Abstract
The new issue of the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (Summer 1404/2025) is being published amidst significant challenges. The imposition of war, prolonged internet disruptions, and technical difficulties regarding reviewer access to our submission system have unfortunately hindered our ...
Read More
The new issue of the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (Summer 1404/2025) is being published amidst significant challenges. The imposition of war, prolonged internet disruptions, and technical difficulties regarding reviewer access to our submission system have unfortunately hindered our timely publication schedule. We sincerely apologize to our esteemed readers for these delays.In this issue, we have endeavored to present a diverse collection of articles covering various facets of criminal science, encompassing both criminological and legal perspectives. The selected works offer a broad spectrum of research, ranging from domestic jurisprudence to issues of international law.Finally, we would like to extend an open invitation to legal scholars and researchers to submit their manuscripts for peer review and publication. We particularly welcome and prioritize submissions from single authors, fostering a platform for individual scholarly inquiry.
farhad Allahverdi
Abstract
Over the past two decades, narrative criminology has emerged as a theoretical approach that emphasizes the constitutive, directive, and justificatory power of stories in the formation of criminal action. Adopting an immanent critique - an evaluation based on the standards the approach itself has set ...
Read More
Over the past two decades, narrative criminology has emerged as a theoretical approach that emphasizes the constitutive, directive, and justificatory power of stories in the formation of criminal action. Adopting an immanent critique - an evaluation based on the standards the approach itself has set - this article examines whether narrative criminology has managed to move beyond the prevailing assumptions of mainstream criminology, or has merely reproduced classical concepts in new language. The findings indicate that the approach faces three fundamental misconceptions (reducing it to a research method, treating it as truth-discovery, and conflating it with mere storytelling) and two structural limitations (narrative silence and the politics of narrative). The central argument of the article is that the "tension between narrative and its non-discursive remainders" - such as traumatic silence and the embodied, habitual dimensions of action - is not an epistemological flaw, but rather the very condition of possibility for narrative criminology itself. Narrative criminology remains faithful to its theoretical promise only when, aware of these limitations and attentive to the role of power in the production, consumption, and appropriation of stories, it commits to partial and situated explanations of crime narratives and redefines itself as a "boundary-conscious analytical lens".
Heidar Piri; Akram Karim Zorab
Abstract
Despite advancements in human rights, the issue of child soldiers remains a serious challenge in the international arena. The debate over prosecuting these children stems from their dual status as both victims and perpetrators. This descriptive-analytical study, focusing on the case of Dominic Ongwen, ...
Read More
Despite advancements in human rights, the issue of child soldiers remains a serious challenge in the international arena. The debate over prosecuting these children stems from their dual status as both victims and perpetrators. This descriptive-analytical study, focusing on the case of Dominic Ongwen, examines whether the Rome Statute and existing mechanisms are sufficient to address crimes committed by child soldiers. How can a balance be struck between their victimization and criminal responsibility? Furthermore, can defenses such as duress, necessity, or mental impairment mitigate their criminal liability? Although the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Rome Statute prohibit the recruitment of children under 15, judicial practice shows that children above 15 may still face prosecution. This contradiction, along with ambiguities in defining "active participation in hostilities" and the criteria for attributing criminal responsibility, has created legal challenges in international criminal justice. The Dominic Ongwen case highlights the international legal system's confusion in dealing with the dual role of child soldiers (both offenders and victims). Findings indicate that traditional standards of criminal responsibility are inadequate for child soldiers, and the Rome Statute has failed to provide clear criteria for determining the criminal liability of child soldiers over 15. Additionally, general defenses (such as duress, necessity, or mental impairment) have been applied only restrictively in Ongwen’s case due to its unique circumstances. Thus, the current approach requires revision, moving toward an integrated model that balances fair trials for principal perpetrators with protection for child victims.
Behzad Razavifard; Mahdi Hamooleh
Abstract
Committing hate crimes as a violent act and intimidation against immigrants as one of the vulnerable groups, often due to their racial, national and ethnic identity, has always had a wide impact on the social relations of these groups. The problem of this research is the criminological investigation ...
Read More
Committing hate crimes as a violent act and intimidation against immigrants as one of the vulnerable groups, often due to their racial, national and ethnic identity, has always had a wide impact on the social relations of these groups. The problem of this research is the criminological investigation of hate-based crimes with an emphasis on immigrants, and from a criminological approach, it will explain the theories, approaches and causes and factors of the formation of roots leading to hatred. The research method will be descriptive-analytical with a qualitative approach, combined with in-depth (qualitative) interviews and organized through thematic analysis of the data, coding, and its interpretation to the point of theoretical saturation. In the analysis of the findings, various psychological, socio-cultural, economic and political causes and factors, each according to the current conditions and situation, can play a role as a stimulus and catalyst in the creation of crimes based on hatred towards immigrants, and the roots of its formation according to Related theories such as Agnew's general strain and Perry's structural action are analyzed. The continuous continuation of these crimes in the social structure can play a key role in the dual continuity of us and them in the immigrants and put them on the path of social disintegration, isolation and ostracism. These waves have never subsided in a world where hatred has become a part of people's daily life towards immigrants, and with each wave it can create turbulence in them.
