There is no readily available information that might indicate the number of cases where
alternative measures to detention have been applied in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
B. The State party should ensure that detention is used as a last resort and for the
shortest possible period of time and that it is reviewed on a regular basis with a view
to withdrawing it
The Islamic Penal Code (2013)7 establishes the age of criminal responsibility at 9 lunar years for
girls and 15 lunar years for boys.8 However, the age of responsibility for ta’zir crimes (crimes for
which fixed penalties are not provided in Islamic law and allow judicial discretion as to the
sentence imposed) is 18 years for all children. For these crimes, convicted children are sentenced
to correctional measures, such as a stay in a rehabilitation centre. In contrast, criminal
responsibility for crimes punishable by hudud (punishments fixed by God) or qisas (punishments
or retributions in kind) is maintained at the age of “maturity” that is 9 lunar years for girls and 15
lunar years for boys.
Additionally, the law on the “Protection of Children and Adolescents”,9 adopted in June 2020,
provides alternative punishments for persons under the age of 18 except for crimes under qisas
and hudud, where the Islamic Penal Code sentences prevails.10 Under qisas and hudud, juvenile
defendants are subjected to the same legal framework as adult offenders. Although the Penal
Code allows judges from any court system some discretion in sentencing for ta’zir crimes, the
law prescribes no formal form of mitigation for this type of crime based on the age of the
offender.
Article 91 of the 2013 Islamic Penal Code allows judges to pronounce alternative sentences in
cases of hudud or qisas crimes where the juveniles “do not realize the nature of the crime
committed or its prohibition, or if there is uncertainty about their full mental development,
according to their age”.11 The Article further adds that “the court may ask the opinion of forensic
medicine or resort to any other method that it sees appropriate in order to establish the full
mental development”.12 In 2019, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the
Islamic Republic of Iran found that the aforementioned assessment of the mental development of
7
Article 146 and 147, Islamic Penal Code (2013), English translation, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center,
https://iranhrdc.org/english-translation-of-books-i-ii-of-the-new-islamic-penal-code/
8
Civil Code, Article 1210, note 1
9
The law adopted on May 12, 2020 : < https://shenasname.ir/laws/6788 >
10
Article 25 of the law of “Protection of Children and Adolescents”.
11
Islamic Penal Code, 2013, English translation, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/englishtranslation-of-books-i-ii-of-the-new-islamic-penal-code/
12
Islamic Penal Code, 2013, English translation, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/englishtranslation-of-books-i-ii-of-the-new-islamic-penal-code/.
2