ARTICLE INFO

Article Type

Descriptive & Survey Study

Authors

Niknahad   Z. ()
Rostami   H. (*1)






() Law Department, Humanities Faculty, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamadan, Iran

Correspondence

Address: Law Department, Humanities Faculty, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamadan, Iran
Phone: +98 (21) 86017122
Fax: +98 (21) 86017122
h.rostami@basu.ac.ir

Article History

Received:  January  16, 2020
Accepted:  March 29, 2020
ePublished:  April 18, 2020

BRIEF TEXT


Over time, Iran's criminal policy has taken several approaches to "mental illness", and according to the most recent approach, convicts mental state different from others due to their condition can be forgiven from the punishment permanently or temporary under certain circumstances by the experts in Forensic Medicine Organization by providing certification of the intolerance for the punishment.

... [1-22]. According to the Article 502, if forensic medicine considers the disease can be exacerbated or delayed in recovery due to the application of punishment, its implementation will be delayed. In addition, the note of the article has considered the incidence of disease while the execution of the sentence and that the illness occurred during, and provided that the adjournment was postponed, the judge can order the execution of the sentence to be suspended until recovery. ... [23]. According to Iranian criminal law, if the punishment for Hadd or Qisas is life-threatening, mental illness does not preclude the execution of the sentence. However, if the punishment is non-life-threatening and its implementation aggravates the disease or delays recovery, the punishment will be suspended until the recovery. Assuming that the convict's illness is incurable, it is possible to change the punishment in Tazir [25] and in the case of limp retaliation, although the punishment is not changed, but cannot be executed and mental illness prevents the execution [26]. ... [27]. Limp retaliation despite being a human right is not an exception to this rule, and by the application of the regulations related to mental illness, especially Article 502 and Article 439, the execution of punishment is delayed in case of intolerance. It is worth noting that the legislator's consideration of the defendant’ dementia and distinguishing it from the mental illness that affects the intolerance of punishment is somewhat ambiguous and insufficient and these ambiguities cause the inability to separate the instances of the Article 502 from the Article 503 and paragraph (S) of the Article 10 of the regulations on the implementation of Hudud and Qisas, etc. 2019 from the paragraph G. Given that dementia is a common cause of mental illness, diseases such as psychosis, bipolar disorder, intellectual disability, neurocognitive impairment, epilepsy, and some types of personality disorder have been cited as examples of dementia [28-30] can be attributed to mental illness that affects the intolerance of punishment. ... [31].

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the comments of the Commission of the General Directorate of Forensic Medicine of Hamadan regarding the mental disorder and its effect on enduring the punishment within a specified period of time.

The present study was a descriptive-analytical study using field and library methods to collect information.

The cases referred to the Psychiatric Commission of the General Directorate of Forensic Medicine of Hamadan were examined from February 6, 2018, to April 28, 2019.

A total of 70 cases were reviewed.

This research was conducted by interviewing experts active in this field. The Commission's views were extracted from the files and, as categorized, entered the SPSS 24 software and the output was analyzed by the inference method.

Among the 70 cases examined, in 15 cases (21.4%) the presence or absence of dementia during the committing the crime and in 55 cases (78.6%) in the execution stage was mentioned, of these 55 cases, 54 cases (98.2%) were sentenced to imprisonment and one case (1.8%) was sentenced to imprisonment and flogging and no other type of punishment was observed. Also, among the 55 convicts, 25 cases (45.5%) despite having post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), periodic mood disorders, other mood disorders, borderline personality disorder, anxiety, and depression, or a combination of these disorders, were considered punishable by appropriate treatment in prison. For 14 people (25.5%) who were diagnosed with a recurrent mood disorder, other mood disorders, borderline personality disorder, psychosis, and sometimes a combination of these disorders, a course of treatment outside of prison was considered and they were regarded intolerable to temporary punishment. 15 cases (27.3%) due to psychosis, mental retardation, PTSD, mood disorders, borderline personality disorder, anxiety and depression and other mood disorders or a group of these disorders and disappointment with their recovery, their intolerance of punishment was found to be permanent and they were admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Comments on the type of disease and the ability or intolerance of a person's sentence (1.8%) were postponed until after a hospital stay (Table 1).

