Convergence or Divergence Deterioration Causing Punitive Responses under Criminal and Administrative Law: A Comparative Study of Legal Systems of Iran and France

Deteriorating factors of criminal punishment result in preventing enforcement of punishment, even if the crime is proven. Objective factors deteriorating criminal punishment include the lapse of time, resjudicta principle, general amnesty and abrogation of code.  Personal factors include repentance, death, forgiveness of victim and madness. This paper examines causes of decline of disciplinary punishment in administrative law of Iran and France and seeks to answer the question whether deteriorating factors of penal punishments in criminal law lead to the fall of disciplinary punishment or whether there are some differences. When relevant laws are examined in depth, it seems that no legal regulation stating the causes of the fall of criminal punishment can be extended to administrative infractions, and if we consider the legislature’s neutral attitude towards the concept of intentional, we must accept that none of the factors cause the criminal punishment to decline. The legislature does not explicitly mention this but according to the spirit of the legal system of the countries under study and rule of priority when a factor leads to the decline of criminal punishment, it is clear that that factor can also lead to decline of disciplinary punishments. Also, it can be argued that the general rules governing the decline of criminal sanctions can lead to the decline of disciplinary liability, and some different rules may apply to each area.