Document Type : Research Article
Authors
1 PhD Student in Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Judicial Law, University of Judicial Sciences, Tehran. Iran.
2 Associate Professor, Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
The present study, employing a descriptive–analytical methodology, examines the manifestations of the expansion of inherently lethal conduct within the Iranian judicial system. It analyzes how judicial practice—particularly as reflected in the rulings of the Supreme Court—interprets paragraph (b) of Article 290 of the Islamic Penal Code (2013) and, on that basis, issues sentences of Qisas. The findings indicate that the judiciary, through expansive interpretations and occasional disregard for certain statutory conditions and legal excuses, has tended to broaden the scope of inherently lethal conduct. Accordingly, factors such as the extension of the sphere of executive conduct, insufficient attention to the establishment of causation and attribution of death to the accused, the characterization of conduct as inherently lethal in cases involving doubt, and the qualification of intentional homicide arising from gross recklessness (with respect to the actus reus), as well as the neglect or misinterpretation of awareness and consciousness (with respect to the mens rea), have emerged as prominent indicators of this expansion. The issuance of unifying precedents or the adoption of interpretive guidelines by the Supreme Court to clarify the notions of “awareness and consciousness” and the parameters of statutory excuses—such as excessive self-defense and juvenile criminal maturity—together with the annulment of Qisas judgments where such elements or fundamental principles of criminal law have not been duly observed, constitute essential corrective mechanisms. Furthermore, refraining from extending executive conduct to accomplices in homicide except in well-substantiated cases involving direct intervention and attributable causation, overturning Qisas sentences in the absence of a complete causal link to death unless intent to inflict severe injury or compelling evidence thereof is established, applying the rule of doubt in cases of uncertainty regarding the type of crime or attribution, and aligning intentional homicide based on gross recklessness strictly with the conditions set forth in paragraph (b) of Article 290, represent strategic approaches whose effective and comprehensive implementation could reduce interpretive inconsistency, limit the expansion of Qisas sentences, and enhance the coherence and effectiveness of criminal policy.
Keywords
- Intentional Homicide
- Inherently Lethal Conduct
- Judicial Jurisprudence
- Awareness and Consciousness
- Qisas
Main Subjects
Aghaei-Nia, H., & Mahmoudi Janki, F. (2023). Model penal code of the United States and explanatory notes (2nd ed.). Mizan Publishing. (In Persian)
Akrami, R. (2022). The scope of crimes subject to the evidentiary dimension of the rule of darʾ in the laws of Islamic countries with reference to jurisprudential teachings. Criminal Law Review, 13(16), 7–31. (In Persian) https://doi.org/10.22124/jol.2022.21001.2225
Badri, A., Azimzadeh, S., Shiri, A., & Moazenzadegan, H.-A. (2019). The criminal profile of intentional homicides in Savojbolagh County. Social Order, 12(1), 49–76. (In Persian)
Bergelson, Vera. (2005). “Victims and Perpetrators: An Argument for Comparative Liability in Criminal Law”. Buffalo Criminal Law Review. Vol 8.
Blakemore, S. J. (2012). Imaging brain development: the adolescent brain. Neuroimage. 61(2).
Borhani, M., & Lotfali-Zadeh, E. (2022). Analytical commentaries on the Islamic penal code (1st ed.). Judiciary Press and Publications Center. (In Persian) https://doi.org/10.22124/jol.2021.17980.2016
Case of Roper v. Simmons. 543 U.S. 551 (2005).
Case of Stanford v. Kentucky. 492 U.S. 361 (1989).
