Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran
A/HRC/40/67 para 75(g)
Full recommendation:
Pending implementation of the aforementioned recommendations, and without prejudice to the
binding obligation enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to not sentence children to death and to not execute child
offenders, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the judiciary: Establish specialist and
separate child courts to consider cases involving children, for all crimes including qisas and
hudud crimes, in the first instance and on appeal, in all provinces. Ensure that the judges who
preside over such courts, and the prosecutors who are able to bring cases before such courts,
have a minimum level of professional qualifications and expert training in child sociology, child
psychology and behavioural sciences;
Assessment using Impact Iran human rights indicators1
A. The Special Rapporteur recommends that the judiciary: Establish specialist and separate
child courts to consider cases involving children, for all crimes including qisas and hudud
crimes, in the first instance and on appeal, in all provinces.
The revised Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP), which came into force in 2015, establishes the
juvenile court. Article 304 of the new CCP states that “All offences committed by children2 and
individuals who are under 18 solar years are investigated by the Court for Children and
Adolescents.” However, the jurisdiction of such courts does not apply to crimes committed by
people under 18 years old which ordinarily, when committed by adults, fall under the jurisdiction
of Provincial Criminal Courts.3 These crimes include offences punishable by the death penalty.4
In such cases, jurisdiction rests under the special juvenile branches of the relevant Provincial
Criminal Court, where proceedings shall be governed by the same juvenile justice regulations as
applied to the Court for Children and Adolescents.5 According to the Code of Criminal
Procedure, the Court for Children and Adolescents does not have jurisdiction of cases where the
accused person has reached 18 years old before the start of the proceedings, in which case
1
CCPR.37.4.S.2
CCPR.37.4.P.2
CCPR.37.4. O.2
2
Under Note 1 to Article 304 of the new Code of Criminal Procedure, a child is an individual who has not reached the age of
puberty as defined in Iran under Shari’a as nine lunar years for girls and 15 lunar years for boys.
3
Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 315.
4
Crimes which fall under the jurisdiction of the Provincial Criminal Courts include crimes punishable by life imprisonment or
amputation; crimes involving forms of physical assault which are punishable by payment of half or more of a full diya (blood
money); and certain ta’zir crimes; political and press crimes which fall under the jurisdiction of Criminal Courts One (Article
302); national security-related offences; moharebeh (enmity against God); efsad-e fel-arz (corruption on earth); insulting the
founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Supreme Leader; and drug-related offences which fall under the jurisdiction of
Revolutionary Courts.
5
Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 315.
1