Challenges of Forgivable Crimes in Iranian Law

Abstract

The objective of the present article is to examine the challenges associated with forgivable crimes (jarāyem-e qābel-e gozasht) in Iranian law. This is a descriptive-analytical study conducted through a library-based research method. The present research, aiming to assess the feasibility of expanding the category of forgivable crimes within the Iranian legal system, concludes through an analytical and descriptive approach that certain criteria and terms used by the legislator in Article 11 of the Law on Reduction of Discretionary Punishments lack the expected clarity and explicitness. This ambiguity in legislative policy has consequently created challenges for judicial authorities in identifying instances of forgivable crimes. For example, the scope of forgivable crimes in terms of enumerated instances, the requirement of a victim’s presence, and the various types of criminal liability remain vague and undefined. In practice, this poses a serious obstacle to the fair and uniform enforcement of the law in cases with similar subject matters, leading to divergent rulings by judicial bodies and, inadvertently, conflicting outcomes. Undoubtedly, with the passage of time and changes in societal lifestyles, laws will naturally undergo transformations. However, some aspects of legislation are based on fundamental principles that are immutable. The forgivability of crimes is conditioned upon the absence of harm to public interest and the private nature of harm to the victim, which remains a constant and unchangeable legal principle. Nonetheless, in cases where the harm caused by the offender is limited and negligible, the expansion of forgivable crimes becomes feasible.