Statements in Meeting with the President and Officials of the Judiciary

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

The Judiciary Week and this annual meeting provide a valuable opportunity to both honor our dear martyr, Shahid Beheshti, and the martyrs of the Seventh of Tir — thanks be to God, our Judiciary is proud to commemorate its anniversary on such a meaningful occasion — and to express our gratitude, appreciation, and sincerity for the extensive and continuous efforts of the esteemed individuals active in the Judiciary; the honorable judges, various staff members, distinguished managers, and the respected President of the Judiciary, Mr. Amoli, who, thanks be to God, are distinguished in terms of thought, knowledge, work enthusiasm, innovation, and many important qualities in senior managers. We honor the memory of those dear ones and especially pay tribute to the great martyr Beheshti, respecting him. He was truly a great personality, distinguished, and during his limited time managing the Judiciary, he laid down solid foundations; this will remain in the name of this great man; and it serves as a lesson for us to strive to utilize limited times for great and lasting works with effort and innovation. In unison with the esteemed President of the Judiciary, we thank you, the honorable staff of the Judiciary, senior managers, mid-level managers, and the honorable and virtuous judges, and we hope that your efforts and endeavors can realize the fundamental issue of the country, which is the implementation of judicial justice throughout the country.

If we want to summarize all our wishes regarding the issue of justice in the country in one sentence, the phrase "enhancement of the Judiciary" is the product of this summarization. We must continuously enhance the Judiciary. All the encouraging reports we heard today and those that reach us in written and oral reports are commendable and worthy of thanks; however, what is expected is the enhancement of the Judiciary in terms of the sufficiency of judicial justice in the country; this will not be achieved unless one observes its outcomes. All these preliminaries are for the realization of judicial justice in our society. If judicial justice is established, corruption will be eradicated, and unworthy individuals will be prevented from encroaching on the vital centers of society; the righteous will be placed in the positions they deserve. All of this depends on the integrity and perfection of the Judiciary. Truly, if the Islamic system can establish and organize the Judiciary as Islam intends, as it is presented in our religious and jurisprudential sources, most of the problems of our society — and any society — will be resolved; problems arising from rebellions, selfishness, and transgressions will be eliminated. Therefore, the goal must be the enhancement of the Judiciary. We should not be satisfied with any limit until we reach the desired ceiling. We must reach the desired ceiling. And in my opinion, although this is a long path, it is attainable. It is not the case that we say we are inviting ourselves and others to an unattainable wish; no, it is attainable. You can do it. In the country, there is the capacity and potential for such a thing. We must pursue this path with effort, innovation, perseverance, and by utilizing the capabilities and individuals with potential.

For the entirety of this work, there are subcategories, many of which the esteemed President of the Judiciary has referred to; and I am pleased to see that attention to these necessary points exists, and efforts have been made for them — as was evident in this report; and how good it is that this report and similar ones are made available to public opinion so that it becomes clear that these works are being done or have been done — but I will emphasize two or three points.

One is the issue of a comprehensive program, which he referred to. If the Judiciary does not have a comprehensive, complete, precise, and all-encompassing program for its enhancement, for the destination it wants to reach, traversing this path will either be impossible and face various contradictions or will be very difficult. Therefore, a comprehensive program is necessary. This is a significant task. The esteemed President of the Judiciary mentioned this at the beginning of accepting this responsibility. Of course, in the latest report they provided to me, they said a five-year program has recently been announced; however, now we heard in his statements that it is intended to be announced. This work should not be delayed. This is a very important task. A comprehensive program is the most fundamental of tasks.

The essential point is that preparing a comprehensive program is one issue; opening the paths for the realization and operationalization of this program is another issue. We should not feel at ease merely because the program has been formulated and announced; we should not say, well, this significant task has been accomplished; no, the comprehensive program is a prescription; this prescription must be implemented, the duties of its components must be precisely defined and utilized. In various sectors, this must be pursued so that this comprehensive program is realized and operationalized.

In my opinion, in operationalizing the comprehensive program and everything within this program — to which I will refer to two or three other points — it is necessary to accelerate the process. We do not recommend haste; however, being swift in movement is different from being hasty; with patience, with precision, but without delay. That is, "no delay" should be accepted as a principle in our work. Delay should not occur. According to the common terms in Islamic ethics, procrastination — "I will do it, I will do it" — should not exist; it must be done. When we reach the point of determination and realization, we must immediately take action in execution, and there should be no delay.

