Feasibility study on assigning Hadd crimes to legal persons

Based on article 143 of Islamic Punishment Law (2013), if committed crimes by legal persons’ representatives are in name or benefit of such persons, penal responsibility should be considered. Article 14 of law has admired conviction of legal persons to pay blood-money and compensation by causality relationship between behavior and posed damages. However, whether Hadd crimes committed by legal person’s representatives can be designated to such legal person, is the greatest challenge of article on assigning crime to legal persons. Argument by article 143, and the special nature and features of Hadd crimes, has yielded to disputes among jurists. Some believe assigning Hadd crimes to legal persons is absolutely unacceptable while by referring to this article, others have accepted assigning such crimes to natural persons. Research findings indicate that one should divide Hadd crimes to two categories namely those Hadd crimes that are or are not assignable to a person. The first group crimes cannot be assigned to a legal person while it is possible to assign the second group crimes to legal persons.