Etemadi, A. (2017). Offenses against persons (1st ed.). Mizan Publishing. (In Persian)
Haji Deh-Abadi, A. (2021). The applicability or non-applicability of the rule of darʾ in qisas with emphasis on the Islamic Penal Code of 2013. Studies in Islamic Jurisprudence and Law, 13(25), 177–212. (In Persian) https://doi.org/10.22075/feqh.2021.24028.2954
Haji Deh-Abadi, A. (2025). Crimes against persons (4th ed.). Mizan Publishing. (In Persian)
Parvizi, C., Davarnia, R., & Soleimani, I. (2021). A jurisprudential and legal analysis of homicide resulting from gross recklessness, with reference to Iranian judicial practice. Criminal Law Review, 12(2), 53–78. (In Persian) https://doi.org/10.22124/jol.2021.17980.2016
Pourbafarani, H. (2013). A comparative study of exceeding the limits of legitimate self-defense (Excessive self-defense). Criminal Law Review, 5(2), 35–59. (In Persian)
Habibzadeh, M.-J., Maldar, M.-H., & Shokati, Z. (2023). Revisiting corporal punishments in light of a reexamination of the rule of the conjunction of reason and Sharia. Criminal Law Review, 14(1), 197–219. (In Persian) https://doi.org/10.22124/jol.2023.23654.2363
Khaleghi, A., & Rajab, M.-A. (2013). An analysis of the objective criterion in the mental element of intentional homicide (A comparative study). Criminal Law Review, 4(1), 121–146. (In Persian)
Khoei, S. A. (2001). Mabani takmilat al-minhaj (Vols. 41–42). Institute for the Revival of Imam al-Khoei’s Works. (In Persian)
Regoli, R. M., Hewitt J. D., Maras, M-H. (2012). Exploring Criminal Justice: The Essentials. Berlin, Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Ruholamini, M. (2021). Explaining the concept and position of inherently lethal conduct in Iranian criminal law with reference to French law. Criminal Law Doctrines, 17(20), 179–214. (In Persian) https://doi.org/10.30513/cld.2021.2325.1376
Ronzad, A., Shayganfard, M., & Sheikh al-Islami, A. (2023). Characteristics of intentional homicides in light of the criminal profile of Mashhad City (2011–2015). Comparative Criminal Jurisprudence, 3(5), 1–12. (In Persian)
Zuhayli, W. (1997). Al-fiqh al-Islami wa adillatuhu. Dar al-Fikr. (In Persian)
Sadati, S. M.-M. (2017). Conditions for the application of the rule of darʾ in Imami jurisprudence and the Islamic Penal Code. Studies in Islamic Jurisprudence and Law, 8(14), 113–146. (In Persian) https://doi.org/10.22075/feqh.2017.1950
Saryani, H., Mahdavipour, A., & Hosseini, R. (2022). A jurisprudential and legal analysis of the fall of qisas in cases of effective provocation by the victim. Criminal Law Research, 10(38), 37–73. (In Persian) https://doi.org/10.22054/jclr.2022.57723.2253
Soleimani, H., Hassanzadeh, N., & Maldar, M.-H. (2024). Validating the gradation of intentional homicide in the Iranian criminal system from the perspective of Imami jurisprudence. Legal Studies, 16(2), 81–108. (In Persian) https://doi.org/10.22099/jls.2023.43989.4743
Siahpour, M.-R., & Bahmanpouri, A. (2022). The gradation of intentional, quasi-intentional, and accidental homicide based on the mental element. Legal Excellence, 13(3), 87–116. (In Persian) https://doi.org/10.22034/thdad.2022.556748.2213
Shakeri, A., & Alizadeh, F. (2021). Challenges of excess in homicide under Iranian law. Islamic Jurisprudence and Law Research, 17(64), 113–130. (In Persian) https://doi.org/10.22034/ijrj.2021.684733
Shiri, A. (2021). The reflection of the rule of darʾ in the three elements of crime. Legal Research, 25(99), 115–146. (In Persian) https://doi.org/10.29252/jlr.2021.224438.2034
Sanei, Y. (2009). Judicial fatwas (General principles of adjudication and criminal matters) (Vol. 1, 3rd ed.). Parto Khorshid Publishing. (In Persian)
Tusi, A. J. M. b. H. (1986). Al-khilaf (Vol. 5). Islamic Publications Office. (In Persian)
Azizi, A.-M., Mirkhalili, S.-M., & Najafi Abrandabadi, A.-H. (2022). Dignity-oriented sentencing in the democratic model of criminal policy. Criminal Law Review, 13(1), 177–204. (In Persian) https://doi.org/10.22124/jol.2022.19832.2155
