Comparative Study of Arrest by Citizens

Although the sensitive task of security establishment is entrusted to the law enforcement agencies by the citizens, in emergency situations they could undertake this essential role. Subsection (1) of Article 45 of the Criminal procedure is an obvious example of citizen participation in the formation of public safety. Accordingly, citizens would assume the law officers task in arresting suspects who have committed crimes that are punishable by death penalty, life imprisonment, amputation and intentional bodily harms with half of the full blood price, Tazir grade Three and above, if they are committed the way that is referred to as witnessed. Therefore, every individual is entitled to apprehend wrongdoers. Of course, this kind of legislation is not far from criticism and ambiguity, because the legislator failed to make clear the legal terms of necessary prerequisites before, during and after the arrest. This could give rise to the deprivation of civil liberties, irregularities and undue interference in privacy. The aim of this writing is to investigate the frameworks of necessary conditions that must be followed in these procedures. Theoretical and comparative studies suggest that despite of the establishment of these institutions in the Iranian legal system, necessary rules and procedures in protecting rights of citizens and suspects are ambiguous.