Juvenile's Age of Criminal Responsibility in Islamic Penal Code of 2013

The minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) has historically been a critical matter in Islamic penal codes of Iran. In one hand, considering sexual puberty as a criterion for the MACRin Islamic penal code of 1991, had led to much criticism inside and outside the country. On the other hand, lack of distinction between minimum age of criminal responsibility and penal majority had caused juveniles to enter into full responsibility for crimes committed, immediately after they reached sexual puberty. Iranian penal code of 2013 has tried to solve these problems. Distinguishing between MACR and penal majority and widening the judicial discretion for avoiding the Hudood and Qisas in relation to people under the age of 18 are some of the mechanisms provided in this code to improve the rules of MACR. This article explains the rules of Islamic Penal Code of 2013 in this respect and analyzes them with a comparative approach.