Concluding Observations Committee on the Rights of the Child CRC/C/IRN/CO/3-4 para 8
Full recommendation:
The Committee recommends that the State party take all measures necessary to address its
previous recommendations of 28 January 2005 (CRC/C/15/Add.254), which have not been
sufficiently implemented, in particular those relating to non- discrimination, the right to life,
protection from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and juvenile justice,
among others contained therein.
Assessment using Impact Iran human rights indicators 1
A. Non-discrimination
Article 20 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran guarantees that all citizens of Iran,
men and women, enjoy the equal protection of the law and of rights, “in conformity with the
Islamic criteria.” Article 21 emphasizes that “the government must ensure the rights of women in
all respects, in conformity with Islamic criteria”.2 While these provisions supposedly safeguard
the human rights of women and protect them from discrimination, such legal guarantees exist as
long as they are in conformity with “Islamic criteria.” The room of interpretation allowed under
the qualifications such as “in conformity with Islamic criteria” has often resulted in provisions that
discriminate or have a discriminatory impact on various grounds, including gender.
The Iranian Islamic Penal Code (2013) is largely based on the Government’s interpretation of
Islamic Sharia precepts and contains provisions which directly discriminate between girls and
boys under the criminal justice system. One of the most telling examples is the age of criminal
responsibility, which is set at nine lunar years for girls (equivalent to eight years, nine months in
solar years) and fifteen lunar years for boys (equivalent to fourteen years, seven months in solar
years).3 The Islamic Republic of Iran has not increased the age of criminal responsibility for girls
nor does it seem that the Government has been considering such change.
Other provisions under the Iranian criminal justice system discriminate between girls and boys.
To name a few, a girl over the age of nine or a woman’s testimony is valued at half that of a man’s4
or not even considered5 in some proceedings. Another instance is that the Islamic Penal Code
1
CCPR.6.1.S.2 CCPR.6.5.S.1 CCPR.6.5.P.1 CCPR.6.5.O.1 CRC.12.2.S.1; CRC.12.2.P.1; CRC.12.2.O.1 CRC.37.1.S.1;
CRC.37.1.P.1; CRC.37.1.O.1
2
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, English translation, https://irandataportal.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/constitutionenglish-1368.pdf
3
Criminal responsibility, Articles 140, 146 and 147 of the Islamic Penal Code, 2013 https://iranhrdc.org/english-translation-ofbooks-i-ii-of-the-new-islamic-penal-code/
4
Islamic Penal Code, 2013, Articles 74, 75 199, English Translation, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center,
https://iranhrdc.org/islamic-penal-code-of-the-islamic-republic-of-iran-book-one-book-two/
5
Islamic Penal Code, 2013, Article 119, English translation, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center
1