By NNN-FNA
Tehran : Head of the Iranian judiciary Ayatollah Seyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi has issued a decree prohibiting detention of suspects without being charged, in his latest move to reform Iran’s legal system.
The decree, reported by a number of Iranian newspapers including the judiciary mouthpiece Hemayat, said the judicial apparatus should not hold suspects, issue a summons or set bail without pressing charges.
“Refrain from summoning people without pressing charges. Refrain from holding people under arrest without pressing charges. Refrain from pressing bail without setting charges,” read the text of decree.
“Refrain from summoning people without sufficient proof,” it also ordered.
The text said Shahroudi had issued the decree “because of the importance and the necessity of fully abiding by and carrying out the prosecution regulations.”
It said, without elaborating, that there had been reports “talking about discrepancies in methods which resulted in time wasting, expense and frustration.”
The decree also ordered that warrant forms must be completed accurately and properly.
Shahroudi is a conservative cleric who is hugely respected for his knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh).
In 2002, Shahroudi issued a directive suspending the punishment of stoning.