Document Type : scientific
Authors
1
PhD Student in Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
2
Professor, Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
3
Associate Professor, Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
This research analyzes the practice of "prison as courtroom" in the Iranian judicial system. The primary objective is to examine how the electronic conduct of trial sessions for incarcerated defendants affects the fundamental principles of a fair trial, including the equality of arms, the impartiality of the court, the presumption of innocence, and the defense rights of the defendant. The present study was conducted with a qualitative approach, and data were collected through non-participant observation of trial sessions (in-person and electronic) and semi-structured interviews with 50 judicial officials, lawyers, defendants, and prison staff. The purposive sampling process continued until theoretical saturation was reached. Findings indicate that this practice, by creating a structural inequality, shifts the geometry of power in favor of public and private claimants and violates the principles of the equality of arms and the impartiality. Severe communication restrictions negate the defendant's right to effective access to a lawyer. Furthermore, displaying the defendant in a prison environment and eliminating non-verbal cues weakens the "presumption of innocence" and reinforces the "presumption of guilt" in the judge's mind. Finally, the integration of the courtroom into the disciplinary logic of the prison inculcates a spirit of submission and obedience in the defendant and eliminates their sense of participation in the trial. The practice of "prison as courtroom" is less of a technological innovation and more indicative of the dominance of managerial logic over the principles of a fair trial. This approach, by demoting the defendant from an "active subject" to an "object under control", empties the trial process of its justice-oriented essence and transforms it into a control-oriented formality in which "the primacy of form over substance" prevails.
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