The necessity of removing Article 220 of the Islamic Penal Code in the light of the requirements of rulemaking and interpretation of the criminal law

Article 220, based on Article 167, states the possibility of punishing the “Hodoud” that are not mentioned in the law. Regarding the interpretation of this article (167) and its interpretation capability in criminalizing the “Hodoud” that lack legal elements in the Islamic Penal Code and its relationship with article 36, has been analyzed as general and specific rules, some have considered it as ruling and condemned. From another point of view, the mentioned sources and fatwas are interpreted as the sources of the law in article 36 and some have considered article 220 to be the legislator's interpretation of this article. In this article, stated that article220 is not consistent with the fundamental values underlying article 36, 166 and 169, the general principles of the Islamic Penal Code as general rules governing the specific articles of this law, and the fundamental principles and values of criminal law. Article 167 is a guiding principle in the interpretation of the law and should not be cited as a criminal principle or rule. Based on this and based on paragraphs 1-2 and 6-1 of the third article of the Law on Compilation and Revision of Laws and Regulations of the country, there is a need to remove this article.