Research and Development in Public Law

Research and Development in Public Law

The Duality of Iran's Criminal Policy in Alternative Sanctions to Imprisonment: An Analysis of the Supervision Order and Deprivation of Social Rights

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
hadi keramati moez 1
amir nazari 2
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law, Farabi College, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
2 Master’s Student in Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law, Farabi Colleges, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/jrpl.2026.2086033.1211
Abstract
The persistent growth of the prison population, the declining effectiveness of the rehabilitative functions of imprisonment, the economic and social costs of maintaining convicted offenders, and the adverse consequences of custodial sanctions for the social reintegration of offenders have increasingly underscored the need to reconsider criminal policy and to expand the use of alternative penal measures. In response to these developments, the Iranian legislature, drawing upon contemporary advances in criminal law and criminology, introduced alternatives to imprisonment under the Islamic Penal Code of 2013 as a mechanism for promoting differentiated criminal justice and reducing reliance on custodial sentences. among these sanctions, the probation order and deprivation of social rights occupy a particularly significant position. Nevertheless, the marked differences in the underlying philosophy, objectives, and mechanisms of implementation of these two institutions give rise to a fundamental question: on what normative and criminal policy foundations is this duality in Iran’s criminal policy based, and how can the rehabilitative and reintegrative approach embodied in the probation order be reconciled with the restrictive nature of deprivation of social rights within the framework of alternatives to imprisonment?

This study adopts a descriptive-analytical methodology to examine the normative foundations, objectives, and functions of these two legal institutions. The findings reveal that the probation order, by relying on judicial supervision, rehabilitative interventions, institutional support, education, treatment, and the enhancement of offenders’ personal and social skills, embodies a reform-oriented and rehabilitative criminal policy. Rather than serving a predominantly punitive purpose, it is primarily designed to reduce criminogenic factors and facilitate the successful social reintegration of offenders. by contrast, although deprivation of social rights is classified as an alternative to imprisonment, it reflects a restrictive and deterrent approach grounded in risk management and the protection of the public interest by limiting the convicted person's access to certain rights, privileges, and social positions. Despite these differences, the two institutions are not contradictory; rather, they operate in a complementary and mutually reinforcing manner. Through their combined application, the Iranian legislature has adopted a differentiated and multi-layered criminal policy toward offenders—one that seeks not only to reduce reliance on imprisonment but also to promote the concurrent objectives of offenders’ social reintegration, the prevention of recidivism, the protection of society, the individualization of penal sanctions, and the realization of the principle of proportionality between the offence, the offender's personality, and the penal response.
Keywords
Criminal Policy
Alternative Sanctions to Imprisonment
Probationary Supervision
Deprivation of Social Rights
Subjects
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Research and Development in Public Law

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 31 July 2026