Public Law Studies Quarterly

Analysis of Legal Proceedings against the Media in Iran's Legal System in light of Public Law Principles

Document Type : Article

Authors

Mohsen Esmaeili 1
Seyed Ahmad Habibnezhad 2
Hadiseh Davoudi 3

1 Associate Prof., Department of Private and Islamic Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Prof., Department of Public and International Law, Faculty of Law, Farabi Campus, University of Tehran, Iran

3 Ph.D. Student in Public Law, Faculty of Law, Farabi Campus, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22059/jplsq.2025.378546.3560
Abstract
Media activity as one of the pillars of democracy in democratic societies, is on the one hand the basis for realizing citizens' access to information, and on the other hand may also involve violation of rights and freedoms. Therefore, legal proceedings against the media should have both the components of legal proceedings as well as pay attention to the responsibility of the media to transmit information and monitor the government. Using library research and interviews with experts, the current research examines structural flaws of the judicial system in dealing with claims against the media. These flaws include the public nature of the proceedings and the tendency to view such proceeding through the lens of criminal law; A view that ignores the responsibility of the media for the free flow of information and treats it like a criminal. Also, the legal requirement for the presence of a jury during the trial and the supervision of the union, which were supposed to help guarantee the rights of the defendants in these cases, have been gradually forgotten and have become a tool to impose more restrictions on the media. As a result, legal proceedings against the media in Iran require a review that would result in the following: expert judges with knowledge of the mission of the media should handle these lawsuits; the opinion of the jury, as an institution that must adjudicate between freedom and power, should be effective in the proceedings; and the role of the government, as an institution that is challenged by free speech, should be minimized in the proceedings.

Keywords

media
media rights
media trial
jury
Subjects

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Public Law Studies Quarterly
Volume 56, Issue 1 - Serial Number 45
Spring 2026
Spring 2026
Pages 365-390

  • Receive Date 29 June 2024
  • Revise Date 20 January 2025
  • Accept Date 03 February 2025

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