Evidence, certainty, and doubt: Judge’s knowledge in Iranian criminal sanctioning

This chapter examines some of the provisions in the penal code with respect to judge’s knowledge. These provisions regulate the age of culpability in criminal activities. The chapter considers how the notion of judge’s knowledge rests uneasily on judges’ perceptions of the elements that make up the crime. It discusses the elaboration of judge’s knowledge in the new codes, especially with respect to juvenile defendants, and suggests a drawing of boundaries around or imposing a limit upon what can comprise the basis of a judge’s decision, particularly in capital cases. The chapter argues that in the new codes and shows increased attention by Iran’s legislative and judicial bodies to the development of parameters to guide judges in their legal rulings. At the same time, the elaboration of judge’s knowledge as a form of evidence signals the attempt to preserve, in the now-codified sharia, the historical openness it ideally possesses.