B. The Judiciary should ensure that when pre-trial detention is implemented as a last
resort, it is for the shortest possible period of time
Concerning the limitation in time of pretrial detentions under Iranian law, Article 242 of the
2015 Code of Criminal Procedure provides that in cases of “crimes punishable by the death
penalty”, “crimes punishable by life imprisonment”, “crimes punishable by amputation and
intentional physical assault punishable by payment of one third of a full diya [blood money]”,
and “ta’zir crimes of degree four and higher”,3 if investigations have not resulted in an
indictment at the end of two months, the investigator must revoke the detention order against the
accused individual or replace it with a lighter measure. In cases of other crimes, the envisioned
period is one month. If there exist sufficient grounds to do so, the investigator can decide to
issue, extend the detention order, or aggravate other flight risk measures such as bail. The
accused can appeal the order4 to a competent court.5 Extension of pretrial detention has to be
renewed every month or two months depending on the nature of the charges.6 The accused
individual can also challenge the continuation of their detention order 7 Under Article 242 of the
CCP, “the detention period of the accused must not exceed the minimum penalty applicable to
the crime. In any case, the detention period must not exceed two years in cases of crimes
punishable by death, and one year in cases of other offences.”
While the existence of measures to limit and challenge the extension of temporary detention is
positive, the legally permissible length of one or two years is disproportionately long. Long
pretrial detention may violate the right to presumption of innocence as well as the right to trial
within reasonable time or release, as guaranteed under Article 9(3) of the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights.
The revised CCP adopted in 2015 has strengthened the application of alternative measures to
pretrial detention, however it does not provide a specific legal framework for child defendants.
There is no readily available information that might indicate that the Government of the Islamic
Republic of Iran has applied alternative measures whenever possible to pretrial detention for
cases of children in conflict with the law. Additionally, Iranian law does not prescribe any limit
on pretrial detention of defendants under 18 years old which can reach one or two years before
trial.
3
Ta’zir crimes of degree four and higher are crimes sentenced with minimum five years imprisonment and/or a fine of one
hundred and eighty million rials. Article 19, 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/
4
The appeal deadline is 10 days from the time of notification for those residing in Iran at the time of the investigator’s decision
and one month for those residing outside the country
5
Code of Criminal Procedure, 2015, Article 270
6
Code of Criminal Procedure, 2015, Article 242
7
Code of Criminal Procedure, 2015, Article 241
2