Murder in the Criminal Law of Iran and Islam
| Date | 01 April 1995 |
| Published date | 01 April 1995 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X9506800209 |
| Author | Ebrahim Ghodsi |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Murder
in
the
Criminal Law of
Iran
and
Islam
Dr Ebrahim Ghodsi*
Abstract Wilful murder,
the
deliberate killing of
another
human
being, is
considered acrime in
the
criminal law of Iran and Islam, and
the
con-
sequential penalty invoked is retaliation. The offence, as in English law,
requires proof of both
actus
reus
(external element)
and
mens
rea
(fault
element). The statutory offence may be found in Articles 14
and
204-268
of
the
1991 version of the Islamic Penal Code and in Articles
612-615
of
1996 Code.
In Islam
there
are
many
verses and precedents (of
the
Prophet and
the
Shiite Imams) condemning
the
crime of
murder
as illegal and retaliation
as
the
appropriate
punishment
for this crime provided
the
legal elements
are established. The requisite elements of the offence have
been
subjected
to varied review in Iran
and
Islam. The focus of this article is to study the
key ingredients in more depth.
Retaliation as a
punishment
has
three
key aspects: it is personal; it
should be equal
with
the crime; and to be performed according to
the
will
and option of
the
avengers of blood.
Murder in
the
criminal
law
of
Iran
and
Islam
Homicide is divided into
three
groups in
Iran
and
Islam: wilful murder,
quasi-intentional homicide
and
unintentional
homicide.
It
is instructive
to consider
each
in
turn.
In
the
case of wilful murder,
the
murderer
intends
both
the
action
and
the
result or consequence: A
with
the
intention
of killing B shoots
him
and
consequently kills him. This represents aparadigm scenario of wilful
murder. In quasi-intentional homicide,
the
murderer
intends
the
action,
but
not
the
result: A
with
the
intention
of
hurting
B does
the
action
and
does
not
expect or
intend
the
consequence,
but
B is killed. In
uninten-
tional homicide,
the
murderer
neither
intends
the
action
nor
the
result:
A goes
hunting
and
shoots a fawn,
but
the
shot
accidentally hits
Band
kills him.
In this article wilful
murder
and
its elements
are
studied according to
Iranian
and
Islamic law. The
constituent
legal elements of wilful
murder
incorporate
both
the
physical
element
of
the
crime
and
also
the
requisite
mental
ingredient. The discussion below concentrates on Islamic law
and
provides acomparison of
the
similarities
and
differences
that
prevail
in
other
jurisdictions.
*Assistant Professor. Department of Law. School of
Human
and
Social Sciences.
Mazandaran University. Babolsar, Iran. The
author
would like to express his sincere
thanks to Ms Azarakhsh. Dr Bakhshi and Dr MaR for help in the preparation of this
article
and
for
their
critical review of it.
160
To continue reading
Request your trial