Criminal law and Criminology Studies

Abstract **Autumn 2025 (Volume 1404 in the Iranian calendar) Issue**
The autumn 1404 issue of the quarterly journal *Studies in Criminal Law and Criminology* is presented to our readers. It includes articles spanning the broad field of criminal sciences. The editorial board has consistently sought to preserve thematic diversity in each issue, so that the articles reflect the different branches of criminal sciences. This issue continues that approach in both legal scholarship and criminological research.
On the legal side, the issue addresses contemporary legal questions and historical topics. These range from an examination of self-defense against cyberattacks to a historical review of the crime of *baghi* (armed rebellion) and an overview of recent developments in criminal legislation in the region. On the criminological side, it covers the portrayal of capital punishment in cinema, a field study of the roots of theft among adolescents and its links to childhood adversity, and a reflection on shame, conscience, and reintegration into society at the intersection of literature and restorative justice. This interplay between the technical dimensions of law and the lived realities of crime is what gives criminal law its meaning and dynamism.
We sincerely thank the authors who entrusted the journal with their valuable research, and we are grateful to our readers for their continued support. We hope the findings and discussions in this issue will be of interest and use to scholars and practitioners in the field of criminal sciences.

Abstract Technological advancement has undergone a huge transformation in old forms of attack in such a way that various news is heard about the attacks by governmental and non-governmental actors towards the fundamental foundations of another country’s life and not necessarily the tangible borders of that land. Given that many types of modern attacks meet the criteria of aggression and on the other hand in 2010 after years of doubt and speculation states have agreed on the definition of aggression in Kampala and have drawn up an agreement and it is unlikely over the next few decades we can hope for the formation of a document to legalize these attacks one can optimistically believe that the Kampala document has such a capacity to solve the problem of legal vacuum in these years although it is not the final solution. By validating the hypothesis of the realization of aggression in cyber space, self-defense is raised against it by the violated country which can be resolved by resorting to existing rules such as Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations and the Tallinn Guidelines in such a way that cyber-attacks must necessarily fulfill the criteria of the threshold i.e. character, gravity and scale, be consider as an armed attack and be placed within the scope of the concept of force included in the article 2(4) Charter of the United Nations. Legal requirements of self-defense such as ‘necessity’ and ‘proportionality’ should be observed towards off a ‘present’ or ‘imminent’ danger of armed cyber aggression; however, things like the variety of attackers in the cyber space and collision of non-territorial borders can make the issue of self-defense subject to new bumps

Abstract This article analyzes the cinematic construction of the of Qisas -e nafs in Iranian films produced over the past four decades, through the lens of cultural criminology. To this end, drawing on the anarchist methodology of cultural criminology, David Altheide’s ethnographic content analysis is employed as the main analytical tool. Given the qualitative nature of the study, the sample was selected through non-probability purposive sampling, and ethnographic content analysis was conducted on thirty films. The findings indicate that the meaning of Qisas -e nafs, as a floating signifier, is reproduced across four interpretive spectra depending on narrative logic and representational patterns: legitimation, problematization, substitution, and semantic suspension. Furthermore, some critical filmmakers, by intervening in the meaning-making policies of the dominant discourse, challenge the hegemonic meaning of Qisas -e nafs and seek to destabilize official narratives of an order grounded in Qisas -e nafs. These representations are critically examined at three levels: structural victimization, collateral effects of Qisas -e nafs, and the wrongful convictions.

Abstract This article examines the influence of Islamist movements on criminal legislation in Pakistan, with particular emphasis on the political dimensions of criminal law. The central question is how Islamism has shaped the Islamization of criminal law and reconfigured the relationship between the state, Sharia, and society. Adopting a historical-analytical approach and a case study methodology, the study traces the evolution of Pakistan’s criminal justice system from the country’s establishment in 1947 through the Islamization program of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (1977–1988) to later reforms, particularly the Women’s Protection Act of 2006. The analysis shows that Islamization was not merely an effort to apply Islamic jurisprudence. Facing a legitimacy deficit, Zia presented the implementation of Sharia as both a religious obligation and a source of political legitimacy, introducing the Hudood Ordinances of 1979, the Qisas and Diyat laws, and institutions such as the Federal Shariat Court. Although Islamist actors, notably Jamaat-e-Islami, promoted these measures, the state adopted and applied Islamic norms selectively according to political considerations. Islamization therefore emerged as a negotiated and contested project shaped by the balance of power among state institutions, religious movements, legal elites, and social actors. Criticism from civil society, women’s rights activists, legal professionals, and international human rights bodies, particularly regarding women and religious minorities, prompted later revisions, most notably the 2006 Act, showing that Islamization was neither static nor irreversible. The study concludes that criminal law in Pakistan has become a key arena for redefining the relationship between Sharia, state authority, and political legitimacy.

