The challenge of balancing the rights of the plaintiff and the defendant in light of the reform-oriented approach of the Iranian criminal legislator

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Law Department, Rah Danesh Institute of Higher Education, Babol, Iran.

2 PhD student in Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran

Abstract
In recent years, those involved in our country's judicial system have tried to benefit from new ‎scientific and empirical achievements in enacting criminal laws and regulations, paying special ‎attention to new developments in the fields of criminology and penal science. This attention, ‎especially in some areas, has led to the introduction of institutions such as suspension of ‎punishment, postponement of sentencing, and conditional release into the country's penal ‎system, with the influence of the teachings and discourses of international criminal law and ‎modern criminology. On the other hand, in some cases, our legislation, due to the influence of ‎Sharia and social requirements, has defined institutions such as pardon and repentance as tools ‎on the path of reform and rehabilitation of criminals. The main goal of these measures has been ‎to reform the behavior and rehabilitation of criminals, and the legislator has tried to guide the ‎country's penal system towards rehabilitation and reform, focusing on protecting the rights of ‎the accused. However, this focus has sometimes been such that the necessary balance between ‎the rights of the plaintiff and the accused has been disrupted. In such a way that some of the ‎rights of the plaintiffs of crimes have been weakened in the new laws and in some cases have ‎even been damaged. Therefore, it can be said that the recent criminal legislation has become a ‎law that protects the accused rather than creating a proper balance between the rights of the ‎parties. Ultimately, this trend reflects the challenge that legislators face; a challenge that requires ‎reviewing and creating a logical balance between the rights of the accused and the plaintiff so ‎that the country's criminal system, while maintaining justice, can also achieve the goals of ‎reform and rehabilitation.‎

Keywords


  • Receive Date 11 October 2025
  • Revise Date 12 December 2025
  • Accept Date 30 January 2026
  • First Publish Date 30 January 2026
  • Publish Date 21 April 2026