Summons and Interrogation of the Accused
Article 112 - Summoning an accused is done via a summons letter. The summons letter is issued in two original copies. One is taken by the accused and the other one is signed by the accused and returned to the summons officer.
Article 113 – The name and last name of the summoned person, date, and the reason for the summons, the place to appear, and the consequence of not appearing, shall be mentioned in the summons letter.
Note – If deemed necessary, the reason for the summons and consequence of not appearing will not be mentioned for some crimes.
Article 114 – If the summoned person is illiterate, the content of the summons letter will [instead] be communicated to two witnesses. The order of issuing a summons shall follow the rules of the Civil Code of Procedures.
Article 115 – Whenever, [in respect to] a criminal act, it is not possible to notify the [individual to be] summoned due to their address of residency being unknown, and there are no other ways for summoning them, the investigation will be determined, and the accused will be called at once through one of the widely circulated newspapers or local newspapers, and if the accused does not show up, the examining magistrate will make his decision according to the articles (217) and (218) of this law. The date of publishing the summons letter in the newspaper should at least be one month before the date of the trial.
Article 116 – The accused is bound to be present on the due date and if s/he cannot attend, then they should have a valid reason for it.
The followings are considered valid excuses:
- If the summons letter has not arrived or arrived so late that it was not possible to attend on time.
- A sickness which prevents the person from moving.
- Death of the spouse or one of the family members up to the third degree of the second category.
- The incidence of fire or other disasters.
- Inability to travel because of natural disasters such as river flooding, contagious epidemic diseases such as cholera and plague.
- Being in custody.
Article 117 – Those who do not appear and do not present a certificate justifying their absence will be arrested upon order of the judge.
Article 118 – The judge can issue the order for arrest in the following situations, even if he has not sent the summons letter first:
- For crimes in which the legal punishment is retribution, execution, and organ mutilation.
- For an accused whose address of residency is not known and the measures taken by the judge to locate them has not been positively concluded.
Article 119 – Arresting the accused is done by warrant. The warrant, which is similar to the content of a summon letter, should be issued to the accused.
Article 120 – The warrant officer will invite the accused to go with him to the judge after the warrant is given to him. If the accused refuses to go, the officer will arrest him and will surrender him to the judicial authorities. The help of other officers can be requested if need be. Those who aid an accused to evading arrest will be legally culpable.
Article 121 – Arresting the accused shall be done during the day except in special cases.
Article 122 – If the accused is absent, the warrant will be given to judicial officers to arrest him wherever the accused is found for transfer to the judge.
Note – If necessary, the judge can give the warrant to the complainant and once the complainant introduces the accused, the judicial officials will arrest the accused and take him or her to the judge.
Article 123 – The accused will be monitored and protected from the time of the warrant until s/he is taken to the judge.
Note – The judicial officers are bound to take the arrested person to the judicial authority immediately and they can only detain him or her if there is a fear of collusion, absconding, or the destruction of evidence of the crime. In any case, they are not allowed to keep the arrestee for more than 24 hours without the permission of a judicial authority.
Article 124 – The judge should not summon or arrest a person, unless there are valid reasons for summon or arrest.
Article 125 – If a person who has received the notice of summons or arrest cannot be present in front of the judge due to illness, and if the criminal act is of a high level of gravity and exigency, the judge will go to him or her and perform the required interrogation or shall wait for the obstacle to be removed.
Article 126 –The judge can perform the investigations in person and in the location of those who should be investigated if deemed necessary.
Article 127 – The judge is bound to start the investigations immediately after the accused appears or is arrested. If this is not possible, the investigation should start no later than within 24 hours of this time. Otherwise the detention is considered illegal, and the arrestee is convicted of the specified legal punishment.
Article 128 – The accused can have one person as his or her lawyer. After the investigations are finished and without interfering with the investigations, the lawyer can present documents to the judge to help discover the truth and defend his or her client or to enforce the law. The statements of the lawyer shall be recorded in the minutes.
Note – In confidential cases, or if the presence of individuals not accused of the crime causes corruption according to the judge, and further, in cases of crimes against the security of the country; the court can only permit the presence of the lawyer in the examining stage. (Amendment dated 06-07-2003)
Article 129 – The judge should first ask the accused to state his or her identity and other personal information (Name, Father’s Name, Nickname, Last Name, Age, Occupation, Spouse, Children and Nationality) as well as their address (City, County, Rural District, Village, Street, Alley and House Number) so as to ease the process of sending the summons and other related papers. He will also notify the accused to be cautious about his statements, and will explain the subject of the accusation and its reasons clearly. Then he will start the investigation. The questions shall be clear and useful. Empathic, deceptive, reluctant and compulsive questions are prohibited. If the accused refuses to respond, the refusal will be recorded in the minutes.
Note 1 – The judge shall explain to the accused in the beginning of the investigation that the place s/he announces for his or her residency, is his or her legal residence and in case the accused moves, s/he is obliged to inform the court of the news in a way that the communications are possible; otherwise the communications will be sent to the previous address. Moving to a new place in order to postpone, avoid or delay the communication of the papers is not acceptable and all communications will be sent to the previous address. Understanding this fact is the responsibility of the examining authority. Following this rule is also applicable to the address of the complainant or personal defendant.
Note 2 – Breach of the summons officers’ duties or the report of their breach of duties are subject to specified legal punishments.
Article 130 – The accused shall be interrogated individually and shall not have a face to face conversation with each other, unless the confrontation is necessary. Sharia’ compliance is mandatory for female defendants.
Article 131 – Answers to the questions shall be recorded as they are expressed without any change, modification or distortion. Literate defendants can write the answers themselves.
