The Imbecile’s Confession in Criminal Actions: a Criticism of Article 170 of the Islamic Penal Code

The imbecile, due to the intellectual deficiency, lacks capacity to do financial acts and his acts are inoperative in this regard. Consequently, the imbecile’s confession in the sense of a declaration against oneself should not be valid principally in case it has financial implications. In a criminal case, confession may be made about a claim for damages resulting from a crime which would be evidently invalid if involving financial compensation; however, if confession is in the context of the public aspect of a crime, the Islamic Penal Code legislator has declared it operative in article 170 of the Code. In the present research, the Imamia jurisprudential sources have been studied through a descriptive-analytical method and it has been concluded that as far as financial punishmentS such as blood money and fines are concerned, the imbecile’s confession is not operative, neither may it be made operative subsequently. Confession about non-financial penal sanctions is operative, though the subject of crime may be the others’ financial rights. Additionally, the imbecile’s confession with regard to the financial liability of a crime, whether its subject is a debt or a specified object is not valid and not only it cannot be made operative by his guardians but it won’t become operative in case incapacity declines.