Another point I want to make regarding the enhancement of the Judiciary — although it has been emphasized many times before, but since it is important, we repeat it — is the issue of the reliability of judgments. Court rulings must absolutely be free from negligence and leniency. As an honorable judge, the ruling you issue must be such that if this ruling is to be presented to specialists in jurisprudence and law, you should have no concerns; be assured of the ruling you have issued. When a judge possesses the necessary knowledge and is attentive to their work and ruling, it should be such that at the moment this ruling is issued, they are ready to present it to all experts and specialists and can defend their ruling. The reliability of the ruling must be like this. Any slight weakness in the ruling undermines the entire structure of the judicial system. At one point, we mentioned that the repeated annulment of primary court rulings in appellate courts or in the Supreme Court indicates that either the primary court rulings have content deficiencies and lack reliability, or they have formal deficiencies and regulations have not been observed. A decision on this matter must be prevalent throughout the Judiciary and acknowledged and pursued, that rulings must have reliability.

An important issue in the Judiciary is the matter of prisons. Prison is a punishment. Imprisoning a person, restricting them, is one of the punishments in our penal law, and it also exists in some cases in Islamic jurisprudence; there is no objection to it. We must ensure that, firstly, what is realized as a punishment for individuals does not occur in non-punitive cases at all. Of course, there are cases in the law where temporary detentions occur due to attention to accusations for certain reasons; however, in these detentions, "temporariness" must be observed in the precise sense of the word and in the sense that the spirit of the law intends. Someone might say, well, five months, six months is also "temporary". Yes, ten years is also "temporary" in a sense; however, the law that stipulates the temporariness of detention includes a short duration. That is, since there is no alternative and we are compelled to detain someone due to this accusation, based on reasons and arguments behind this statement, they must be imprisoned before the crime is proven, but this must be done in the shortest time possible, while observing judicial conditions. This point must be taken into consideration.

In cases where the problems are financial and insolvency exists — one of the discussions I had with friends was whether insolvency must be proven for the punishment to be lifted? This issue will lead to problems — in those cases where no crime in the true sense of the word has occurred, we should not resort to imprisonment. In the Judiciary, work to minimize the punishment of imprisonment; this requires planning. Of course, measures have been taken; some are correct, some are incorrect — we do not want to delve into details and issues — but overall, prison is an undesirable phenomenon; the problems of prison, the consequences of prison, the consequences that arise for the prisoner, the consequences for families, the consequences for the work environment. Therefore, set this as the policy of the Judiciary and pursue it; think, find a way, remedy it; one must solve the issue of prisons; both in terms of ensuring that the punitive aspect of imprisonment does not turn into something else; and secondly, that as much as possible, the punishment of imprisonment is reduced and transformed into other punishments, so that the consequences of imprisonment do not afflict society.

Another important issue regarding the Judiciary — although the audience is not only the Judiciary; more so, it is the propaganda apparatuses — is the issue of the reputation of individuals. Great care must be taken to preserve the reputation of individuals. Islamic law places the honor of a believer on par with their life. The Judiciary, the courts, and the administrative bodies of the Judiciary must not be influenced by the media's propaganda. Well, the media indeed has problems in this regard; especially now that these computer-based platforms have emerged, there are issues; that is, many necessary matters are not observed; this is indeed the case; this is one of the deficiencies of our lives, the deficiencies of our work. Well, this has its own remedy; the remedy for the issue of rumors and actions that occur in the press and outside the press is a separate topic; however, the Judiciary must not be influenced. If all the press, all the computer-based platforms that create an atmosphere, create a climate, and shape public opinion, push in one direction, the Judiciary, that specific court or prosecutor's office responsible for pursuing a case must carry out its work; it must not be influenced at all. This is a very fundamental point. Mentioning the names of the accused before the crime is proven, or not mentioning names but phrasing it in a way that is akin to mentioning names, these are problematic, they have faults; these certainly disrupt the enhancement of the Judiciary and the judicial system of the country. This is another point that must be taken into consideration.

Another issue in the Judiciary — and I saw that it has been noted by the esteemed President of the Judiciary; however, more serious work must be done on this — is the issue of training personnel for managerial positions and high positions in the Judiciary; training righteous individuals, especially for managerial positions; otherwise, this is a very necessary and important matter within the Judiciary. Use the talents from the seminaries and universities. There are indeed many distinguished personalities, and there are abundant talents in our society. This is another issue that must be taken into consideration. God willing, work will be done for this, investment will be made, and planning will be done.

One point that I consider to be fundamental — although it does not directly relate to the functioning of the Judiciary, but it does relate to the overall movement and path of the Judiciary — is the cooperation of the branches with one another; today the country needs this.

