ABSTRACT
FACTS ABOUT IRAN Iran: home to one of the ancient civilizations of the world, located in southwest Asia, with an area of about 1,648,195 sq km, is a rugged, mountainous country with a central basin comprising deserts. Iran’s coastline along the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea is 2440 km; Iran shares common sea borders with Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the Emirates, and Oman and land borders with Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Pakistan. Climate: Iran’s climate ranges from arid or semiarid to subtropical along the Caspian coast and the northern forests. Population: According to a 2013 estimation, Iran’s population is about 75,000,000 consisting of dierent ethnic groups like Persians 61%, Azeris 16%, Kurds 10%, Lurs 6%, Balochis 2%, Arabs 2%, Turkmen and Turkic tribes 2%, and 1% of other groups; however, the only ocial language, which most people speak is Persian. Economy: Iran’s economy is marked by statist policies and a large public sector governed by the state that is mostly inecient and relies on oil and gas export, which provides a large share of government revenues. Government: e current Iranian political system, named the Islamic Republic, is an unusual amalgamation of theocratic and democratic elements based on the 1979 Constitution that comprises several intricately connected governing bodies. e leader of the Islamic Revolution (“e Supreme Leader”), as the most powerful man in the system, is the commander of military and law enforcement forces, appoints the head of the judiciary, and is responsible for the delineation and supervision of the general policies
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Introduction: e Children and Juvenile Criminal Justice System in Iran 164 A Historical Overview of the Juvenile Justice System in Iran 165
Juvenile Criminal Justice before the Revolution 165 Juvenile Criminal Justice aer the Revolution 168
Juvenile Delinquency in Iran: e Current Situation 171 Child Delinquency in Iran: Statistical View 171 Children and Juvenile Delinquency in Iran: Approaches and Explanations 172
Juvenile Criminal Justice in Iran: e Future 174 Conclusion 175 Review/Discussion Questions 176 References 176
In this chapter, we intend rst to provide a general historical background of the current juvenile justice system. Juvenile delinquency in Iran began to rise gradually as a result of industrialization and transition from traditional to modern society aer the Constitutional Revolution of 1906 and throughout the twentieth century, and like other domains of the Iranian legal system became one of the arenas of conict between tradition and modernity. e mainstream traditional legal perspective, which is strongly related to the Shiite jurisprudence, grants authority to religious regulations in all spheres. On the other hand, the rising modernist approach tries to focus on social and international changes. erefore, it was not surprising that aer the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the conict turned into a more political rather than a purely legal one.
