Identifying the Criminological Approach of Iranian Law to Monetary Fines

Abstract

The criminological approach emphasizes the alignment of the prescribed punishment with the committed offense. This study examines the criminological approach to monetary fines in Iranian law. In recent years, and particularly under Iran’s newer legislation, monetary fines have been welcomed by the Iranian legislature as an important and facilitative legal institution. In general, within the criminological approach of Iranian law, one of the preventive strategies to mitigate the adverse consequences of imprisonment is the use of alternatives to short-term custodial sentences, with monetary fines being considered both as a complementary punishment and, in some cases, as an independent punishment for minor offenses. The findings of the present study, which was conducted using a descriptive–analytical method, indicate that the primary objective of the Iranian legislature in adopting a punitive approach to monetary fines is rooted in criminological considerations (deterrence and crime prevention, substitution for imprisonment and other penalties). While monetary fines are not beneficial for all types of crimes, they have demonstrated a high deterrent effect in certain offenses, particularly financial and economic crimes. Moreover, an examination of the conditions and modalities of enforcing monetary fines suggests that, within Iran’s criminal policy, minimal institutional foundations have been established for the application of non-custodial sanctions. Furthermore, in Iran’s recent legislation—specifically the Islamic Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code enacted in 2013—innovations have been introduced to remedy shortcomings of prior laws in the area of monetary fines. These include the imposition of monetary fines on legal persons, substitution of community service in lieu of monetary fines, calculation of pretrial detention periods and deduction of such periods from monetary fines, among others, all of which are examined in detail in this study.