Reference of Amendment Article 45 of Anti-narcotics Law to Criminal Jurisprudence: Restriction or Development of Strict Criminal Policy

With the approval of Article 45 of the amendment to the Anti-Narcotics Law in 2017 and the imposition of Ifsad fi al-arth for some drug crimes, an important change was made in the field of the death penalty in drug crimes. This change, which was made with the intention of eliminating and reducing executions, was a kind of expediency in accepting the suspicious jurisprudential Ifsad fi al-arth which, while changing the scope of strict criminal policy, has led to ambiguities and challenges. Primarily, the lawmaker has developed the scope of strict penal policy and execution though claiming he has decreased the punishment for the aforementioned crime. Secondly, the legislature has expanded the scope of the crime of Ifsad fi al-arth, which is a limited crime that does not comply with the rules of dare and Caution in issuing verdicts of death penalty, and with this interpretation, has made the abolition of the death penalty more difficult from a legal point of view. Thirdly, it seems that the inclusion of the verdict of Ifsad fi al-arth is not correct for all the clauses of the supplementary Article 45 of the amendment, and this adaptation can be justified only if the activity of the accused in the distribution and sale of narcotics is widespread and has led to corruption in society.