A Case Study of Iran and the US Constitutional Constraints on Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice has a strong and influential impact, because it is responsible for defining the crime, categorizing the crime, determining the punishment, determining the process of trial and executing the penalty. Consequently, it should be restricted by some constraints and limitations. These restrictions can be imposed by the Constitution, which is the highest legal source in a country. The US Constitution has created a balance between the power of the government in controlling crime and the rights of citizens versus the excessive power of government. The Iranian Constitution has discussed the rights and the freedom of people in chapter three under the title of, "The Rights of the Nation." The legislator has set up some rules to let the Islamic Consultative Assembly to prove the necessity of restriction of the Criminal Justice. The Judiciary also must respect and pay attention to these principles in applying the Criminal Justice. This research seeks to study the necessity of the Constitutional restriction on the Criminal Justice as well as the existing Constitutional constraints of Iran and the US on the Criminal Justice.