Mohammad Ebrahim Shams Nateri; Ahmad Rahimi; hassan alipour; Alireza Alipanah
Abstract
This study employs a descriptive - analytical method and library-based sources to examine the criminal protection of commercial trust through an analysis of the offence of non-disclosure of a broker’s conflict of interest under Article 346 of the Commercial Code, with reference to Article 54 of ...
Read More
This study employs a descriptive - analytical method and library-based sources to examine the criminal protection of commercial trust through an analysis of the offence of non-disclosure of a broker’s conflict of interest under Article 346 of the Commercial Code, with reference to Article 54 of the 2024 Draft Commercial Code. It seeks to clarify the protected legal interest and the conditions governing criminal liability. The findings demonstrate that the protected value is commercial trust and the preservation of the broker’s financial impartiality. Commercial trust is conceived not merely as the personal confidence of one contracting party, but as an institutional foundation of intermediary market relations, the impairment of which may undermine the integrity and efficiency of commercial transactions. The criminal conduct consists of an omission-failure to disclose a benefit or share to an uninformed party. Accordingly, neither criminal fraud nor actual harm is required; the offence is therefore classified as a formal (conduct-based) crime. However, liability requires the broker’s knowledge of the relevant benefit or share and intentional concealment (general intent). Criminal responsibility arises upon the conclusion of a valid and legally effective transaction. Although the exclusion of punishment where the transaction fails or is declared void accords with the principles of strict interpretation and minimal criminal intervention, it may weaken deterrence and encourage risk-taking behavior regarding the duty of disclosure
adnan omrani far
Abstract
The penal minimalist approach, as one of the new developments in penal policies, emphasizes reducing the use of prison sentences and replacing them with corrective and preventive measures. This study aims to examine the bases of the tendency to criminal minimalism in the 2019 Reduction of Penalty Sentences ...
Read More
The penal minimalist approach, as one of the new developments in penal policies, emphasizes reducing the use of prison sentences and replacing them with corrective and preventive measures. This study aims to examine the bases of the tendency to criminal minimalism in the 2019 Reduction of Penalty Sentences Act and compare it with the American legal system. The findings of the study show that the tendency to criminal minimalism is rooted in criminological perspectives such as theories of social disability, criminal psychology, restorative and Marxist justice, which emphasize the ineffectiveness of prison in reforming criminals and increasing the cycle of crime. From a criminal law perspective, the reformability of criminals, reduction of economic costs, proportionality of punishment, protection of human rights, and inefficiency of the prison system are among the foundations of this approach. In the American penal system, especially after the enactment of the Prisoner Recidivism Reduction Act (2018), minimalist policies have been pursued with a focus on reducing prison terms, improving prison conditions, implementing correctional and rehabilitation programs, and reducing socio-economic inequalities in the administration of justice. Compared to the United States, Iranian penal reforms have mainly focused on reducing custodial sentences and developing leniency institutions. The present study, which was developed using a descriptive-analytical method, shows that penal minimalism can help reduce the prison population, reduce government costs, and increase the efficiency of criminal justice. However, the successful implementation of this approach in Iran requires the development of alternative policies, effective monitoring of the implementation of non-custodial sentences, and the expansion of support and correctional programs.
مهدیه وجدانی; Razieh Saberi; ali farhadi
Abstract
Judicial immunity has been recognized in many legal systems as a safeguard to ensure judicial independence and impartial adjudication. However, in certain circumstances, judicial decisions may result in material or moral harm to litigants, thereby conflicting with the principle of fair trial. This article ...
Read More
Judicial immunity has been recognized in many legal systems as a safeguard to ensure judicial independence and impartial adjudication. However, in certain circumstances, judicial decisions may result in material or moral harm to litigants, thereby conflicting with the principle of fair trial. This article examines the legal process and judicial practice governing claims for damages arising from judges’ fault and negligence before the High Disciplinary Court for Judges, with a particular focus on selected cases involving public funds. Employing a descriptive-analytical methodology based on documentary research, the study demonstrates that, notwithstanding the establishment of manifest fault in some cases, the High Disciplinary Court often reclassifies such conduct as “negligence” and consequently obliges the Public Fund to bear compensation. Moreover, the absence of the Ministry of Justice in the adjudicatory process increases the risk of conflicts of interest, while inadequate judicial awareness may amount to legal “fault”. The findings underscore the necessity of a more precise judicial distinction between fault and negligence, reforms in adjudicatory procedures, and the enhancement of judicial competence