Assessing and observation of the cases revealed that some cases of mental disorders in some patients have led to the issuance of a certificate of intolerance of punishment and in some other convicts with the same diseases, the certificate was not issued, and more emphasis was placed on medical care when enforcing the sentence and enduring punishment. Thus, two convicts may receive a single diagnosis of their mental illness, but one may be penalized and the other may not be able to do so. In justifying these approaches, it can be said that the illness of one of the convicts may be mild or his symptoms may be controlled by medication with no fear of the exacerbation of the disease by punishment, however, another disease may be severe and uncontrollable with a fear of harm to oneself or others (imprisonment) or according to the conditions prevailing in the place of execution of the sentence (prison), the effect of the tolerance of punishment on the patient's condition is probable. Accordingly, the penalty is temporarily (until the symptoms resolve or alleviate) or permanently removed (if there is no hope of recovery) [32]. Therefore, the degree and severity of the convict's disorder or circumstances [33, 34], the status of the place of execution of the sentence, and, more importantly, the attitude and judgment of experts and physicians, who may not be specific and predetermined make the opinions vary. The findings suggest that there may be several types of mental disorders in a single person at the same time. In parallel, more than half of the cases examined indicated that the person had two mental disorders. The same levels of the intolerance of punishment as a result of a disorder, as well as two disorders combined with each other, suggests that the presence of more than one disorder in the convicted person does not guarantee his or her release from the punishment. It is also possible that in the above cases, there is a severe disorder more than the other, or that the symptoms of both are significant and that the decision of the specialists is based on it. Therefore, it is not possible to say exactly which disruption has affected the opinion of experts on the tolerance of punishment. But there is no doubt that the severity of the disease will have a direct impact on the perpetrator's criminal record.

In future studies, it is recommended that the status of mental patients be assessed after finishing the sentence and the impact of punishment, as well as the meeting or lack of meeting the objectives of criminal law as a result of punishing mental patients using the field method and larger sample size.

In this study, it was not possible to investigate the status of mentally ill patients - who were considered to tolerate punishment - after the execution of the punishment.

Despite the criminal law's reference to dementia after trial, it does not apply to the convicted person, and according to experts, in general, mental illness in some cases leads to intolerance of punishment when it is feared that punishment will slow down the recovery process, exacerbate the symptoms of the disease, or harm the convict or others.

The efforts of the esteemed officials of the General Directorate of Forensic Medicine of Hamedan who helped us with patience and kindness in this research, especially Dr. Masoud Ansari, the deputy of the commissions, are thanked and appreciated.

None declared.

None declared.

This research was extracted from a thesis.

