Khomeini and Criminal Justice - Notes on Crime and Culture

• NCJ Number: 84473
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 73 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1982) Pages: 561-581
• Author(s): G Newman
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 21 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Survey (Cross-Cultural)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Substantially revised version of a paper presented to the Fourth International Seminar on 'Culture and Criminality,' Messina, Italy, December 6, 1980

Annotation

This article compares the concepts of criminal justice in the American Wild West with those of Iranian society under the Ayatollah Khomeini's rule.

Abstract

The simplicity and clarity of justice effected by one individual, whether the American Wild West hero or the Islamic judge with absolute authority, holds superficial similarities. The essential difference between the folklore figure of America and Khomeini is that the western hero depicts the uneducated man of the frontier bringing innocence to an uncivilized society of the Wild West, representative of human justice, whereas Khomeini depicts a highly educated man who represents divine justice, based on Islamic law. Islamic law deals with both enjoinders and proscriptions, thus reaching into the daily lives of its subjects. Western law, in contrast, consists of a set of proscriptions backed up by negative sanctions. Khomeini's law cannot be evaluated except on Khomeini's terms; each culture is presumed to have equal merit. Basically, Khomeini's law through application of Islamic justice is uncivilized. Nevertheless, in terms of equitable outcome, it may be argued that Khomeini's approach may be more equitable than that of the West. The article includes 66 footnotes.