excludes qisas (retribution in kind) and emphasises that the Islamic Penal Code, and the death
penalty, is still valid in such cases.9
In 2013, Iran amended the Islamic Penal Code to give judges discretion to exempt children from
the death penalty, under Article 91 of Islamic Penal Code, if the judge has assessed that the child
did not realise the nature of the crime or if there is uncertainty about his or her mental
development (in other words, the child defendant is not “completely mature”) at the time of
committing the crime. If the defendant is deemed not completely mature at the time of
committing the crime, the court may impose alternative punishments, such as imprisonment. The
Government of Iran stated its policy to utilize mediation when possible so as to avoid
executions.10 Furthermore, the Islamic Penal Code’s guiding notes highlight the importance of
restorative justice and juvenile rehabilitation, and also specifies that the judge may exercise
discretion by seeking a medical expert’s opinion from the "Forensic Medicine Organization" to
determine the defendant’s maturity at the time of allegedly committing the crime.
In 2014, Iran’s Supreme Court also confirmed that all juvenile offenders on death row could
apply for a retrial.11 There is no reliable information or statistic available on how many cases
have used this possibility to appeal, or how many have been successful. Iran’s legal system
considers that juveniles are those individuals who are above Iran’s age of maturity under Article
147 of the Islamic Penal Code, yet under 18 years old.
Despite legal developments, Iranian law continues to impose the death penalty for child
offenders.12 Since 1990, Iran reportedly has executed more child offenders than any other State
worldwide.13 Since 2013, Iranian authorities allegedly have executed at least 33 child offenders,
including 13 child offenders in 2014, 5 in 2017, 6 in 2018 and 4 in 2019.14
In recent years, numerous reports indicate that Iranian courts have selectively applied Article 91
of Islamic Penal Code and its guiding notes in sentencing child offenders to the death penalty.15
In 2016, the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed “serious concern” that decisions to
exempt children from death sentences under Article 91 of Islamic Penal Code are under full
9
Article 25 of the Law of “Protection of Children and Adolescents”.
https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/40/67 para 39
11
https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/133797
12
Iran Human Rights and ECPM, “Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran 2019”, https://www.iranhr.net/en/reports/22/
13
Amnesty International, “Executions of Juveniles Since 1990 as of November 2019”, accessed April 25, 2020,
https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/ACT5002332019ENGLISH.pdf
14
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, A/HRC/40/67 (30 January
2019) paras 38 and 60, https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/40/67; Iran Human Rights, Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran
(2019), https://iranhr.net/media/files/Rapport_iran-GB.pdf; and Iran Human Rights, Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran
(2018), https://iranhr.net/media/files/Rapport_iran_2019-GB-BD.pdf
15
Amnesty International, https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/irans-hypocrisy-exposed-as-scores-of-juvenile-offenderscondemned-to-gallows/
10
2