The Law for the Selection of Judges of 1982 with subsequent amendments, as well as the
Guidelines for the Recruitment, Selection, and Apprenticeship of Applicants for Judgeship and
Employment of Judges of 2013, are the main norms regulating the selection of judges.
Mandatory criteria for selecting judges in Iran include the following: the appointed judge has to
be a Muslim man, “bound to faith” and “loyal to the principle of the primary of the Supreme
Leader”.6 Field investigations and ideological and political interviews are part of the selection
process.7 8 These discriminatory and vague criteria enable the appointment of judges based on
their political loyalty and undermine the independence and impartiality of the judiciary. There
are reports of Iranian authorities instituting formal investigations of individuals with judicial
functions following accusations of corruption, bribery and abuse of power, but it is unclear if the
motivations behind these investigations were political in nature or a result of an impartial
criminal process.9 10
The selection process of judges in Iran impacts the judicial process and undermines the due
process of law. In 2014, a Judiciary’s circular listed the most common complaints against judges
and contained numerous due process violations.11 These included unlawful arrest, failure to
renew temporary detention orders within the prescribed time, failure to render decisions within
the prescribed time, ruling prior to the conclusion of investigation and trial, issuing decisions in
courts of original jurisdiction without convening a trial session, issuance of “unfounded and
undocumented” rulings, issuing rulings outside the scope of the complaint, and
unpleasant, inappropriate, and insulting conduct.12 There is little transparency regarding
these complaints and their outcomes, with some lacking consideration. During the Iranian year
1395 (March 20, 2016 –March 19, 2017), Iran’s General Inspection office received 30,315
complaints and sent 3,464 emails to those who had filed complaints, but written follow-ups of
local and provincial investigations amounted to only 1,502.13 Due process violations are
particularly grave in Iran considering the strikingly high numbers of executions conducted by the
State. At least 6,566 executions have been reportedly conducted Iran since the beginning of 2008
through the end of 2019.14
6
Article 13 Guidelines for the Recruitment, Selection, and Apprenticeship of Applicants for Judgeship and Employment of
Judges (2013).
7
Article 14 Guidelines for the Recruitment, Selection, and Apprenticeship of Applicants for Judgeship and Employment of
Judges (2013)
8
http://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/90547 ; http://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/91044
9
Iran International https://iranintl.com/en/iran/president-rouhani%E2%80%99s-brother-sentenced-five-years-prison
10
OCCRP https://www.occrp.org/en/27-ccwatch/cc-watch-briefs/10035-iran-new-conservative-chief-justice-fires-60-corruptjudges
11
Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee from the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, Iran Human Rights Document
Center, Impact Iran and Human Rights Activists in Iran, 2020,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CCPR_ICS_IRN_42313_E.pdf
12
Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, https://www.iranrights.org/library/document/2994
13
Ministry of Justice 2017 report on the accomplishments of the Judiciary in the year
1395. https://www.justice.ir/FileSystem/View/File.aspx?FileId=5282d9cd-913e-4c78-b3d8-b39475070de2
14
ECPM, Iran Human Rights, https://www.ecpm.org/wp-content/uploads/Rapport-iran-2020-gb-070420-WEB.pdf
2