing disease in that location. In case the virus has not been transmitted to anyone yet, quarantine measures could be taken to prevent the disease from emerging or spreading to anyone in the country. In case of violation of these measures, no responsibility can be imposed under the Article 195. For this reason, the condition of transmission of the disease should be removed from the law. Moreover, quarantine measures must be practiced by the competent authorities to prevent the spread of the infectious disease at a location where someone has been reported positive for the disease or had died from it. As stated in the law, the condition that the act constitutes a crime is not to comply with the measures taken for the quarantine of the place where a person who has a contagious disease or dies is located. From this perspective, since the scope is rather narrowly regulated, the law cannot meet the legal needs arising from the current epidemic. When it comes to covering the cases related to the virus across the country, measures should be applied throughout the country. In this case, the location of the person who has the disease should be interpreted relative to the entire country. Within the scope of the above explanations, the criminal as per the Article 195 should be reorganized as a person who violates the measures instructed by the competent authorities in order to prevent the emergence or spread of infectious diseases.

The crime of violating infectious disease measures is aimed at preventing the danger posed by the disease itself. Violation of these measures being supervised by the competent authorities directly endangers the public health. Therefore, violation of these measures indicate commitment of a crime. The violation is not sought to cause harm or danger. It is possible that the action contrary to the measures taken by the competent authorities may be active or passive. For instance, entering or exiting the quarantine zone is subject to the permission condition. Entering or exiting without permission is considered as an active action. Although people entering the country have to wait in certain places for a certain period of time (self-isolation), not going to specified places is considered as a passive action.