Abdorrahman Boroumand Center

• PDF document (in Farsi)

In June 2016, on the occasion of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Judiciary Week, Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation released the English translation of a report published in August 2014 by the Judges Disciplinary Prosecutor, Ahmad Shafi'i. This startlingly candid internal report lists shocking violations of procedures and due process by Iranian judges, and paints a picture of arbitrary and unqualified judiciary. The picture is even more disturbing when one remembers that these judges hold extraordinary power to punish and execute Iranian citizens with impunity.

Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation
June 28th, 2016

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Circular Concerning “The Main Prevalent and Widespread Violations [Existing] across the Country’s Judicial Districts”…

Published in Dadnameh Website (Dadnameh.net)

In the Name of God

Date: August 3, 2014

Number: 007308/93

Honorable Head of the Judiciary, … Province

Ahmad Shafi’i

Judges’ Disciplinary Prosecutor

A copy of the above Circular was printed and sent separately to all heads of judiciary (31 provinces).

Musavi,

Judges’ Disciplinary Prosecutor’s Office Chief Administrator

Honorable Judges’ Disciplinary Prosecutor

1. Issuing arrest warrants without observing proper legal process
2. Issuing conflicting, vague, and general orders
3. Issuing surety and bail orders without specifying the amount
4. Issuing disproportional bail orders
5. Non acceptance of bondsman/surety and collateral in bail orders
6. Detention orders issued to hold the defendant in illegal detention centers, after issuance of an order [denying bail], resulting in detention
7. Unlawful arrest
8. Not registering cases in the Prosecutor’s Office until issuance of a final order
9. Non-renewal of temporary detention orders within the legally prescribed deadlines
10. Non compliance by the Prosecutor’s Office with a court order setting bail order aside
11. Disregard for jurisdictional and venue issues
12. Not stating the [detention] period in a temporary detention order
13. Not stating the judicial authority’s title, date of the case, and case number in the minutes of the proceedings
14. Releasing the defendant without rendering an opinion in preliminary investigations
15. Use of unnecessary, disorganized, and uncustomary words in rulings and orders
16. Irregular use of forms, at times disorganized, in final decisions, especially in prosecutor’s offices
17. Not rendering a decision within the prescribed deadline
18. Not rendering an opinion regarding certain defendants or the charges brought against them in criminal cases
19. Not rendering a decision concerning the instruments of the crime
20. Keeping the instruments of the crime in improper locations
21. [Requiring and] obtaining [defendant’s] final defense, prior to completion of investigations
22. Issuance of a new bail order without rendering a decision regarding the prior one
23. Illegibility of court orders
24. Issuance of an order or ruling prior to the termination of investigations or adjudication
25. Performing tasks not within the scope of the substitution [of venue] [document]
26. Issuance of a guilty verdict without first obtaining the defendant’s final defense
27. Existence of grammatical and spelling errors in orders and rulings
28. Unprofessionally written orders with substandard sentence structure
29. Issuance of a ruling citing unrelated articles [of law]
30. Issuance of a ruling outside the scope of the indictment
31. Increasing the sentence upon appeal, without legal justification
32. Issuance of orders on the phone
33. Absence of the prosecutor’s representative’s signature in the minutes of the court proceedings in spite of the same stating his presence
34. Lack of notification to the parties to the litigation as to an expert’s opinion
35. Unpleasant conduct, at times inappropriate and insulting
36. Inappropriate relations with the parties to the case and the attorney
37. Lack of attention to evidence
38. Not accepting and recording briefs
39. [Issuance of a] court decision prior to writing the ruling
40. Creating statistics in a mechanized system
41. Issuance of a final order at the prosecutor’s office, citing lack of prosecution by the plaintiff
42. Closing active cases due to lack of prosecution by the plaintiff
43. Taking a case out from old Sentence Implementation cases statistics, and re-registering it under a new case number
44. Closing a case without thoroughly implementing the court decision
45. Not supervising [both] flogging sentences and the receipt of monetary penalties
46. Lower authority’s non obedience of a higher authority
47. Disregard for res judicata
48. Disregard for the content of official records
49. Modifying a ruling to an order by an appellate court
50. Issuance of a decision by the court of original jurisdiction without convening a legally prescribed trial session
51. [Prolonging the] existence of pending cases and not making a decision within the legally prescribed deadline
52. Increasing the claim amount in the first session without [proper] payment of court costs
53. Not addressing preliminary objections in the first trial session
54. Issuing a court date prior to completion of the complaint
55. Accepting [a claim of] inability to pay court costs without first investigating the same
56. Adjudication and issuance of a simultaneous decision regarding [both] a claim of inability to pay court costs, and the main cause of action
57. In auto accident cases, not inviting the relevant insurance representative, and not serving the same with the court decision
58. Issuance of order to implement the sentence in cases decided in absentia, without first [requiring and] obtaining collateral or surety
59. Non-payment of court costs in immovable property adjudications, based on regional price
60. Lack of signature of the minutes of the court proceedings by the parties to the litigation
61. Not submitting a copy to the litigants in court
62. Not stating whether the ruling was issued in absentia or with the parties present
63. Issuance of unfounded and undocumented rulings
64. [Unduly] prolonging the adjudication process
65. Inappropriate lateness in coming [to court] and haste in leaving
66. Not checking [and/or comparing] court decisions
67. Not rendering an opinion regarding some of the claims in the complaint
68. Issuance of a ruling outside the scope of the complaint
69. Making amendments to the court decision after its issuance
70. Surrendering the defendant to the Criminal Investigations Office prior to the issuance of a bail order, or, subsequent to the issuance thereof and prior to introducing the defendant to a lawful detention center.

The above is therefore submitted so that it may be put at the disposal of the country’s judicial districts and of our honorable judicial colleagues, to observe [and comply with] the same in order to prevent possible violations from occurring.

Judges’ Disciplinary Prosecutor’s Office, Assistant Prosecutor

Mahmud Foruzanmehr