Achievements and Challenges of Pardoned Crimes in the Law on Reducing Ta’zir Imprisonment Sentences (2020)
Keywords:
pardonable crimes, ta’zir imprisonment, punishment, challenges and achievementsAbstract
The Law on Reducing Ta’zir Imprisonment Sentences, enacted with the aim of moderating the criminal justice approach and prioritizing rehabilitation and reform over mere punishment, has brought remarkable transformations to Iran’s legal system. This law, particularly in the field of pardonable crimes (offences requiring the victim’s complaint for prosecution), introduces mechanisms to decrease the judiciary’s reliance on imprisonment, thereby creating new opportunities and challenges for legal scholars and society. Examining the achievements and shortcomings of this approach requires a precise analysis of its impact on reducing the prison population, expediting judicial proceedings, and its social and economic consequences. Accordingly, the central research question is: What criminological achievements do pardonable crimes have under the Law on Reducing Ta’zir Imprisonment Sentences? This study was conducted using a library-based (documentary) method and a descriptive–analytical approach. The findings indicate that the scope of pardonable crimes—regarding specified instances, the requirement of a victim’s existence, and various forms of criminal liability—faces several ambiguities. Under the Law on Reducing Ta’zir Imprisonment Sentences, pardonable crimes offer achievements such as enabling active victim participation in the adjudicatory process, improving the quality of offences relating to property, and considering the offender’s age when determining whether an offence is pardonable. However, this category of crimes also faces challenges, including lack of clarity in identifying the full range of applicable offences, ambiguities arising from the requirement of a victim in property-related offences, and complexities stemming from different forms of criminal liability. Additionally, the conditions established in Article 11 of the Law on Reducing Sentences and the role of the complainant’s pardon create further challenges, particularly in cases involving multiple similar material offences.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Ali Akbar Yaghoubi (Author); Abolhasan Shakeri; Masoud Rabbani (Author)
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