A Comparative Study of Individualizing Proofs in Criminal Law of Islam, Iran, and France

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Faculty member of Tehran University

Abstract

Islam’s legal system has been established independent from other three great legal systems in the world. And this independence can be spoken of in the field of positive differential policies as an important part of this legal system and based on several rational arguments.
Thus, in the present article, the author tries to depict the principle of equality in the system of proofs as the primary rule; and then, he will use the principle of individualizing as the secondary and particular- in other words, exceptional- principle to depict a model of judging proofs in the Islamic Law as well as Iranian Law.
As a matter of fact, so far, these principles have been used together with the principle of equality concerning punishments. In the present study, however, they have been spoken of in the field of the system of proofs in the Islamic penal law and this shows that development of proofs is not restricted to the severity of crime; and the type of crime, victim, and sometimes even the conditions of the victim should be taken into account in the differential system of proofs in Islam. Findings of this study and its analyses show that these differential policies, as compared to other legal systems such as that of France, enjoy a more extensive field; and, in most non-Islamic legal systems, either there is no such differentiation in positive policies at all or only severity of crime- has been taken as the axis.