Let me tell you; today, the arrogant powers of the world have come to the conclusion that they must expend all their efforts to possibly inflict a blow or harm on the Islamic Republic. That is, the devil concentrates all its forces to confront this great movement that the existence of the Islamic Republic and the survival of the Islamic Republic and its progress in the world has created. Although they do not admit it, they recognize it. This awakening that has emerged in the Islamic world, this enthusiasm and inclination that has arisen among the masses towards Islamic ideals and goals, they recognize that this is due to the presence of the Islamic Republic in the public opinion of the Islamic world. Every significant scientific endeavor you undertake, every social or political success you achieve, every great social movement that occurs within the country — such as enthusiastic elections — every resistance and steadfastness that the Islamic Republic demonstrates against the arrogance of global arrogance that is reflected in the Islamic world, each of these great actions serves as an encouragement for nations to pursue independence based on Islam. The Iranian nation has introduced Islam as a banner for the advancement of nations; the enemies understand this; hence, they are concentrated on undermining this main center. All the commotion you observe in various issues — in the matter of human rights, in the matter of nuclear energy, and other issues — is due to this confrontation. Of course, they also call themselves the "global community"! It is not a global community; it is a few arrogant powers of the world; it is America and a few followers of America in this corner and that corner of the world.

In confronting the Islamic Republic, they are exerting all their efforts; their goal is to deprive the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of its support from the people — from this great backing. The sanctions and what you observe are primarily aimed at this. Of course, they falsely claim that the goal of the sanctions is not the people: we do not want to harm the people. Like their other claims, this is also a lie, a deception, and a trick. No; in fact, the main target is the people. The pressures are intended to wear down the people, to create problems for the people, so that they sever their ties with the Islamic Republic; their heartfelt relationship with the Islamic Republic is cut off. Of course, by God's grace, with divine assistance, they will fail in this field as well. They do not know our people, they do not know our officials. This deception of the enemy has been exposed to the people; they know that today the goal is to exhaust the people; hence, you observe, you see that the people's insistence and presence in various fields is more enthusiastic. The officials are also busy. Truly and fairly, the officials are making their efforts to confront the enemy's endeavors.

Today, America has concentrated all its forces to try to economically besiege the Islamic Republic in its own imagination. They themselves are besieged, they themselves are in trouble. Today, Europe and America are facing fundamental and unsolvable problems; indeed, their problems are unsolvable. Their situation is different from ours. Thanks be to God, we have everything. We have resources, we have internal wealth, we have good people, we have financial resources, we have human resources, and we are not in global debt. The capabilities of the country are very good. The enemy's harassment, the enemy's efforts, are aimed at reducing the Islamic Republic's access to these resources. The efforts of our officials are also to thwart this enemy plot; God willing, they will succeed, and good efforts are being made.

In such circumstances, what is necessary for our country, a duty and certainty, is that all responsible agencies in the country must unite to confront this concentration of the enemy; they must focus on the point of truth here. Any divergence of forces from one another, any divergence of the three branches from one another, is detrimental to the country, detrimental to the system. Everyone must cooperate, everyone must help each other. The government, the parliament, the Judiciary, all stand in one front; that front is the front of defending Islam; defending the dear and noble nation; defending the independence of the country; defending the identity of the revolution, which has given identity to our nation and our people, and indeed to the Islamic Ummah. Today, our prominent goals are these. Therefore, cooperation must take place.

Some of the disputes, some of the grievances we have against each other are completely removable from the page of cooperation; it is not that they are fundamental and principled; they are often misconceptions. You, as the Judiciary, must fully fulfill your share.

If each of the various sectors of the country stops working due to the actions of the other party and the opposing parties, no work will be accomplished. If we say that because the other party has not fulfilled its duty, we will also fall short, no; we must fully perform our duty. This, in addition to being a fulfillment of a divine duty and a fulfillment of a divine right, also helps ensure that others fulfill their duties completely.

This is our recommendation; we hope that God Almighty will grant you, us, and all officials the success to fulfill the great right of this nation, God willing, and to fulfill the great right of Islam. Rest assured that you will succeed. God Almighty has promised, and divine promises have no violation, and certainly, divine promises will be fulfilled. The divine promise is the victory of truth and the people of truth. Those who strive in the path of truth, God Almighty helps them, guides them, supports them, and has guaranteed to lead them to their goal. Today, the work of the Iranian nation, the officials, and this vast body of workers and officials in various sectors is this. Truly, their intentions are very good, and their efforts are sincere; we hope that God Almighty will bless them.

We ask God Almighty to grant you all success and to open the doors of great victories for you day by day, so that you can, God willing, fulfill the important duties that rest upon you in the best possible manner.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.