Statements in a Video Conference with the National Judiciary Conference

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

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad and his pure family, especially the Awaited One among the people.

I extend my congratulations in advance on the birth of Imam Ali al-Ridha (peace be upon him) and also congratulate the staff and workers of the judiciary on Judiciary Week. I thank Mr. Raisi, the esteemed President of the Judiciary, for his comprehensive and useful remarks, which included many necessary points that we and the people need to hear. I will also refer to some of them.

We ask for the blessings and mercy of God for the martyrs of the Seventh of Tir, a significant event in the history of our country and the Revolution, and for the martyrs of the judiciary, especially the oppressed martyr Ayatollah Beheshti, martyr Qodosi, martyr Lajevardi, and the numerous great martyrs that the judiciary has presented during the Revolution and throughout its forty years of service.

We have spoken a lot about the importance and status of the judiciary and have discussed its duties and responsibilities over many years. Friends and officials of the judiciary have spoken about these matters, and we do not wish to repeat them. Today, I will mention a few points regarding judicial reform and transformation within the judiciary, which was also the main focus of Mr. Raisi's remarks, as it is a very important and fundamental issue. I will also address a few points regarding the fight against corruption, which is currently manifesting itself prominently within the judiciary.

A few points regarding judicial transformation: 1) The importance of the transformation document prepared and upgraded within the judiciary. Regarding transformation, I have heard—apparently, it was also in the judiciary's report—that the transformation document prepared by the esteemed President of the judiciary last year has been revised and upgraded, and what is currently available to the judiciary and of concern to the judiciary is a document that is higher and more advanced in terms of work level than the initial document; this is very good news for us. As I have been informed, this document has been prepared by the esteemed judiciary in collaboration with numerous elites from the seminary and university, and this method of work is completely correct, sound, and logical; and also, using the experiences of the selected individuals within the judiciary and practitioners of the judiciary, the enhancement of this document has been achieved. If this document has not been communicated, please communicate it, follow up, and publish the performance report of the programs related to this document in due time so that the people know how far this document and these programs have progressed; just as you stated today that, for example, about eighty percent has progressed on average, if the people know this in detail, it will certainly have an impact on their hope in the judiciary, which is very important.

2) Transformation based on Islamic and religious principles and foundations. Of course, transformation is not something that can be halted; transformation naturally arises in every period of time with new thoughts, new understandings, and fresh innovations, and God willing, this transformative movement will continue. Of course, we have previously stated this, and we emphasize again that transformation must be based on Islamic and religious principles and foundations; otherwise, if transformation is not based on a foundation, it is not transformation, but rather fluctuation and chaos. Transformation will occur within the framework and structure of solid and firm foundations derived from Islam, the Quran, and religious principles. Management is also necessary in transformation, which is the responsibility of the esteemed President of the judiciary.

3) Trust in God and not being passive in the face of resistances and difficulties of transformation. Another point is that transformation is a very difficult task. It is easy to say that transformation should be created; however, in practice, transformation is very challenging; the reason is that there are resistances against transformation. Some resistances are not due to ill intentions; some people do not have the patience for fundamental changes, some do not have the capability, and some may benefit from the current situation and do not want it to change; of course, outside the judiciary, there is also a tangled network of criminals and corrupt individuals who are naturally opposed; behind all of these, there is the gaze of the enemy and adversaries of the Islamic Republic, who are upset whenever any reform movement occurs in any part of the Islamic community, and they resist and create a hostile atmosphere. These are the opponents; the opponents do not remain passive either. You must enter the field of transformation with strength, spirit, and courage; they will not remain passive either; they will also start to resist. They create a hostile atmosphere; sometimes it is media hostility, persistent hostility, and they create temptations in public opinion, which is truly one of the cases of "from the evil of the whisperer who withdraws". One of the things they can do is to destabilize the firm resolve of the leaders of transformation; constantly advising that "this action is not in the interest" prevents this action from being carried out. Therefore, resistance against transformation will be abundant from the various factions we have mentioned.

The way to confront these is to trust in God; trust in God. And whoever puts their trust in God, He will suffice for them; the Almighty God will take care of them, He will help them. Choose the right path, choose the right goal, and then "so call upon Him and be steadfast as you have been commanded"; proceed with steadfastness; this is the way. In the face of sabotage, temptation, harassment, and creating a hostile atmosphere, the only important and effective way that exists is not to be passive and to continue on the path and to be steadfast; this is my recommendation. This is another point.