Abstract This article presents a comparative study of the crime of "baghi" during the Safavid era and the Islamic Penal Code of 2013. Using a descriptive-analytical method and drawing upon reliable historical sources including ʿĀlam-ārā-ye ʿAbbāsī, Rawżat al-Ṣafawiyya, Aḥsan al-Tawārīkh, and Jahāngoshā-ye Khāqān as well as the 2013 Islamic Penal Code, this research elucidates the concepts of "baghi" and "bughat", the evolution of the associated legal provisions, and the role of this crime in maintaining social and political order. The central focus of the study is to compare and analyze the concept, instances and penalties associated with "baghi" across these two historical periods, addressing the extent to which the definition and rulings regarding this crime align with Imamia jurisprudence or have undergone transformation. The findings indicate that during the Safavid era, the term "baghi" was primarily used to denote armed insurrection and opponent to the government; Safavid historians sought to legitimize and necessitate the suppression and elimination of dissidents by applying jurisprudential terms such as :baghi" and "taghi" to them. Similarly, the Islamic Penal Code of 2013 classifies "baghi" as a crime against the government, utilizing a comparable definition. Although the jurisprudential roots of the crime have been largely preserved, the nature of the prescribed punishments has changed. This analysis contributes to a better understanding of the challenges and evolutions within Iran’s jurisprudence-based criminal law and clarifies the legal status of the crime of "baghi" within its historical context.

Abstract Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are significant developmental risk factors that, in interaction with individual, familial, and social conditions, may increase adolescents’ vulnerability to delinquency. This study examined the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and theft offending and compared these experiences among adolescents who had committed theft and non-delinquent adolescents in Alborz Province, Iran. This quantitative study used a causal-comparative (ex post facto), cross-sectional design. The sample included 62 adolescents aged 15–18 who had committed theft and resided in the Juvenile Correction and Rehabilitation Center of Alborz Province, and 742 non-delinquent adolescents (412 boys and 330 girls). Childhood trauma was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), supplemented by questions on violence against mothers and family dysfunction. Data were analyzed using the non-parametric Mann–Whitney U test. The findings showed that total childhood trauma scores and all dimensions were significantly higher among adolescents who had committed theft than among non-delinquent adolescents (p < .001). The largest difference concerned physical neglect, followed by other forms of maltreatment and neglect. The former group also reported more frequent exposure to violence against their mothers, parental divorce, parental substance abuse, and parental incarceration. These findings suggest that adolescent theft cannot be explained solely by a single risk factor or economic motivation. Rather, cumulative adverse childhood experiences may increase vulnerability to delinquency by undermining parental care and supervision, emotional bonds, and self-regulatory processes. Preventing adolescent theft therefore requires early identification of children exposed to adversity and stronger family-centered interventions and social support.

Abstract In this article, the author adopts an interdisciplinary approach to examine the concepts of conscience, shame, and reintegration at the intersection of John Braithwaite’s theory of reintegrative shaming and nineteenth-century literary representations. Through a comparative methodology, the study demonstrates that classical literature - both at the individual level (in the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky) and the social level (in the works of George Eliot) - depicts patterns of shame, moral transformation, and reintegration that structurally overlap with the core components of Braithwaite’s theory. In Dostoevsky’s seminal novel Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov’s trajectory of transformation - from guilt, isolation, and suffering to confession and redemption - constitutes an instance of individual reintegration grounded in inner experience, moral conscience, and reintegrative shame. Although this model operates on a more limited social scale, it remains comparable to the psychological dimensions of Braithwaite’s theory. Conversely, in Adam Bede, George Eliot constructs reintegration within a social framework shaped by communal empathy and the society’s ethical bonds - a structure that more closely parallels the socially oriented dimension of Braithwaite’s model. The study’s findings indicate that literature not only presents mechanisms of reintegration predating the formal articulation of reintegrative shaming theory, but also, through deeper exploration of human ethical and lived experience, offers a multilayered and more humanized understanding of the process by which an offender returns to the community.