Analyzing the Factors Relevant to the Severity of Tazir Thefts Based on the Pattern of Hadd Thefts (Jurisprudential Analysis of Article 276 of Iranian Islamic Penal Code)

Article 276 of Iranian Islamic penal code states that theft when not accompanied by conditions which lead to Hadd punishments shall be classified as one of Tazir thefts as the case may be. Therefore, it is possible to enumerate 14 or 15 Tazir thefts (including article 270) each lacking only one condition required for Hadd theft. In addition it is possible to enumerate thefts which do not possess two, three or even four conditions required for Hadd theft. But are all of these thefts equally severe? Or should the judges determine the amount of punishment according to the severity of the crime? In this article with respect to the pattern of Hadd theft and findings of criminology; it has been answered to the question that “which conditions of Hadd theft are mostly effective in making Tazir thefts more severe? Findings of this study showed that thefts which lack “Breaking” and “stealthiness” are mostly effective in reducing the severity of Tazir thefts.