4) Balanced pursuit of all duties within the judiciary. One of the important issues regarding transformation is that you must pay balanced attention to all the duties of the judiciary—which are many; in the Constitution, the duties of the judiciary are stated under five headings, which are actually more than five principles, as in some of these sections several topics are placed together—and you must proceed in a balanced manner, which fortunately I see was mentioned in Mr. Raisi's report; for example, the issue of restoring public rights, which is among these duties, or preventing the occurrence of crime, which is one of these important duties, he has paid attention to these, and they exist. I want to say that balanced pursuit of all duties is one of the issues that must be taken into account; that is, when we become engrossed in one of these duties, we should not neglect the others, and they should not remain unaddressed. Now, for example, suppose that restoring public rights is one of these duties, which is very important. Restoring public rights is a very important matter; or overseeing the proper implementation of laws, which is among the duties of the judiciary in the Constitution; or preventing the occurrence of crime or reforming offenders; all of these are among the duties mentioned in the Constitution, and each has a substantial and important chapter.

Restoring public rights is primarily the responsibility of the prosecutors, which has fortunately been observed in this recent period. Now, when Mr. Raisi said that we do not wait for lawsuits, we intervene; yes, that is correct, meaning that the prosecutors themselves, in many instances, when they feel that public rights are being violated, must intervene and take action, which has been seen. In the recent flood incidents at the beginning of 2019, there were instances where prosecutors intervened; they have also intervened in other places; and recently, there have been instances observed; this is very correct.

Or, for example, prevention is very important. In terms of prevention, what is important is that we must correctly identify the grounds for the occurrence of crime and the production of crime. If these grounds are identified and understood—of which I will mention another point later—you can easily, with familiarity and insight, confront the occurrence of crime so that crime does not occur at all. If we can truly initiate prevention, the costs of confronting crime will significantly decrease. When we can initiate prevention, the costs for the country and the judiciary in confronting crime and offenders will significantly decrease; of course, this requires the cooperation of all branches, especially the executive branch must cooperate with the judiciary in this regard.

Therefore, this is another point that all these matters and duties should be addressed in a balanced manner, and all of them, God willing, will be considered in the transformative process.

5) The judiciary's need to utilize the knowledge of elites from the seminary and university. The point I mentioned that is related to this matter—which is also an important point—is that the judiciary needs to utilize the knowledge and scholars whose work is not solely judicial knowledge. For example, in the area of crime prevention; well, the grounds for crime are sometimes psychological, sometimes economic; someone who only has judicial knowledge may find it difficult to recognize and solve these issues; in this regard, you naturally need individuals who have knowledge in collective psychology, individual psychology, or have awareness in economic matters to know what creates the grounds for what incident or problem or what solution; if elites from the seminary and university are not utilized in other fields of knowledge, the judiciary will not be able to pursue its work as it should and ought to. Or the restoration of public rights that has been mentioned; well, defining public rights is not an easy task; this is a matter of contention that what public rights are; this must be clarified and defined by those who specialize in this area of law. Of course, I have heard that in order to clarify the concept of public rights, the esteemed Attorney General has taken actions and has defined clear instances of public rights, including, for example, environmental issues or the careless transfer of production units, which is the very work that the esteemed President of the judiciary is pursuing and is very correct and appropriate; sometimes it happens that this work, on the surface, seems like an individual task, but in reality, it is a collective task related to public rights; for example, transferring production enterprises without care to individuals who are either unfit, unsuitable, or incapable; well, this will lead to a sudden and fundamental blow to the entire production in the country; this is no longer related to one or two individuals, this is public rights. Therefore, addressing this matter is an important and necessary task, and in my opinion, the judiciary must utilize the knowledge and scholars from various sectors in the area of transformation.

6) The necessity of belief in transformation throughout the entire judiciary. Another point that is also good to mention is that the transformative movement in the judiciary cannot solely rely on a group at the head of the judiciary—now, the esteemed President of the judiciary, of course, is genuinely pursuing transformation—or prominent elements and high-ranking officials; rather, there must be a belief in transformation throughout the entire body of the judiciary. Fortunately, in the report that he just presented, he refers to the existence of this meaning within the judiciary, which is a source of happiness; I emphasize this; that is, actions should be taken so that the entire judiciary and various elements within it, and the body of the judiciary, believe that they must genuinely pursue a progressive transformation towards achieving the lofty goals of the judiciary.

7) The judiciary's public nature. One point is the issue of the judiciary being public, which I have repeatedly mentioned before; now, in Mr. Raisi's report, the issue of being public was also mentioned; well, being public has various aspects and instances; one aspect of being public is that the judiciary must consider itself to have the dignity and spirit of serving the people; the perspective should not be from above; sometimes our views towards the people may be such that we look at them from above; no, we are among the people, many of these people are even above us, and therefore, it is wrong for someone to look at the people from a superior position; thus, the spirit of service is important. We must consider ourselves as servants of the people; each of us, wherever we are, must do so. This is one aspect of being public. Another aspect is that we should make it easier for people to access the judiciary. One of the important tasks is that people should be able to easily access the necessary centers within the judiciary.

