(April 4, 2013) – The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC) is pleased to release a comprehensive English translation of Book One and Book Two of the Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The translation incorporates all amendments to the Code up to January 2012 and covers matters such as, inter alia, the trial and punishment for sex crimes such as adultery and sodomy; the trial and punishment for consumption of alcohol and other intoxicating substances; the trial and punishment for moharebeh (warring against God) and efsad-e-fel-arz (corruption on Earth) and the trial and punishment for theft.

In this legal essay, Iranian lawyer Mohammad Hossein Nayyeri explains why, contrary to popular reports, the silence of Iran's new Islamic Penal Code on the punishment of stoning for adultery does not mean stoning has in fact been abolished from the Code.

"For us, who have the responsibility of conducting presidential elections, it does not make a difference who is elected president. We consider anyone whose qualifications have been certified by the Council of Guardians as an insider.”

Kamran Daneshju, Political deputy to the Minister of Interior and Head of the Ministry of Interior’s elections headquarters. Speech in a meeting of election officials in Tabriz, Abrar, 20 April 2009.

The first complete English translation of the IRI's Criminal Code of Procedure for Public and Revolutionary Courts is now available. The Code addresses the investigation and prosecution of crimes, trial procedure and issuance of sentence, and appeal guidelines. The Code also provides rules on the functioning of the judiciary. This translation will serve as a useful reference in any examination of the IRI legal system.