Statements in Meeting with the Head and Officials of the Judiciary

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Honorable gentlemen! Welcome. I am pleased to have the opportunity to meet collectively with a group of esteemed judges and respected officials of the judiciary.

The judiciary in any country is always among the most esteemed and valuable groups, possessing scientific, ethical, and pious qualities. Perhaps in most or all societies, the judiciary and its members have these characteristics. In our country, where the judiciary is a divine rank and a profession of the prophets, reaching the righteous and worthy individuals in society, this characteristic is naturally more prevalent. We hope that God will grant you gentlemen and the respected officials of this sensitive and important branch more success and assist you in carrying this heavy burden to its destination, God willing. I only wish to remind you briefly, as the general truths and Islamic policies of the judiciary, which we should discuss more, are not hidden from your honorable minds.

The judiciary in a country is the criterion of that country's health. If the judiciary is healthy, one can conclude that the general state of society and the country is healthy in terms of justice, and free from discrimination, oppression, and these great human grievances. That is, if we assume that someone knows nothing about a country, they can go to its judiciary, investigate, and see that there are just and decisive judges, an organized and efficient system, and well-calculated and fair laws, and observe that they work well, they should conclude that the state of this country is good.

In these promotional films that some countries produce—not that they are explicitly promotional, but their essence is promotional—they try to show their judiciary as independent, efficient, and decisive. We have information about the judiciaries of many materialistic countries; they are not as they are portrayed. Although there are strengths in some places, they are not as they are introduced. They show that the judge is alert, compassionate, tireless, and unaffected. They want to show and introduce these in these films and stories. Therefore, if it is known that the judiciary is healthy, many conclusions can be drawn about the general issues of the country.

Therefore, the judiciary must strive, as much as human capacity allows, with the deficiencies and shortages that inevitably exist in human work, to advance towards the perfection of the judiciary system and judicial organization; and this cannot be achieved except by fully observing Islamic regulations and standards in ensuring justice, one of the main ones being the absence of discrimination in the application of the country's laws and judicial laws. This is perhaps one of the fundamental tasks in the judiciary. Of course, mitigating and aggravating factors are part of judicial criteria; we do not deny them. If in a case, a crime is accompanied by aggravating or mitigating factors, they should do their job; there is no problem, it is calculated; but apart from that, nothing else should create a distinction in the application of laws to different individuals. If we pay attention to this one point, the judiciary will advance significantly.

There is repeated talk of transformation in the judiciary and progress towards a healthy and complete judiciary, and I am closely witnessing that a lot of efforts are indeed being made, and the respected head of the judiciary and the respected officials are truly working diligently; one can completely sense this. I want to say that reforming the judiciary is primarily about these things. We should ensure that the laws on which judgments are based apply equally to all individuals and that there is no discrimination.

I was studying the states of the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) and saw that the justice we have heard from that great figure—although I do not think that even we Shiites and Shiite communities have correctly grasped and understood what that justice was; but it was so great that it filled the world and the fame of the justice of the Commander of the Faithful spread everywhere—is largely related to this non-observance of attractions and connections, non-observance of kinship, even non-observance of a person's past services when it comes to judicial accounting.

"Hassan ibn Thabit," the poet of the Commander of the Faithful and someone who confronted the enemies of that noble figure in wars, was involved in an incident that required a divine punishment. The Commander of the Faithful said that the divine punishment must be carried out on him. "Hassan" said: O Commander of the Faithful! I am the one who has composed so many poems for you. Now, if it were us, what would we really think here? What is in my mind is that the noble figure said: I cannot suspend God's punishment for these things. He had drunk wine during the month of Ramadan, and the punishment for drinking wine was carried out; twenty lashes were also given as a reprimand for violating the sanctity of Ramadan—altogether one hundred lashes—which further broke him, wondering why these last twenty lashes? This incident also caused "Hassan ibn Thabit" to leave Kufa and go to Sham and join Muawiyah's court, and perhaps from that side, he also composed poems against the Commander of the Faithful.

