Third Economic, Social and Cultural Development Plan.13 In October 2020, Mohammad
Mosaddegh, deputy chief for legal and parliamentary affairs of Iran’s judiciary, announced the
creation of a judicial body that would supervise lawyers; the General Office for the Supervision
of Lawyers, Experts, Family Counselors and Official Translators. This judicial body would be
under the supervision of Mr Mosaddegh’s office. 14 15
In 2014, President Rouhani reportedly stated that “a lawyer should be immune from any
prosecution for carrying out its professional duty, and the investigative authority for the lawyers’
professional issues is the Bar Association”.16 Yet, lawyers have reportedly been prosecuted for
representing prisoners of conscience or political and “security” prisoners.17 Human rights
lawyers defending human rights defenders have reportedly been harassed, arrested and detained
in the Islamic Republic of Iran.18 19 20 21
In light of the above, the Bar association and lawyers are not independent from the Judiciary in
the Islamic Republic of Iran. There is no self-regulating independent Bar association or council
to oversee the process of admitting candidates to the legal profession, provide a uniform code of
ethics and conduct, and enforce disciplinary measures. Lawyers in Iran are not protected from
discrimination and persecution for their independent professional decisions or views.
Recommendation Status:
This recommendation has NOT been implemented.
13
Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran, https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/93301
Tabnak News, https://bit.ly/2MNjDOj
15
Center for Human Rights in Iran, https://iranhumanrights.org/2020/12/new-directive-allows-iranian-judiciary-to-controllawyers-through-disciplinary-body/
16
Lawyers for lawyers, https://lawyersforlawyers.org/wp-content/uploads/Oral-statement-Iran-L4L-LRWC-19-3-2015.pdf;
Meeting the members of the board of Directors of Bar Associations, February 2014) See:
http://www.rouhani.ir/event.php?event_id=310
17
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, May 2015,
https://undocs.org/A/HRC/28/70
18
OHCHR News, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24333&LangID=E
19
Center for Human Rights in Iran, https://iranhumanrights.org/2020/06/list-of-attorneys-imprisoned-in-iran-for-defendinghuman-rights/
20
Human Rights Watch, https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/12/13/iran-escalating-crackdown-lawyers
21
See more: Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, https://www.iranrights.org/newsletter/issue/97
14
2