Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
E/CN.4/2006/61/Add.3 para 73 (i)
Full recommendation:
In order to enhance women’s access to justice through a transparent legal and judiciary reform
it is recommended that the Government:
Abolish requirements that women present eyewitnesses in order to prove that they have been
subjected to violence and allow women to prove violence through medical or police reports and
other credible evidence;
Assessment using Impact Iran human rights indicators1
Article 318 of the Code of Criminal Procedure refers to the fact that the method of proving and
substantiating criminal complaints is through the evidence determined by the Islamic Penal
Code. The Islamic Penal Code (IPC), approved in May 2013, in Articles 160 to 213 has
introduced and explained the process of using evidence in criminal matters. For example, Article
160 of this law, in defining the evidence of a crime, i.e., in defining the reasons for proving
whether a crime has taken place or has not taken place, points out that there are four ways that
one can prove whether a crime took place; the first is through the confession of the accused, the
second is through the testimony of those who witnessed the crime, the third is testimony under
oath2, and the fourth is through the knowledge of the judge.
In addition to the above articles of the IPC, the Code of Criminal Procedure provides the
procedural steps that can be taken to detect a crime, to find the cause and clarify the perpetrator
of the crime and facts, a set of which can be effective in proving whether a crime has occurred or
not. For example, Articles 123 to 167 of this law provide for the possibility of inspection of the
crime scene, local investigation, inspection and expertise to detect a crime, Articles 168 to 203 of
this law refer to the investigation of the accused, and Articles 204 to 216 of the same law provide
for the possibility of interviewing witnesses and informants in order to determine proof of a
crime.
The above shows that at present, presenting witnesses to prove violence is not the only
possibility of proving a crime, and other evidence, such as a police report or forensic report,
might affects the proceedings.3 However, because in crimes of violence against women
(especially in the case of domestic or community violence), women are often denied even the
1
CCPR.2.1.S.1; CCPR.3.1.S.4; CCPR.14.1.S.1; CCPR.14.3.S.1; CCPR.2.1.P.1; CCPR.3.1.P.3; CCPR.14.3.P.1; CCPR.3.1.O.4;
CCPR.14.3.O.1
2
a situation in which a person does not necessarily witness what happened, but swears that the accused is guilty.
3
Article 161 and 162 of Islamic Penal Code: https://shenasname.ir/subjects/salamat/1571-mojazat92
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