Feasibility of Refer to Popular Vote to Enact Laws About Crime and Punishment in Islam, Iran and Italy’s Legal Systems

Article 59 of the Iranian Constitution mentions the possibility of refer to popular vote through referendum on very important issues. One of the examples of this direct legislation is to enact laws about crimes and punishments; until today, the Iranian legal system has not referred to the referendum in general and to the legislative referendum in criminal matters in particular. It may be argued that given the impact of Islam on some crimes and punishments in Iran, Basically, referring to the opinions of the people on the mentioned issues should have a religious restriction. However, governments like Italy have used legislative referendums about criminal issues; according to Article 75 of the Italian Constitution, a referendum can repeal a parliamentary law, and this rule has been implemented at various times, even in criminal policy. In this study, using a descriptive-analytical method and after examining the principles of referring to public opinion in criminal matters from an Islamic perspective and presenting the features related to the Iranian and Italian systems, we will reach the conclusion that holding a referendum to determine criminal policy in Iran, provided that certain conditions are respected, not only has no legal and religious prohibition, but getting ideas from the Italian procedure can be considered a significant help in achieving the following issues: Improving the quality of governance of the Islamic Republic, increasing the level of mutual trust between people and the rulers and finally adapting the situation of crimes and punishments to the current concerns of society. This does not mean that the state should not monitor the implementation of referendums to avoid non-rational decisions by the people.