Study of compensation for illegal detention in the penal system of Iran and the People's Republic of China

The right to detain the suspects and accused is one of the most important given to the judicial authorities to fight crimes. The process of the penal proceeding may result in the aquital or non-prosecution of the accused. Therefore, the moral and fair trial requires compensation of the damages resulted from unreasonable detention by the government. The Criminal Procedure Law approved in 1392 has recognized the responsibility of the government against the damages resulted from unreasonable detention due to the mistake made by the judge or other persons. The said law has predicted a particular procedure in this respect. The China lawmaker has also recognized the State Compensation Lawin 1994. Despite some differences in the method applied for compensation of the damages, the two legal systems have some similarities such as the possibility of compensation when the order of non-prosecution or innocence is issued. Moreover, the governments of the two countries are also fully responsible for compensation and can refer to the main faulty only upon compensation of the damages. This article tries to analyze the history of compensation as well as the substantial and general conditions upon which the unreasonable detention shall be compensated in the two penal systems.