Jurisprudential Examination of the Defendant's Right to Medical Examination in Iranian and French Law

The present study tries to investigate and analyze the right of medical examination of the accused in the Iranian and French legal systems in order to reveal the limitations of this right in the two legal systems.

This research was conducted with the method of library studies and in a descriptive-analytical way, by referring to legal texts, laws and studying the legal systems of the two countries of Iran and France, the necessary information was obtained and analyzed.

The main question for the research is "Is the right of the accused to medical examination recognized in the legal system of Iran and France?". The findings of the research indicate that in this regard, Article 51 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 2012 stipulates: "According to the request of the person under observation or one of his close relatives, one of the doctors, determined by the prosecutor, will examine the person under observation. The doctor's certificate is recorded in the file. Bringing this article in the 1392 Criminal Procedure Law shows the legislator's attention to maintaining the health of the person under observation and respecting his rights, which is well mentioned in the 1392 Criminal Procedure Law, considering the lack of provision for the extension of the period under observation regarding the requirement to Medical examination or examination at the time of observation in police places is silent for more than 24 hours and this matter is mentioned only as an optional right for the person under observation at the beginning. This right is stated in Article 63-3 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure: "Any person under observation can be examined by a doctor selected by the public prosecutor or a judicial police officer... at any time by a prosecutor or a judicial police officer." He can choose exactly one doctor to examine a person." In addition to granting the aforementioned right to the person under observation, the French legislator also gave the public prosecutor (city) or judicial police officer the authority to appoint a doctor and examine the person under observation at any time.

What can be deduced from the examination of the materials related to the right of medical examination of the accused from the laws of Iran and France is that the use of the right to medical examination is optional and is based on the request, and the bailiffs or prosecutors do not have an obligation to introduce a doctor from the very beginning. When an illness or problem happens to a person, they are responsible for introducing the person to a doctor, which of course is more correct if this is done compulsorily. Therefore, the requirement to examine the accused by a trusted doctor (preferably a legal doctor) within a maximum of one hour after his arrest and observation will be implemented at the request of the accused, his lawyer or his family members by preparing the minutes of the meeting and the original minutes of the meeting will be attached to the file and Its picture will be given to the applicant upon his request, of course, the right mentioned in this article must be explained to the accused in writing before the interrogation begins. This is also a reflection of the defendant's physical condition in terms of health or the presence of injuries, lethargy, malaise, severe fatigue by the interrogators, etc., during the investigation of the accused until his appearance before the judge. What results from this legislation is to see that the accused is physically and mentally able to be under 24-hour supervision or that the person may need immediate help. Because, for example; If the person under observation needs special drugs due to quitting addiction, in order to get rid of the police's questions and obtain these drugs, he will answer all the questions positively and conditions will be created for him that will cause his rights to be violated, and as a result, with the initial examination, Therapeutic measures will be implemented and his rights will be avoided and pressure on him will be avoided, and on the other hand, it will block the ground for possible abuse by the police and officers by harassing the accused. Of course, according to French laws, in gang and organized crimes It is prescribed for the medical examination of the person under observation.