Article 15 – Judicial officers are those who act under the supervision and coaching of a judicial authority to identify a crime, to perform initial interrogations, to preserve the evidence and proof of the crime, to prevent the accused from absconding and hiding, to present the documents, and to execute judicial decisions according to the law. They are listed as follows:
1- Islamic Republic of Iran Disciplinary Forces
2- Directors and assistant directors of prisons regarding affairs related to prisoners
3- The officers of the Basiji Forces of the Islamic Republic Revolutionary Guards who are considered judiciary officers according to specific laws and within the designated responsibilities.
4- Other Armed Forces in issues where the Supreme National Security Council has designated all or part of the responsibilities of an officer to the Armed Forces.
5- Officers or agents who, according to particular laws, are considered to be judicial officers within designated responsibilities.
Note – The officers’ reports are only valid if deemed authentic and reliable by the judge.
Article 16 – Judicial officers are obliged to perform the commands of a judicial authority. In case of violation, they are sentenced to three to twelve months of suspension from Governmental Service and/or to one to six months of imprisonment.
Article 17 – Management and supervision of judicial officers with regard to their judicial tasks are the sole responsibility of the director of the District Court.
Article 18 – Once the judicial officers are informed that a crime has been committed, they shall, in the case of non-evident crimes, present the case to competent judicial authorities in order to receive orders and, in the case of evident crimes, they shall take all required precautions to maintain the equipment, instruments, proof and evidence of the crime, to prevent the criminal from absconding, or to prevent collusion, and to perform initial investigations and immediately inform the judicial authorities.
Article 19 – The initial investigations are sets of measurements taken to detect a crime and to preserve its proof and evidence, and to try the accused from the beginning of a case until it is submitted to the judicial authority. Judicial officers cannot grant a bail from the accused.
Article 20 – The judiciary officers are bound to perform the orders and complete the file as soon as possible and within the timeframe defined by the judicial authority. If for any reason, the order is not performed or completed, they must forward a report citing the reason why not to the Judicial Authority at the end of each month. An individual in violation of this law will be sentenced to the punishment stipulated in Article (16) of this code.
Article 21 – A crime is considered “evident” based on the following factors:
1- If a crime is committed in sight of judiciary officers, or the mentioned officers are immediately present at the crime’s scene or observe the evidence of the crime right after it having been committed.
2- If two or more people have witnessed the crime or the victim identifies an individual as an offender immediately after the crime is committed.
3- If the obvious evidence of a committed crime or the equipment and proof for the crime are found in the possession of the accused, or they are found to be the belongings of the accused.
4- If the accused intends to abscond, is escaping, or is arrested immediately after the crime is committed.
5- If a resident asks for the presence of the officers in his or her home immediately after the crime is committed.
6- If the accused is a vagrant.
Article 22 – When the proof and evidence of a crime is dubious or the information by the judicial officers is not gathered from valid sources, a proper investigation must be conducted; however, there is no right to arrest or enter peoples’ homes. They have to inform the mentioned authorities of the results accordingly.
Article 23 – With regard to evident crimes for which the investigation is beyond the responsibility of the District Court, the District Judicial Authority is obliged to take all necessary measures to prevent destruction of evidence and prevent the accused from absconding and to perform whatever prosecution is deemed appropriate to uncover the crime and promptly present the result of his estimations to the appropriate judicial authority.
Note – With regard to those cases that the Central Courts are authorized to investigate, the evidence and proof of the crime are exclusively collected while the case is being reported, and will be presented to the Central Courts immediately.
Article 24 – The judicial officers shall inform the appropriate judicial authority about the results of the inquiry taken, and if the mentioned authority finds the inquiry taken to be insufficient, they may request supplementary action. In this case, the officers are obliged to follow the orders of the judicial authority to investigate and take legal measures to identify the crime, but they cannot keep the accused in detention. And, if in evident crimes, detention of the accused is necessary in order to complete the investigation, the accused should be notified of the subject of accusation along with the reasons in writing. The accused can be kept under surveillance for a maximum of 24 hours, and the issue should be reported to a judicial authority to render a legal decision. The judicial authority will then decide on the continuation of detention or determine whether the accused should be released. Inspection of houses, premises, items, and arrest with regard to non-evident crimes should be performed with the special permission of a judicial authority, even if the general detection is assigned to the officer by the judicial authority.
Article 25 – The judicial officers will surrender all performed investigations to the judicial authority upon his admittance, and will no longer have the right to intervene unless otherwise ordered by the judicial authority or if a new assignment is referred by him.