Atrzadeh, F., & Kalantari, K. (2023). Feasibility of eliminating legal violence related to the presumption of criminal maturity and intellectual development of juveniles in Iranian law. Comparative Criminal Jurisprudence, 3(11), 39–53. (In Persian)
Gholamloo, J. (2021). Wrongful convictions (An interdisciplinary approach to criminal evidence) (3rd ed.). University of Tehran Press. (In Persian)
Farahbakhsh, M. (2017). Criminal maturity and intellectual development in light of judicial practice. Judicial Practice, 2, 41–55. (In Persian)
Ghasemi-Moghadam, H., & Mirseyyedi, Z.-S. (2020). The impossibility of retreat as a condition for the justification of lethal self-defense: A comparative study with the United States legal system. Justice Law Review, 85(114), 319–341. (In Persian) https://doi.org/10.22106/jlj.2020.127298.3398
Ghaedi, S. (2024). Excessive self-defense in the Iranian criminal adjudication process (With emphasis on intentional homicide). Legal Research, 23(59), 567–598. (In Persian) https://doi.org/10.48300/jlr.2023.395452.2337
Ghaedi, S., & Farahbakhsh, M. (2024). Judicial pathology of the application of legitimate self-defense at the prosecutorial stage with emphasis on intentional homicide. Justice Law Review, 88(125), 77–109. (In Persian) https://doi.org/10.22106/jlj.2024.2015106.5498
Ghaedi, S., Mohseni, F., Rasteh, M., & Choobineh, S. (2025). An examination of the criteria for determining criminal maturity and intellectual development of juveniles in Iran’s judicial criminal policy. Islamic Law Review, 26(4), 228–267. (In Persian) https://doi.org/10.30497/law.2025.247510.3679
Gheyasi, J. (2021). Crimes against bodily integrity of persons (1st ed.). Mizan Publishing. (In Persian)
Gheyasi, J., & Akrami, R. (2014). The role of knowledge of the inherently lethal nature of conduct in the structure of intentional homicide from the perspective of Islamic and Western law. Comparative Research on Islamic and Western Law, 1(2), 105–134. (In Persian)
LaFave, W. R. (2022a). Substantive criminal law in the United States legal system (H. Aghaei-Nia, Trans., 1st ed.). Mizan Publishing. (In Persian)
LaFave, W. R. (2022b). Criminal law (General part) in the United States legal system (H. Aghaei-Nia, Trans., 1st ed.). Mizan Publishing. (In Persian)
Moradi, H., & Shahbazi, A. (2016). The mental element of intentional homicide under the Islamic Penal Code of 2013. Criminal Law Research, 4(13), 43–70. (In Persian)
Mortazavi, A., & Amiran, A. (2018). The effect of decriminalization and depenalization of the rule of darʾ in crimes punishable by qisas with reference to the Islamic Penal Code of 2013. Criminal Law Research, 7(25), 59–87. (In Persian) https://doi.org/10.22054/jclr.2018.15162.1277
Marashi Najafi, S. S. (1995). Qisas ‘ala daw’ al-Qur’an wa al-sunnah (Vol. 1). Marashi Najafi Library. (In Persian)
Mofid, M. b. N. al-‘Ukbari. (1992). Al-muqni‘ah. World Congress of Shaykh al-Mufid. (In Persian)
Mansourabadi, A., & Fathi, M.-J. (2025). The principle of proportionality in Iranian criminal law. Islamic Law, 22(84), 29–60. (In Persian) https://doi.org/10.22034/ilaw.2024.2016263.3345
Mirmohammad Sadeghi, H. (2024). Crimes against persons (34th ed.). Mizan Publishing. (In Persian)
Mirmohammad Sadeghi, H. (2022). General criminal law (Vol. 2, 3rd ed.). Nashr-e Dadgostar Publishing. (In Persian)
Najafi Tavana, A. (2021). Offenses against bodily integrity of persons (1st ed.). Mizan Publishing. (In Persian)
Najafi, M.-H. (1988). Jawahir al-kalam (Vol. 42). Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah. (In Persian)
Najafi, M.-H. (1995). Jawahir al-kalam fi sharh shara’i al-Islam. Institute for the Compilation and Publication of Imam Khomeini’s Works. (In Persian)
Najib Hosni, M. (2013). Sharh qanun al-‘uqubat (Special part). Dar al-Nahda al-‘Arabiyya. (In Persian)
Naraqi, M. A. (1995). Mustanad al-shi‘a (Vol. 18, 1st ed.). Aal al-Bayt Institute. (In Persian)
Norouzi, A., & Vatani, M. (2022). The impact of the manner of committing lethal conduct on the classification of intentional homicide. Jurisprudence and Foundations of Islamic Law, 55(1), 197–219. (In Persian) https://doi.org/10.22059/jjfil.2022.336569.669291
)