Public Law Studies Quarterly

A Reflection on the Judicial Competence of the Head of the Judiciary with Particular Reference to Article 477 of the Criminal Procedure Code

Document Type : Article

Authors

Jalaleddin Qiasi 1
Mohammad Rajabi 2

1 Associate Prof of Criminal Law and criminology of the University of Qom

2 Ph.D. Student in Criminal Law and criminology of the University of Qom , Qom, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22059/jplsq.2020.295883.2291
Abstract
Following the amendment of Article 157 of the [Iranian] Constitution in 1989 whereby it was provided that the Iranian judiciary will presided over by a single person – called the Head of the Judiciary- instead of the Supreme Judicial Council, one important challenge was the judicial competence of the head of the judiciary which had proponents and opponents at the time. However, after the amendment of Article 157,  the Consultative Assembly (the Iranian parliament) adopted laws that recognized the judicial competence of the head of the judiciary. This approach led to the adoption of Article 477 of the Criminal Procedure Code. By studying the negotiations of the Constitutional Revision Council, this paper aims to find the intention of the constitutional legislator about the existence or lack thereof the judicial competence of the head of the judiciary. It will also evaluate Article 477 of the Criminal Procedure Code as the latest  law which approves the judicial competence of the  head of the judiciary. We conclude that the Consultative Assembly conferring judicial competence to the head of the judiciary is contrary to the text and spirit of the Constitution and has no functional rationale.

Keywords

constitution
statutes
constitutional legislator
the Guardian Council
head of the judiciary
judicial competence
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Public Law Studies Quarterly
Volume 52, Issue 1
Spring 2022
Spring 2022
Pages 439-461

  • Receive Date 14 January 2020
  • Revise Date 10 April 2020
  • Accept Date 10 May 2020

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