The Crime of Agricultural Land Use Change Surrounded by Compassionate Approaches toward Minor Offenses

Although the conformity of agricultural land use change crime with grade seven criminal offenses has accelerated the process of dealing with the offenders through direct proceeding of trial in the court, it has imposed a sort of compassionate criminal policy against the objectives set by the law on the preservation of agricultural lands and gardens. An examination of judgments of sentencing passed on this crime along with a focus on such compassionate items as the passage of time for prosecution and execution, mitigation of punishment, postponement of sentencing and suspension of punishment, indicate that criminal protection of agricultural lands, in spite of its high expenses, has resulted in a sort of practical decriminalization. Due to the necessity of agricultural land use preservation, the establishment of restrictive regulations concerning the application of compassionate items, the enforcement of executive mechanisms for the demolition of buildings as well as the establishment of judicial-criminal differential policy are among the strategies recommended to mitigate the consequences of classifying this crime in the category of minor offenses.