Punishment under Iranian Isl=
amic
Law: 17 years of Justice under experimental Laws
Iranian Parliament extended the assessment period =
of
punishment under “Islamic Law” by an extra year. This is the th=
ird
time that this law has been extended for extra year. This extension was
approved as the current period of its assessment was about to end.
Mohamed Seyef Zadeh who is an attorney in the Iranian prosecutor of=
fice
told the BBC Persian service that if this law was not extended the Iranian
courts would in effect have no law under which they could conduct their
judicial duties.
This law was introduced under an introductory
assessment condition in 1370 HJ (1991) by the Iranian parliament for period=
of
5 years. After this 5 year period the law was extended a further 10 years. =
But
in 2006 and in 2007 this law was further extended for another year.<=
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lang=3DEN-US style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;mso-fareast-font-fa=
mily:
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However, according to article 85 of the Iranian
constitution, parliament can only extend introductory or trial laws under
extreme circumstances. Therefore, as this law has been extended for 17 years
under trail assessment, in the eyes of many lawyers, this is in contradicti=
on
to the spirit and the foundation of article 85 of the Iranian constitution.=
Varying Views on this law:
In August of 2005 the parliament gave the judges in
the country 3 months to investigate and report back to parliament on the as=
sessment
of these laws. However, since then because of difference in views amongst t=
he
lawyers and judiciary, this law has not passed into formal law and has rema=
ined
in status of introductory assessment.
Mr Seyef Zadeh
says that under this law many sentences of incarcerations have been declared
for simple crimes where monetary fines were traditionally issued by judges =
and
furthermore, this law has also increased the number of sentences such as
executions by hanging, incarcerations and whipping.
Under this law people are often accused of sorcery=
and
black magic and then sentenced to death.
According to some lawyers and experts this
introductory law not only violates International human rights but it is also
against the Iranian constitution.
Why this law is still in its introductory
assessment period?
After the Iranian revolution the Iranian law which=
was
passed before the revolution was suspended and superseded by a “Islam=
ic
Justice and punishment laws “ which were passed by the Iranian Islamic
Parliament. These laws where then used as basis for justice and judgement in
Iranian Judicial System.
The reason why this law was considered experimental
and needed to be assessed for certain period was so that judiciary and Just=
ice
department could learn from their experiences over time and therefore=
be
able to introduce a more stable and permanent law.
However, the Iranian justice system is under
international criticism because of variability of standards within court
system; as there are no uniform standards of justice within the system. The=
use
of such punishments as stoning, beheading, whipping, cutting of limps are
examples of why the Iranian justice system is under international criticism=
.
During the 29 years that the Iranian Islamic repub=
lic
has been in power many courts have tried to distance themselves from these =
form
of punishment and now the head of judiciary has now finally asked all judge=
s to
refrain from sentencing people to stoning.
The changes in Iran law after revolution
Three years prior to Iranian r=
evolution
, the law of “common criminal code” was passed by Iranian
parliament in 1976 which was consistent with many of international standard=
s of
justice.
But after the revolution by suspension of this cod=
e of
justice , the Iranian Islamic government introduced 167 laws that judiciary
should use as form of criminal law which is consistent with Islamic sharia “or Islamic Law” . However, becaus=
e of
different interpretations of clerics and lawyers on what constitutes to be
Islamic law, there were many cases where for the same crime many differing
sentences were being issued across the country. One of the most important
writing which courts referred to in issuing sentences was the book written =
by Ayat-Allah Khomeini called “Tahrer
Vaslieah”. This book then became the basi=
s of
Islamic law and justice in 1990. This law currently has many articles and
sections which are currently under introductory assessment. Thus, this law =
has
remained under assessment for some 17 years without being formally ratified=
and
established as permanent law.
Posted in News on Nove=
mber
22nd, 2008