Starting the investigation and detention sentence
Article 26 – In districts where there are several branches of courts, files and complaints received by the director of the District Court are referred to respective branches. The director of the District Court may wish to designate this responsibility to one of his assistants. In the absence of the director of the District Court and his Assistants, and in case of an urgent matter, directors of other branches shall take responsibility for referrals dependent on their order of superiority.
Article 27 – The director or judge of each branch is obliged to perform required investigations in person. This does not prevent him from ordering the examining magistrates or judicial officers to perform parts of the investigation and to make decisions according to Sharia’s standards and legal arrangements under his direct supervision. Appointment of the examining magistrate is the responsibility of the director of District Court or his assistant.
Article 28 – The examining magistrate will perform his duties under the supervision of the judge and can assign the judiciary officers to take some of the measurements and investigations according to the regulations. In this case, the results will be presented to the examining magistrate.
Article 29 – Authorities and officials are bound to report to the director of the District Court or his assistant if and when they encounter a criminal act falling under their jurisdiction.
Article 30 – The court’s judge can be present during the initial investigation and supervise the development of the investigation.
Article 31 – The examining magistrate performs the orders of the court during his investigation and will record the results in the minutes. In case there is a problem during the execution of the order in such a way that the performance is not possible, it should be reported to the court’s judge to solve the problem, and it will be performed according to the court’s recommendation.
Article 32 – In the following cases, whenever the existing evidence and affairs incriminates the accused, the issuance of a sentence for temporary detention is allowed in the following cases:
- Crimes for which the legal punishment is execution, stoning, crucifixion and amputation of a body organ.
- Intentional crimes for which the minimum legal punishment is a three-year imprisonment.
- Crimes related to Chapter One of Book Five of the Islamic Penal Code.
- In cases where the freed accused might destroy evidence, or the accused colludes with other accused, or with the witnesses and others who were aware of the incident; or if the accused can cause witnesses to refuse to testify. Also, when there is a fear that the accused might escape or hide, and there is no other way to prevent it.
- Maximum of six days for murders when the parents of the murdered request evidence.
Note 1 – In crimes of unchaste behavior, if there is no personal element involved, the detention of the accused is allowed only if his or her freedom would result in depravity.
Note 2 – Observing the regulations stipulated in section (D) above is mandatory for sections (A), (B) and (C) as well.
Article 33 – A decision for temporary detention is made and issued by the court’s judge and is approved by the director of the District Court or his assistant, and review [of that decision] can be requested in the Court of Appeal of that province within 10 days. The process of reconsideration by the Court of Appeal [can be immediate; the case need not be put in a queue]. In any case, the status of the accused shall be verified within a month, and if the respective judge considers the continuation of temporary detention necessary, it should be performed as explained.
Note – If the court order for detention is issued by the director of the District Court, or if there is no director or the assistant of the District Court in that jurisdiction, the case will be referred to the Court of Appeal upon objection of the accused. If the Court of Appeal considers the objection valid, it will cancel the decision for temporary detention, and the file will be returned to the court that issued the court order to determine a suitable bail.
Article 34 – The examining magistrate can issue the court order for detention or grant a bail or conversion of the bail at any time during the investigation process. In cases in which the detention or bail decision leads to the detention of the accused, he is bound to forward the file to the court’s judge for comments. If the court agrees with the temporary detention and the objection of the accused, article (33) will be effectuated. In other decisions, if the court’s judge does not agree, he will directly issue an appropriate sentence.
Note – The conversion of the bail verdict mentioned in this article is a decision to be made directly by the examining magistrate.
Article 35 – In the following cases, while observing the bonds in article (32) of this code and its notes, whenever existing proof and evidence implicate the accused, issuance of the temporary detention verdict is mandatory and continues until the issuance of the initial sentence, provided that its duration does not exceed the minimum duration of the legal punishment for the committed crime.
- Murder, kidnap, acid spray, battle, public corruption.
- Crimes for which the legal punishment is execution or life imprisonment.
- Crimes such as robbery, scams, embezzlement, bribery, malversation, forging and using a forged document provided that the accused has at least had a record of a definite condemnation and two or more records of indefinite condemnation due to having committed any of the above-mentioned crimes.
- In cases when the freedom of the accused causes corruption.
- All crimes specified within the special rules.
Article 36 – The permission for detention of the accused in the duties of a man towards human beings depends on the request of the complainant.
Article 37 – All orders for temporary detentions shall be reasonable and based on documents, stating in the order the reasons for the detention and the right for the detainee to object. In all cases, if required, the judge is bound to renew the court order for temporary detention after a month, stating the reasons and providing documentation; otherwise the accused shall be released with proper bail.
Article 38 – The court’s judges and examining magistrates can only initiate the primary investigations when the law has given them this right.
Article 39 – The judges and examining magistrates shall perform the investigations with complete neutrality and observe full neutrality in finding out the circumstances which favor or harm the accused.
Article 40 – The judges and examining magistrates are bound to take immediate action to prevent the destruction of evidence any evidence from being destructed, and they shall not delay in collecting the tools and instruments of the crimes.
Article 41 – The judges and examining magistrates shall supervise the actions and investigations of the judicial officers. If completion of the investigation is necessary, they will make a proper decision accordingly.
Article 42 – The officials and judiciary officers are required to perform the orders of the judges and examining magistrates immediately, and on time. Those in violation of this article will be sentenced to the specified punishment in the Islamic Penal Code.
Article 43 – Except in the cases related to unchaste behavior, judges and examining magistrates can, with proper training, refer to the witnesses, or collection of information, or proof and evidence, or any other action necessary to investigate the crime. These actions are considered to be judicial circumstantial evidence.
Note – Investigation of crimes of unchaste behavior is forbidden, unless the crime is obvious or has a private plaintiff. In the latter, the investigation is performed by the judge.
Article 44 – Whenever there is resistance demonstrated towards the judge and the examining magistrate as they perform their duties, the judges and examining magistrates can call upon the armed and disciplinary Forces. The mentioned forces are bound to perform accordingly.
Article 45 – The judges, examining magistrates, and judicial officers cannot suspend their investigations with the excuse that the accused is either hidden, unknown, or that gaining access to the accused is difficult.
