A comparative study of the principles governing judicial sentencing in Iranian and German criminal law

Judicial Sentencing is a link between punishment legislative and its enforcement, which judges in courts are in charge of. In order to determine the appropriate punishment, it must be governed by principles so that it does not cause injustice. Each country may foresee certain principles for this stage, which derive from the type of its legal system and goals. With the aim of examining the principles that govern the sentencing, this article has chosen Iran and Germany legal systems as two civil law countries. This study has been done by descriptiveanalytical method. Examining these codes shows there are common principles in these legal systems that govern the imposition of punishment and determination of its amount and type. The most important principles are the legality principle of punishment, the principle of non-retroactivity of punishment and the principle of proportionality. Principles such as the fairness of punishment and the non bis in idem are provided in German penal code, but in Iranian law, despite its acceptance, it has not yet entered the penal code. However, both countries suffer from deficiencies in the field of principles governing the determination of the amount and type of punishment in the sentencing, which can be partially compensated by issuing guidelines such as sentencing guidelines in common law.