Concerning the limitation of time for pretrial detentions under Iranian law, Article 242 of the
CCP provides that crimes punishable by the death penalty, life imprisonment, amputation,
payment of diya [blood money], and ta’zir crimes of degree four or higher require that
investigations result in an indictment within two months or the investigator must revoke the
detention order against the accused, 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 or extend the detention order, or order other flight risk measures, such as bail.
The accused can appeal against the order3 to a competent court.4 Extension of pretrial detention
has to be renewed every month, or every two months, depending on the nature of the charges.5
The accused individual can also challenge the continuation of their detention order once a
month.6 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.”
Commented [HS4]: Is it the same to say that "The accused
individual can also challenge the continuation of their
detention order once a month."
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 ICCPR.
The CCP 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 to pretrial detention for cases of children in conflict with the law as much as
feasibly possible. Additionally, Iranian law does not limit the duration of pre-trial detention for
defendants under 18 years old, which can last up to two years. Consequently, the Iranian legal
framework does not guarantee that pretrial detention is applied for the shortest time possible
under Iranian law for cases involving child defendants.
Commented [HS5]: Not sure that "as much as possible"
clarifies what is wrong with alternative measures issued. Are
they insufficient, ineffective, not to the greatest extent
possible?
Commented [MR6R5]: I’d like to say here that the Islamic
Republic of Iran has not applied alternative measures to
pretrial detention as much as it could. Don't hesite to
change accordingly
The Article 90 Commission of the Parliament is in charge of investigating complaints from
citizens made against the operations of the Parliament itself, the Executive and the Judiciary.7
There is no publicly available information on data relating to the number of complaints received
and investigated vis-à-vis cases of violations of the rights to fair trial and due process of children
in the Islamic Republic of Iran. There is no National Human Rights Institution in the Islamic
3
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
4
Code of Criminal Procedure, 2015, Article 270
5
Code of Criminal Procedure, 2015, Article 242
6
Code of Criminal Procedure, 2015, Article 241
7
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/internal-regulation-on-the-commission-of-article-90-of-theconstitution/
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