A Comparative Study of the Crime of Embezzlement in Iranian and British Law with a Look at International Documents

Corruption at the highest levels of society, the most important of which is embezzlement, has spread with the development of societies and is hurting people and governments. Such phenomena are important in Iran, because it is an Islamic State, and these acts endanger the freedom, political development and legalism, and ultimately the legitimacy of the system. Despite the intensification of the punishment for the perpetrators of the crime of embezzlement, its perpetration continues on a large scale. In this study, we examine the objective effects of the crime of embezzlement in the law of Iran and the United Kingdom by looking at international documents. In Iranian law, the betrayal of government officials and employees concerning the property entrusted to them on the occasion of duty is considered as embezzlement and the perpetrator deserves a “ta'zir” punishment. Even the taking of property of non-governmental joint-stock companies, parties, unions, private banks, and cooperatives by their employees for their own benefit or the benefit of others can be subject to the crime of embezzlement under certain conditions. Under English law, the crime of embezzlement is a form of theft, if a property is first deposited and seized by people who are considered trustworthy, such as employees, and then those people change it in their favor or ownership. “Stolen”, which is a kind of emphasis on the crime of embezzlement. The international community is also working to combat this crime at the international level. Hence the ratification of UN conventions, including Merida, the American Anti-Corruption Convention, and the African Anti-Corruption Protocol. These conventions, through a comprehensive definition of embezzlement, and the expansion of the scope of perpetrators and properties subjected to this crime, seek to effectively combat this crime by anticipating the criminalization of preliminary acts and the concealment and maintenance of the embezzled property, and the adoption of mechanisms for international cooperation.