From Imprisonment to Community Service: Individualized Sentencing in Animal Cruelty Cases

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the application of Article 337 of the National Criminal Code and to evaluate how individualized sentencing was reflected in the selection of community service for animal cruelty. The research used a normative legal method with statutory, case, and conceptual approaches. Primary legal materials consisted of the relevant legislation and the court decision, while secondary legal materials consisted of books, journal articles, institutional reports, and related research. The materials were examined through qualitative content analysis by comparing the proven facts, the prosecutor's sentencing request, the offender's circumstances, the court's reasoning, and the sanction imposed. The novelty of the study lay in examining one of the earliest applications of Article 337 after the National Criminal Code entered into force, with particular attention to the relationship between individualized sentencing and community service. The study found that the court imposed two months' imprisonment as the basis for conversion into 20 hours of community service consisting of educational sessions on the prevention of animal cruelty. The sanction reflected corrective, educational, rehabilitative, and socially beneficial objectives and was directly related to the offense. However, the decision still required clearer and measurable reasoning concerning the harm suffered by the animal, the causal relationship between the conduct and the reported death, the basis for determining the duration of community service, the offender's suitability for the assigned activity, and the supervision and evaluation mechanism. The study concluded that community service can support individualized and proportionate sentencing when it is supported by adequate evidence, transparent judicial reasoning, and structured implementation.