Abdorrahman Boroumand Center

for Human Rights in Iran

https://www.iranrights.org
Promoting tolerance and justice through knowledge and understanding
The Judiciary

Internal Report on the Violations of Procedure and Due Process by Iranian Judges

Assistant Prosecutor of Judges' Disciplinary Court /ABF Translation
ABF
June 27, 2016
Official document

In June 2016, on the occasion of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Judiciary Week, Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation released the English translation of a report published in August 2014 by the Judges Disciplinary Prosecutor, Ahmad Shafi'i. This startlingly candid internal report lists shocking violations of procedures and due process by Iranian judges, and paints a picture of arbitrary and unqualified judiciary. The picture is even more disturbing when one remembers that these judges hold extraordinary power to punish and execute Iranian citizens with impunity.

Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation
June 28th, 2016

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Circular Concerning “The Main Prevalent and Widespread Violations [Existing] across the Country’s Judicial Districts”…

Published in Dadnameh Website (Dadnameh.net)

 

In the Name of God

Date: August 3, 2014

Number: 007308/93

 

Honorable Head of the Judiciary, … Province

Ahmad Shafi’i

Judges’ Disciplinary Prosecutor

 

A copy of the above Circular was printed and sent separately to all heads of judiciary (31 provinces).

Musavi,

Judges’ Disciplinary Prosecutor’s Office Chief Administrator

 

Honorable Judges’ Disciplinary Prosecutor

  1. Issuing arrest warrants without observing proper legal process
  2. Issuing conflicting, vague, and general orders
  3. Issuing surety and bail orders without specifying the amount
  4. Issuing disproportional bail orders
  5. Non acceptance of bondsman/surety and collateral in bail orders
  6. Detention orders issued to hold the defendant in illegal detention centers, after issuance of an order [denying bail], resulting in detention
  7. Unlawful arrest
  8. Not registering cases in the Prosecutor’s Office until issuance of a final order
  9. Non-renewal of temporary detention orders within the legally prescribed deadlines
  10. Non compliance by the Prosecutor’s Office with a court order setting bail order aside
  11. Disregard for jurisdictional and venue issues
  12. Not stating the [detention] period in a temporary detention order
  13. Not stating the judicial authority’s title, date of the case, and case number in the minutes of the proceedings
  14. Releasing the defendant without rendering an opinion in preliminary investigations
  15. Use of unnecessary, disorganized, and uncustomary words in rulings and orders
  16. Irregular use of forms, at times disorganized, in final decisions, especially in prosecutor’s offices
  17. Not rendering a decision within the prescribed deadline
  18. Not rendering an opinion regarding certain defendants or the charges brought against them in criminal cases
  19. Not rendering a decision concerning the instruments of the crime
  20. Keeping the instruments of the crime in improper locations
  21. [Requiring and] obtaining [defendant’s] final defense, prior to completion of investigations
  22. Issuance of a new bail order without rendering a decision regarding the prior one
  23. Illegibility of court orders
  24. Issuance of an order or ruling prior to the termination of investigations or adjudication
  25. Performing tasks not within the scope of the substitution [of venue] [document]
  26. Issuance of a guilty verdict without first obtaining the defendant’s final defense
  27. Existence of grammatical and spelling errors in orders and rulings
  28. Unprofessionally written orders with substandard sentence structure
  29. Issuance of a ruling citing unrelated articles [of law]
  30. Issuance of a ruling outside the scope of the indictment
  31. Increasing the sentence upon appeal, without legal justification
  32. Issuance of orders on the phone
  33. Absence of the prosecutor’s representative’s signature in the minutes of the court proceedings in spite of the same stating his presence
  34. Lack of notification to the parties to the litigation as to an expert’s opinion
  35. Unpleasant conduct, at times inappropriate and insulting
  36. Inappropriate relations with the parties to the case and the attorney
  37. Lack of attention to evidence
  38. Not accepting and recording briefs
  39. [Issuance of a] court decision prior to writing the ruling
  40. Creating statistics in a mechanized system
  41. Issuance of a final order at the prosecutor’s office, citing lack of prosecution by the plaintiff
  42. Closing active cases due to lack of prosecution by the plaintiff
  43. Taking a case out from old Sentence Implementation cases statistics, and re-registering it under a new case number
  44. Closing a case without thoroughly implementing the court decision
  45. Not supervising [both] flogging sentences and the receipt of monetary penalties
  46. Lower authority’s non obedience of a higher authority
  47. Disregard for res judicata
  48. Disregard for the content of official records
  49. Modifying a ruling to an order by an appellate court
  50. Issuance of a decision by the court of original jurisdiction without convening a legally prescribed trial session
  51. [Prolonging the] existence of pending cases and not making a decision within the legally prescribed deadline
  52. Increasing the claim amount in the first session without [proper] payment of court costs
  53. Not addressing preliminary objections in the first trial session
  54. Issuing a court date prior to completion of the complaint
  55. Accepting [a claim of] inability to pay court costs without first investigating the same
  56. Adjudication and issuance of a simultaneous decision regarding [both] a claim of inability to pay court costs, and the main cause of action
  57. In auto accident cases, not inviting the relevant insurance representative, and not serving the same with the court decision
  58. Issuance of order to implement the sentence in cases decided in absentia, without first [requiring and] obtaining collateral or surety
  59. Non-payment of court costs in immovable property adjudications, based on regional price
  60. Lack of signature of the minutes of the court proceedings by the parties to the litigation
  61. Not submitting a copy to the litigants in court
  62. Not stating whether the ruling was issued in absentia or with the parties present
  63. Issuance of unfounded and undocumented rulings
  64. [Unduly] prolonging the adjudication process
  65. Inappropriate lateness in coming [to court] and haste in leaving
  66. Not checking [and/or comparing] court decisions
  67. Not rendering an opinion regarding some of the claims in the complaint
  68. Issuance of a ruling outside the scope of the complaint
  69. Making amendments to the court decision after its issuance
  70. Surrendering the defendant to the Criminal Investigations Office prior to the issuance of a bail order, or, subsequent to the issuance thereof and prior to introducing the defendant to a lawful detention center.

The above is therefore submitted so that it may be put at the disposal of the country’s judicial districts and of our honorable judicial colleagues, to observe [and comply with] the same in order to prevent possible violations from occurring.

 

Judges’ Disciplinary Prosecutor’s Office, Assistant Prosecutor

Mahmud Foruzanmehr