An Approach to Public Disclosure as a Punishment in Shiite Jurisprudence focusing on Iranian Statute Law

Public disclosure "Tash-heer" is one of the discretionary punishments which most jurisprudents consider as the chief punishment against perjury (false testimony) and according to the jurisprudence, it can also be enforced against false accusers of adultery ( Qazif), pimp (Qawad), defrauder (swindler) and insolvent. There are disagreements among jurisprudents regarding the philosophy, the cases and the qualities of enforcement of the public disclosure. In the Iranian Statute Law, the public disclosure (Tash-heer) has also been recognized as one of the discretionary punishments and in various laws, including two important criminal laws, i.e., Islamic Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code, cases applied and the method of enforcement has been stipulated.Today, two important questions are put forward in this regard: Firstly, can public disclosure as a punishment be used against offenses other than the crimes mentioned in the jurisprudential texts while having recourse to the unity of a single criterion (Vahdat-e-Melak) and manipulation (Tanqyh Manat) against other offenses including the emergent crimes? Secondly, despite the development of the societies and the advancement of technology and the emergence of the mass media such as TV, newspaper, internet, etc. shall public disclosure as a punishment be enforced as it was previously practiced and turn the offender around in public and/or can these media be used for the enforcement of the public disclosure? Subsequent to studying and conceptualizing the public disclosure in jurisprudence, stating the cases, the philosophy and the quality of enforcement of the public disclosure as well as expressing the views of the jurisprudents and also the status of the public disclosure in the Iranian Legal System and as stipulated the relevant legal articles, this paper makes an attempt to respond to the above mentioned questions through a descriptive and analytical method.