Post by Kunkler on Mar 11, 2011 2:08:52 GMT 4
The Special Courts of the Clergy (Dadgah-E Vizheh-Ye Ruhaniyyat) and the Repression of Dissident Clergy in Iran
Mirjam Künkler
Princeton University
May 13, 2009
Abstract:
The paper focuses on the special courts for the clergy (SCC) in Iran, their legal mandate, functions, performance and transformation over time. Set up in the early years of the revolution, the SCC were formally re-established in 1987 by decree of Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, and endowed with an ordinance by Leader Khamenei in 1990. The official function of the SCC is to investigate criminal transgressions of the clergy, but the courts have increasingly become an instrument for the suppression of dissident clerics.
The SCC function under the direct jurisdiction of the Leader, and not, as all other courts, within the framework of the judiciary. Whereas the judges of other courts are appointed by the Head of the Judiciary, the chief judges and prosecutors of the SCC are directly appointed by the Supreme Leader.
As the SCC are not part of the official judiciary system, they run their own security network, including their own prison system. The Supreme Court, being part of the judiciary, has no jurisdiction to review cases of the SCC. Instead, appeals are heard by another chamber of the SCC. All court proceedings are closed to the public and whatever other laws may apply to legal proceedings and prison conditions in the country, they do not apply to the SCC.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID1519847_code1321417.pdf?abstractid=1505542&mirid=2
Mirjam Künkler
Princeton University
May 13, 2009
Abstract:
The paper focuses on the special courts for the clergy (SCC) in Iran, their legal mandate, functions, performance and transformation over time. Set up in the early years of the revolution, the SCC were formally re-established in 1987 by decree of Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, and endowed with an ordinance by Leader Khamenei in 1990. The official function of the SCC is to investigate criminal transgressions of the clergy, but the courts have increasingly become an instrument for the suppression of dissident clerics.
The SCC function under the direct jurisdiction of the Leader, and not, as all other courts, within the framework of the judiciary. Whereas the judges of other courts are appointed by the Head of the Judiciary, the chief judges and prosecutors of the SCC are directly appointed by the Supreme Leader.
As the SCC are not part of the official judiciary system, they run their own security network, including their own prison system. The Supreme Court, being part of the judiciary, has no jurisdiction to review cases of the SCC. Instead, appeals are heard by another chamber of the SCC. All court proceedings are closed to the public and whatever other laws may apply to legal proceedings and prison conditions in the country, they do not apply to the SCC.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID1519847_code1321417.pdf?abstractid=1505542&mirid=2