Concluding Observations Human Rights Committee CCPR/C/IRN/CO/3 para 17
Full recommendation:
The State party should ensure that arrest warrants contain the names of the accused and are
based on a judge’s review of material evidence. It should also release detainees who have been
held on the basis of general and blanket arrest warrants, in the absence of evidence.
Assessment using Impact Iran human rights indicators1
Article 32 of the Constitution stipulates that an individual must be immediately notified in
writing of charges against them.2 The new Iranian Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP) regulates
the issuance of warrants and summons.3 Article 168 of the CCP requires that arrests be carried
out on the basis of arrest warrants signed by the investigator and prohibits the investigator from
arresting “an individual as an accused unless there exists sufficient reasons for the accusations”.
Article 181 of the new CCP also provides that accused individuals are to be arrested pursuant to
a warrant which specifies a reason for the arrest and provides details pertaining to this reason,
signed by an investigating judge.4 However, there is no requirement to include a clear
explanation of the legal provision under which an individual is being arrested, enabling arrests
on the basis of vaguely defined terms, such as “national security”.5
Law enforcement officers may only arrest an individual without a magistrate-issued arrest
warrant for so called ‘evident crimes’6, and in such circumstances the authorities may not detain
the suspect for longer than 24 hours.
1
CCPR.9.4.S.1;CCPR.9.2.S.1
CCPR.9.4.P.1; CCPR.9.2.P.1
CCPR.9.2.O.3
2
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran http://www.iranchamber.com/government/laws/constitution_ch03.php
3
Code of Criminal Procedure of the Islamic Republic of Iran (2015) original version http://dotic.ir/print/5584
4
Code of Criminal Procedure of the Islamic Republic of Iran (2015) as referenced in the joint submission to the Human Rights
Committee from the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, Impact Iran, Human Rights
Activists in Iran, 2020,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CCPR_ICS_IRN_42313_E.pdf
5
Amnesty International https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1327082016ENGLISH.PDF
6
New Code of Criminal Procedure, Articles 44 and 46. Under Article 45, a crime is “evident” when: a) it is committed within the
sight of judicial officers; when the officers arrive in the crime scene immediately after the commission of the crime; and when
they observe the evidence of the crime immediately after it has taken place; b) the victim, or two or more people who have
witnessed the crime, identifies a specific individual as the offender while the crime is being committed or immediately after it; c)
immediately after the commission of the crime, evident signs or evidence of the crime or the tools and instruments of the crime
are found in the possession of the accused, or their belonging to the accused is established; d) the accused intends to abscond, is
escaping, or is arrested immediately after the crime; e) the crime has been or is being committed in a home or in a residential
place and the residents request the presence of the officers at the time the crime is being committed or immediately after it; f) the
accused reports the crime and surrenders immediately after the crime; g) the accused is a vagrant and has a negative reputation in
the area in question.
1