B. The Special Rapporteur recommends that the judiciary: 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
The Court for Children and Adolescents can convene with one presiding judge and one advisor.10
The judges serving in the Court are directly appointed by the Head of the Judiciary. They must
have at least five years of judicial experience. Other criteria such as their marital status, age, and
whether they are parents themselves will be assessed in determining their eligibility for the
position.11 The Court will be assigned a number of male and female advisors, who are appointed
for a period of two years. 12 If the accused is a girl, at least one of the advisors must be a
woman.13 There is no specification as to what kind of training judges elected to the Court should
receive.
In its 2019 National Report to the Universal Periodic Review, the Government of the Islamic
Republic of Iran stated that “human rights training for judges, judicial officers and administrative
staff on the rights of the child, the rights of persons with disabilities, the prohibition of torture
and ill-treatment and the confronting against domestic violence,” have been conducted, as well
as “training courses on citizenship rights for judges, staff and judicial officers” and “sequential
specialized sessions on the rights of the child by the National Body on the Convention on the
Rights of the Child”.14 The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has not indicated the
existence of expert trainings on child sociology, child psychology and behavioural sciences for
judges and prosecutors working in the child justice system.
Although the selection process for judges in the child justice system of the Islamic Republic of
Iran suggests that judges and prosecutors have a minimum level of professional qualification,
there is no readily available information that might suggest that they receive expert training on
child sociology, child psychology and behavioural sciences.
Recommendation Status:
This recommendation has been PARTIALLY implemented.
10
Code of Criminal Procedure, 2015, Article 298.
Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 409
12
Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 410
13
Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 410
14
National Report, UPR 2019, Islamic Republic of Iran, https://undocs.org/A/HRC/WG.6/34/IRN/1
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