Perjury Outside Court Through Jurisprudence and Criminal Law: Review and Critique of Supreme Court General Board Unanimous Decision No. 835

Kazemi, Sajjad; Kakavand, Mohammad

doi:10.22034/jclc.2025.2075269.1271

Perjury Outside Court Through Jurisprudence and Criminal Law: Review and Critique of Supreme Court General Board Unanimous Decision No. 835

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

sajjad kazemi ¹

Mohammad kakavand ²

¹ Associate Professor, Department of Law, Malayer University, Malayer, Iran

² PhD in Islamic Jurisprudence and Law, Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Malayer University, Malayer, Iran

10.22034/jclc.2025.2075269.1271

Abstract

Witness testimony may be given in court or outside court before authorities such as the prosecutor’s office, the Dispute Resolution Council, branches of the Supreme Court, or even notary offices. The first question is whether testimony given outside court can, in principle, produce the effects of testimony as a religious or legal proof. The second question is whether, if such testimony is false, perjury outside court is punishable from the perspective of jurisprudence and positive criminal law. Although Article 650 of the Islamic Penal Code of 1996 treats false testimony “in court and before official authorities” as a crime and subjects it to punishment, Unanimous Decision No. 835 of the Supreme Court General Board, dated 28/06/1402, also includes testimony given in the “prosecutor’s office” within the scope of that article. This approach by the Supreme Court General Board, apart from conflicting with the express text of the law, amounts to an unwarranted expansion of the scope of the provision and thus runs counter to the principle of interpretation in favor of the accused in criminal matters. Moreover, in jurisprudential sources, testimony attains the value and effects of a religious proof when it is given in the presence of the judge; therefore, it is generally punishable only when false testimony is given before the judge who issues the judgment. This study aims to answer the above questions and critically examine Unanimous Decision No. 835 of the Supreme Court General Board. It is written in a descriptive-analytical and critical manner, and its information is collected through library and documentary research. It appears that this unanimous decision has led to an unjustified generalization and expansion of Article 650 of the Islamic Penal Code, and that the General Board’s preference for expediency over legality in issuing Unanimous Decision No. 835 constitutes an undesirable and risky approach that may entail numerous effects and consequences.

Keywords

Perjury

Court

Prosecutor&‌‌‌rsquo

s Office

Punishment

Supreme Court

Subjects

Criminal Procedure Law

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