Article 34 of the constitution44 guarantees the right of appeal and access to the courts for everyone, and thus all punishments in all courts (civil, criminal and revolutionary courts) are subject to appeal. In death penalty cases, approval by the Supreme Court is required for an appeal to be made. However, over the past few decades, rights groups have documented instances which indicate that aspects of the right to a fair trial in crimes that might be punished by the death penalty have not been respected in law and practice, such as the violation of the right to have a lawyer in all stages of the legal process45 and the systematic use of torture during the investigation period.46 47 Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort (ECPM) and Iran Human Rights reported at least 280 executions in 2019. Iran is one the countries with the most confirmed executions around the world.48 The high number of death sentences issued every year in the Islamic Republic of Iran suggest that those sentenced to the death penalty, after exhaustion of all legal avenues of appeal, have not an effective opportunity to exercise the right to seek pardon or commutation of sentences from the relevant authorities. D. The Islamic Republic of Iran should furthermore prohibit the use of public executions, as well as stoning as a method of execution. Article 499 of the revised Code of Criminal Procedure (2015) generally prohibits the execution of punishments, including execution, flogging and stoning, in public, but allows the judge or the prosecutor to order otherwise if deemed preventive.49 The preventive effect, and supposed benefit, of public executions is considered common knowledge among judges who support such practice.50 In 2008, then-head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Shahroudi, issued a directive entitled the Public Prohibition of Execution,51 effectively banning public executions. However, directives and circulars are not considered as law. Public executions are still practiced in the Islamic Republic of Iran and every year a number of public executions are recorded. In 2019, 13 individuals were reportedly executed in public spaces in Iran.52 44 Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1979 https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/ir/ir001en.pdf Human Rights Lawyer Sentenced to Prison Without Access to Counsel, Center for Human Rights in Iran. 11 May 2020: https://iranhumanrights.org/2020/05/human-rights-lawyer-sentenced-to-prison-without-access-to-counsel/ 46 Iran Tortures Prisoners to Death, Intimidates and Blackmails Families, Iran Human Rights Monitor 19 June 2020. https://iranhrm.com/index.php/2020/06/19/iran-tortures-prisoners-to-death-intimidates-and-blackmails-families/ 47 See more: Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee, Abdorrahman Center, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC), Impact Iran and Human Rights Activists in Iran, 2020, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT%2fCCPR%2fICS%2fIRN%2f42313 &Lang=en 48 Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/04/death-penalty-in-2019-facts-and-figures/ 49 The Code of Criminal Procedure (adopted in 2013): < https://shenasname.ir/laws/2327-keifari > 50 <https://p.dw.com/p/12Y5C > 51 Hamshahri Newspaper: < https://www.hamshahrionline.ir/news/43036/> 52 ECPM & Iran Human Rights, Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran, 2019, https://www.ecpm.org/wpcontent/uploads/Rapport-iran-2020-gb-070420-WEB.pdf 45 6