There are reports of Iranian authorities having initiated formal investigations into individuals
with judicial functions following accusations of corruption, bribery and abuse of power
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 the numerous violations of the principle of due process.9 These included unlawful arrests,
failure to renew temporary detention orders within the prescribed time, failure to
render decisions within the prescribed time, ruling prior to the conclusion of the 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.10 There is little transparency
regarding these complaints and their outcome and not all of them were considered. During the
Iranian year 1395 (March 20, 2016 –March 19, 2017), Iran’s General Inspection office
received 30,315 complaints. The office sent 3,464 emails to those who had filed complaints.
Written follow-ups of local and provincial investigations amounted to 1,502.11 Due process
violations are particularly grave in Iran in light of the strikingly high numbers of executions
conducted by the State. At least 5,079 executions have reportedly been carried out in Iran since
the beginning of 2012 through to May 27, 2020.12
For its Universal Periodic Review in 2019, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran
reported that it held “Human rights training for judges, judicial officers and administrative staff
on the rights of the child, the rights of persons with disabilities, the prohibition of torture and illtreatment and the confronting against domestic violence” as well as “training courses on
citizenship rights for judges, staff and judicial officers”.13 However, frequent reports of the
violation of fair trial rights and due process standards suggest that the training received by the
members of the judiciary in the Islamic Republic of Iran has not been appropriate.14
In 2014, President Rouhani reportedly stated that “a lawyer should be immune from any
prosecution for carrying out its professional duty, and the investigative authority for the lawyers’
9
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
10
Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, https://www.iranrights.org/library/document/2994
11
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
12
Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, https://www.iranrights.org/memorial
13
National Report, Islamic Republic of Iran, UPR, 2019, https://undocs.org/A/HRC/WG.6/34/IRN/1
14
See more: 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
2