TABLES and CHARTS

Show attach file


CITIATION LINKS

[1]American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-5. Rezaei F, Fakhrayi A, Farmand A, Niloofari A, Hashemi Azar J, Shamloo F, translators. 1st Edition. Tehran: Arjmand; 2015. [Persian]
[2]Ganji M. Complete guide to DSM-5 changes and essentials. 1st Edition. Tehran: Savalan; 2016. p.18. [Persian]
[3]Bashiriyeh T. Interacting with the legal and psychiatric concepts of "insanity". Private Law Stud Q. 2008;38(3):85-95. [Persian]
[4]Zarani F, Esmaeili S, Ghashang N, Aghamohammadi S, Khazaei M. The fifth edition of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: evolution, criticism, vision. J Res Behav Sci. 2016;14(1):125-36. [Persian]
[5]Azarbadegan H. Classification of psychiatric patients and their sentences from the viewpoint of the Mohaghegh Naraqei. Q Jurisprudence. 2002;(29-30):43-95. [Persian]
[6]Bashiriyeh T, Bashiriyeh B. Insanity in law and psychiatry. In: Niyazpour AH, editor. The approach of criminal procedure to the concept of insanity. 1st Edition. ‬‮‭Tehran: Mizan; 2018. p. 12. [Persian]‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
[7]Mayor M. Longman dictionary of contemporary English. Harlow: Pearson Longman; 2009.
[8]Ashoori M. Criminal procedure. Volume 1. 15th Edition. Tehran: SAMT; 2009. p. 160. [Persian]
[9]Mehrnia A, Fallahi A. The Developments of Insanity and Criminal Responsibility in Islamic Penal Code. J Culmin Law. 2013;(3):135-57. [Persian]
[10]Abbasi A, Mansourabadi A. The burden of proving the defendant's mental disorders in the criminal proceedings. Private Law Stud Q. 2013;43(1):235-50. [Persian]
[11]Judaki B, Abbasi M. Enforcement of sentences against insane person in Iranian criminal law. Med Law J. 2014;8(29):101-29. [Persian]
[12]Maleki Afzali M, Saeedi M. Investigating the concept of insanity in jurisprudence by considering the attitude of the Islamic penal code. J Jurisprudential Res. 2019;15(2):243-71. [Persian]
[13]Elmi M. Ghobadi K. Extent of insanity in jurisprudence and law. J Jurisprudence Res. 2015;10(4):823-52. [Persian]
[14]Koukhaei Z. The study of madness from the perspective of jurisprudence and law in comparison with its concept in psychiatry. In: Proceedings of International Conference on Engineering and Applied Sciences; 2016 Mar 10; Capital Idea Managers Institute, Dubai, UAE. Civilica; 2016. [Persian]
[15]Naraqi A. Benefits of days in the statement of rules (Avaed al-ayyam fi qavaed al-ahkam). 1st Edition. Qom: Qom Seminary Islamic Propaganda Office; 1996. p. 513, 516, 518. [Arabic]
[16]Golduzian I. Public penal law requirements (3-2-1). Tehran: Mizan; 2009. [Persian]
[17]Gholami N, Abbasi M, Soltani Kuhbanani S. The concept of insanity in Islamic penal code subjectivity or causality. Med Law J. 2018;12(44):77-94. [Persian]
[18]Jafari Langroodi MJ. Terminology of law. 18th Edition. Tehran: Ganj-e Danesh; 2009. p. 200, 201. [Persian]
[19]Abbasi M, Khosravi A. Schizophrenia and its criminal responsibility from the Iranian legislative perspective. Med Law J. 2012;6(22):151-88. [Persian]
[20]Goodarzi F, Kiani M. Forensic medicine: for the students of law. 14th Edition. Tehran: SAMT; 2018. p. 317. [Persian]
[21]Saberi M, Mohammadi M. A new approach to forensic psychiatry. 1st Edition. Tehran: Teymoorzadeh, Tabib; 2015. [Persian]
[22]Ardebili M. General criminal law. Volume 2. 29th Edition. Tehran: Mizan; 2014. [Persian]
[23]Pakniyat M. The basics of separating the insane approach to the criminal justice system: from separating for the offender to separating for the victim. In: Niyazpour AH, editor. The approach of criminal procedure to the concept of insanity. 1st Edition. ‬‮‭Tehran: Mizan; 2018. [Persian]‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
[24]Rostami H. Influence of perpetrator's insanity on the proceedings. In: Niyazpour AH, editor. The approach of criminal procedure to the concept of insanity. 1st Edition. ‬‮‭Tehran: Mizan; 2018. [Persian]‬‬
[25]Dadashpour Ashkazi M, Delir Rad M, Tofiqi H, Mahdavi SAH. Intolerance of punishment, a review of cases referred to Tehran Forensic Medicine Organization in 2002. Iran J Forensic Med. 2014;9(32):172-5. [Persian]
[26]Rostami H. The criminal procedure code. 1st Edition. Tehran: Tarh-e Novin Andisheh; 2019. p. 102. [Persian]
[27]Khani M, Laki Z, Nasrabadi M. Punishment intolerance principles and legal standards-Medical. Med Law J. 2013;7(26):111-38. [Persian]
[28]Dorvashi GH, Mesri M, Taheri K, Noruzi S. Investigating the cases of lack of judgment & volition (medico legal and criminal law aspects). Iran J Forensic Med. 2016;22(2):121-8. [Persian]
[29]Hejazi A, Kuhestani L, Fotovat A, Sadeghipour F, Rahimi S. Determining the criteria for diagnosis of will and discernment in psychiatric patients referred to the forensic psychiatry department. Iran J Forensic Med. 2016;22(3):211-8. [Persian]
[30]Samari M. How Iranian criminal lawmakers deal with patients with risky mental disorders. Ghanoonyar. 2018;2(6):387-418. [Persian]
[31]Fadaei F, Bashirieh T, Khoshbakht AH. The type of disease and how to refer to the hospital in the investigation of crimes committed by a sample of mentally ill patients admitted to Razi Psychiatric Hospital. In: Najafi Abrandabadi, editor. Encyclopedia of criminal sciences (collection of new articles on criminal sciences). 1st Edition. Tehran: Mizan; 2019. [Persian]
[32]Niknahad Z. Impact of mental illness on intolerance of punishment (cases referred to Hamadan Forensic Medicine) [Dissertation]. Hamadan: Bu-Ali Sina University; 2020. [Persian]
[33]Hashemi R. Investigating the Effect of Forensic Medical Expertise Statement on Criminal Cases in Tehran Province from 1997 to 2000. Iran J Forensic Med. 2002;8(27):12-5. [Persian]
[34]Najari F, Kazemi Esfeh S, Daneshparvar H R, Sheikhveisi Z. The evaluation of referred cases regarding punishment and suspended punishment to the Tehran legal medicine center in 2012. Iran J Forensic Med. 2016;21(4):297-302. [Persian]