According to what is in Nahj al-Balagha, "Abdullah ibn Abbas," who was a disciple of the Commander of the Faithful, and in terms of personality and background and service to the Commander of the Faithful, was considered the second person in the caliphate of that noble figure—it is clear what state "Abdullah ibn Abbas" had towards the Commander of the Faithful—over the issue of the funds of Basra, which had been reported to the noble figure, a letter was written to him; he also complained, but the noble figure responded to his complaint with a harsh reply, asking why he was complaining; I am accounting for you. This caused "Abdullah ibn Abbas" to go from Basra to Medina and never return to Kufa. Of course, he did not join the enemies of the Commander of the Faithful—it was clear that he would not join—but he left the front of Ali (peace be upon him).

When one examines closely, there are countless such examples in the life of the Commander of the Faithful. We should come and break these down a bit in our own lives. We really need to correct our current thoughts with what the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) did. These are the main policies of the judiciary; we should not make any discrimination.

Today, the judiciary is truly incomparable to the past judiciary of this country. Of course, there were many honorable and good judges in the past. I myself knew and know judges who were virtuous, healthy, faultless, courageous, and unaffected by many of the authorities of that time. It was not that we imagined that in the past judiciary, there were only bad people; no, there were good judges and sworn individuals there. I had seen people who truly stood against the tyranny and pressure of the pharaonic system of that time; but the system and leadership of the judiciary were such that the presence of such useful individuals had an imperceptible effect on the overall judgment of the country; perhaps it had no effect at all. In the judiciary of that time, how much oppression and discrimination occurred, how much recommendation was effective, crimes were eliminated, and the oppressed paid the price for the oppressors and tyrants.

Today, our judiciary is truly incomparable to the past. Today, our judges judge based on religious and faith-based feelings. This is completely evident. If someone denies this, they have denied the obvious and have truly been unjust. We must compare this culture of observance with what the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) had, and see how it really is. Now, we do not claim that we can act like the Commander of the Faithful. That great figure himself said: "Indeed, you cannot do that." He said "you cannot" regarding food and drink, which is much easier to observe than those spiritual matters. It is clear that in those spiritual matters, no one can reach that level; no one has claimed it either; but we must move in that direction. In this case, the judiciary will become a source of trust and hope for the people.

You now observe, for a long time, in some cases, very beautiful prompt actions in the execution of judgments are observed. A crime is committed, immediately investigated, a fair judgment is issued, and divine limits are executed. You have seen, in places where such an incident has occurred, how enthusiastic the people have shown and how much the reputation of the judiciary has risen in those places.

We must ensure that the judiciary has such a hopeful state in the entire life of the people and in the entire expanse of the life of each individual in this society—I am not talking about the level of the country; the level of the country is something inevitable—so that as soon as someone encounters a problem, is oppressed, or suffers the slightest injustice, they say in their heart and on their tongue that they will refer to the judiciary so that the oppressor is put in their place. Such a spirit must be created in the people, and this cannot be achieved through propaganda. This is one of those cases where propaganda has absolutely no effect; because it deals with the daily life of the people. People look at themselves and find the truth.

I find it necessary to thank and appreciate Mr. Yazdi (may his blessings continue), who has truly been a divine asset for the judiciary and whose presence is a blessing and grace, for the efforts they make. We hope that, God willing, he and the rest of the gentlemen who are at the head of the judiciary or have responsibilities in various parts of the system, as well as each judge and effective employee of the judiciary, will be included in divine blessings. God willing, we will witness progress in judicial work day by day and move towards the model that Islam has provided us and is observed in the actions of the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him).

I find it necessary to honor the esteemed and oppressed martyr—Ayatollah Beheshti. Truly, he was a prominent figure for many affairs of the revolution, including for the judiciary of the country, and it was a fortune for the judiciary that the foundation of Islamic judiciary in the Islamic Republic was designed by such a great, learned, determined, pious, aware, and intelligent man. God willing, progress in the same foundation and direction will be more and more remarkable day by day.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings