Research and development in criminal law and criminology

Research and development in criminal law and criminology

Differentiated Criminal Procedure in the-Trial Stage of Terrorism Cases: A Review of the Legal System of the United States, the United Kingdom and Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Hasan Ali moazenzadegan 1
Ehsan shakib nezhad 2
Mohsen kHORRAMDELL 3
1 Professor of Criminal Law and Criminology Department, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran
2 MA in International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Qom, Qom, Iran
3 Ph.D. Student in Criminal Law and Criminology Department, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran
10.22034/jclc.2025.2068077.1230
Abstract
The manner of prosecuting this violent crime during the preliminary investigation phase has been a subject of attention, concomitant with the increasing reach of terrorism and the necessity for effective countermeasures against this ominous phenomenon. Therefore, the drafting and establishment of special regulations aimed at preventing the occurrence or escalation of terrorist attacks in the pre-trial stage plays a vital and significant role in enhancing the state’s protective function toward society.

Differentiated proceedings in the realm of terrorism are justified from two perspectives—the offender and the victim—by considering the high-risk personality of terrorist perpetrators and the complexity of detecting imminent terrorist acts, as well as the need to formulate protective aspects and compensation for victims.

Following the September 11 attacks and the July 2005 bombings, the legal systems of the United States and the United Kingdom adopted regulations based on a differentiated approach. These include mechanisms such as preventive detention, surveillance of communications, the use of special agents to monitor potential activities, and the restriction of the right to access a lawyer. The findings indicate that these two countries, with a security-driven approach, have distanced themselves from the tenets of modern social defense and tend towards a return to the classical school of criminal justice.

In contrast, despite the ratification of scattered regulations such as the Law on Combating the Financing of Terrorism, the Iranian legal system lacks a comprehensive and coherent framework for differentiated proceedings in terrorist crimes.

This paper seeks to answer the question of what differentiated mechanisms the legal systems of the United States and the United Kingdom utilize in the preliminary investigation of terrorist crimes, and how Iran’s laws can be reviewed and supplemented in line with national interests. This research, utilizing library resources and employing a descriptive-analytical methodology, attempts to answer this question and strives to provide solutions for addressing the existing deficiencies and gaps in the Iranian legal system through a comparative study.
Keywords
Terrorism
Differentiated Procedure
Pre-Trial
System of the United States
the United Kingdom
Iran
Subjects
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Research and development in criminal law and criminology
Volume 2, Issue 4 - Serial Number 4
March 2026
Pages 450-493