Investigating the Institution of Repentance from the Perspective of Iranian Penal Code, Sharia, Documents and Verdicts of International Criminal Courts

In Iranian criminal law, sharia and the documents of international criminal courts, the institution of repentance is one of the most desirable methods of return and remorse of criminals and rehabilitation of their personality, which leads to the elimination or reduction of punishment. This influential institution, which was approved in 2014 following the famous verdicts of Imami jurists in Articles 114 to 119, occurs, without the need for any special legal formalities, only through the serious and real will of the offender to leave sin. To enforce it, however, the legislature has enacted rules such as heartfelt repentance, non-delay, genuine remorse, and a serious determination to seek redress. But in the documents and verdicts of the international criminal courts, there is no reference to the institution of repentance, and only remorse is considered as one of the mitigating qualities, which is very similar to the institution of repentance in Iranian law. According to the penal code, the scope of repentance is in the majority of hadd offences, but in tazir offences, it can be applied as mitigation of punishment and rarely as the fall of punishment. This is provided in the formal rules. Hence, the courts have a clear position in the face of the institution of repentance.