Legal Analysis of the Illegal Alteration of Land Use by Fencing in Agricultural Lands and Gardens with an Emphasis on Judicial Precedent

The unauthorized alteration of land use was criminalized in 1374 and has been amended in 1385. Although it can be compared with destruction and illegal possession, this offense is defined as a specific crime and has its own elements. There is two kind of unauthorized alteration: the alteration through conducts specified in note 1, article 1, without the permission of the commission mentioned in this note, and through conducts specified in note 4 without obtaining the agreement of the Agricultural Jihad Organization of the provinces and without observance of environmental regulations. To be convicted of this crime two element must be proved: The requirements of regulations related to the alteration of use and the “reserve of continuity of production” requirement is violated. Fencing in Agricultural Lands and Gardens considering that it is dependent on the agricultural sector, is subject to the conducts specified in note 4 of article 1 of Conservation of Agricultural Land and Gardens Act, approved in 1385, and requires the approval of the provincial Agricultural Jihad Organization and compliance with environmental regulations if it is not supposed as an obstacle to the continuation of production. This paper, with a descriptive-analytical approach and taking into account the Conservation of Agricultural Land and Gardens Act, approved in 1374 amended in 1385, as well as focusing on the judicial precedent of the Iranian criminal courts, concluded that, if fencing in agricultural land and gardens prevents the continuation of production in the agricultural sector, the unauthorized alteration offense occurs.