Analysis of the Effects of Ignorance and Mistake on the Mental Element of Crimes Against Physical Integrity in Iranian Criminal Law and Imami Jurisprudence
Keywords:
Mistake, Ignorance, Crimes Against Bodily Integrity, Mens Rea, Imamiyah JurisprudenceAbstract
Today, the precise identification of the boundaries of will and awareness in attributing criminal conduct and determining criminal liability in crimes against the physical integrity of individuals has gained heightened importance due to its direct impact on delineating the boundary between qisas and diyah and preventing interpretive inconsistency. The principal issue of this study is the identification and analysis of the effects of mistake and ignorance on the realization, weakening, or elimination of the mental element of such crimes in Iranian criminal law and Imami jurisprudence. It appears that the governing logic concerning the effects of ignorance and mistake in Imami jurisprudence, relying on the distinction between excusable and culpable ignorance and supported by doctrines such as the Rule of Darʾ and the principle of presumption of innocence, possesses greater conceptual and structural coherence. In contrast, the Islamic Penal Code has reflected these effects in a scattered, at times incomplete, manner and without clear operational criteria, thereby creating grounds for inconsistency in application. The systematic elucidation of the effects of doubt and mistake in assessing the mental element and their consequences for the transformation of offenses among intentional crime, quasi-intentional crime, and pure mistake, through a comparative analysis between Imami jurisprudence and positive law, constitutes the objective of the present study. This research was conducted through a descriptive-analytical method based on library sources. The overall conclusion indicates that the integration of legislative and interpretive standards and the reconstruction of operational criteria are essential conditions for achieving judicial security in the assessment of the mental element of this category of crimes.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Ramin Fathalizadeh (Author); Seyed Alireza Mirheidari Langroudi; Amirreza Mahmoudi (Author)
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