The Foundations and Limits of the Emergency Legitimacy of Torture for Obtaining Confessions from Suspects from the Perspective of Islamic Jurisprudence and Iranian Law

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Jurisprudence and Foundations of Law, Razavi Islamic Sciences University, Mashhad, Iran.

2 Ph.D. Student, Department of Jurisprudence and Foundations of Law, Razavi Islamic Sciences University, Mashhad, Iran.

3 Ph.D Student, Department of Jurisprudence and Foundations of Law, Razavi Islamic Sciences University, Mashhad, Iran.

Abstract

This research examines the legitimacy of applying physical and psychological torture methods to obtain confessions from defendants in emergency situations with a jurisprudential and legal approach. Using a descriptive-analytical method and studying jurisprudential and legal sources, the author, while explaining the perspectives of prohibition and permissibility, considers the primary ruling on torture to be based on sanctity. Subsequently, citing jurisprudential rules such as maintaining order, protecting the rights of society, the Ahmeh rule, and the interpretative opinion of the Guardian Council, he proves the permissibility of torture within the framework of the secondary ruling and only in emergency situations. Based on the rule of “necessities are limited to their limits,” the permissible scope and intensity of torture is limited to the extent of necessity. By avoiding the duality of prohibition or absolute permissibility, this research presents a middle and restrictive solution that can provide a suitable theoretical basis for amending interrogation regulations and formulating jurisprudential criteria for emergency in Islamic criminal policy.

Keywords

Main Subjects


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Volume 22, Issue 30 - Serial Number 30
December 2025
Pages 63-100
  • Receive Date: 07 November 2024
  • Revise Date: 12 April 2026
  • Accept Date: 12 April 2026
  • Publish Date: 22 December 2025