Another important issue is that people should gain judicial information; sometimes individuals have a problem that if they refer to a certain point in the judiciary, it will be resolved; however, they are unaware, and this problem weighs heavily on them, putting their lives under pressure and sometimes creating numerous problems. Therefore, judicial information and awareness among the people must be increased.

Another aspect is the meaning of presence among the people; well, thankfully, I see that the officials of the judiciary—Mr. Raisi himself and some others—easily engage with the people; this is very good; that is, face the people, be present among the people; this is also a point. Therefore, these are various aspects and instances of being public.

Another instance that I have placed as a separate point, and fortunately, this was also mentioned in Mr. Raisi's remarks today, is that the people should assist the judiciary. Now you are fighting against corruption; very well, one of the factors that can assist you in this path is public reports; when people report to you regarding issues related to corruption, you can utilize and benefit from that, which I will explain later; this point is related to the next section of our discussion regarding corruption issues.

8) The necessity of media and artistic activity regarding judicial work. Another point regarding transformation that I will mention, which is the last point, is media and artistic activity regarding judicial work and judicial movements. You see, the enemies of the general movement of the Islamic Republic use all possible means for hostility and strike at any point of the Islamic Republic that they can, including judicial matters. Now, I am not concerned with foreigners, but unfortunately, even within, some responsible individuals related to these matters do things, producing films that undermine the foundations and principles of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, and unfortunately, these films are not considered in the reviews of these public artistic gatherings and such, and they are screened, come to the screen, and are broadcast; this is very bad. The judiciary must pay attention to this issue; merely doing promotional and media work is not enough for you to come and provide statistics; well, yes, the esteemed spokesperson of the judiciary comes and provides explanations, gives statistics, which is very good, and these are necessary, but it is not sufficient. It is not enough for us to say, "We have done these works"; no, in order for the minds of the people to genuinely focus on these matters, artistic work is necessary, media work in the artistic sense is necessary; this must be considered as one of the essential tasks.

You see what the Westerners do in this regard; well, Western courts in their cinema and films—now, as much as I have seen, in films that either Americans produce, Hollywood films, or Europeans produce—depict a dry, pure justice. They do not have any aggression or violation against the accused, and they do not issue a verdict until they are certain; the court in the films is like this, but look outside, observe the current situation in America, see what they do. Thousands of people are taken to prison merely for being present in the street. This esteemed President of the United States has separated thousands of children from their parents and placed them in cages; that is, this is how their work is done. He says that if you do such and such, you must go to prison for ten years; well, does this not require law? Is it not necessary for someone to act according to the law? He says, "I say that this many verdicts must be issued"; that is, their judgments are like this, their courts are like this, but in terms of propaganda, when you look, it is a polished and decorated thing that they show. Well, I certainly do not advocate that we present something contrary to reality; no, but the reality of the matter, the work you are doing, must be specified and expressed, which unfortunately has the opposite; that is, sometimes in our country, films are made regarding judicial matters and what relates to judicial issues that are completely contrary to reality, meaning they are against reality, which I will not name now. These are regarding the matters of transformation.

A few points regarding the fight against corruption: 1) The necessity of decisiveness within the judiciary. Regarding the issue of corruption, I will mention a few points; thankfully, attention to the issue of corruption within the judiciary has peaked. Of course, it had started before this period, but now, thankfully, it is at its peak and is receiving attention; and when the people see that you are confronting the corrupt, you do not hesitate and decisively enter the field, they truly become happy and hopeful; because corruption and the corrupt are a significant blow to the lives of the people and to their spirit and faith. Truly and fairly, financial corruption—along with other corruptions that are currently on the judiciary's agenda, financial and economic corruption—is a major problem, a dangerous virus; and like the coronavirus, it is contagious; it spreads rapidly and severely; that is, corruption in one place quickly and severely spreads to various places. One corrupt individual does not remain corrupt alone; they lead others to corruption for various reasons; and incidentally, in the coronavirus, the contaminated and unclean hand is the source of virus transmission, in corruption, unclean and contaminated hands also cause corruption to be transmitted and passed on; however, in the case of the coronavirus, if we wash that hand with soap, the issue is resolved, but in that case, the hand cannot be resolved by washing with soap; cutting off is the only solution. Therefore, this issue is very important.

The mission of the judiciary is to combat corruption throughout society, which is evident; that is, certainly, you want to combat corruption throughout society, but primarily, the fight against corruption must be within the judiciary itself, which I have repeatedly emphasized in almost all annual meetings with the dear ones of the judiciary. If corruption arises within the judiciary, its harm is much greater than corruption outside the judiciary; it is like the saying "woe to the day when the salt becomes corrupt"; that is, it is not such that we can confront it like other corruptions; no, the impact and weight of this is very high and truly requires serious and expert confrontation. Therefore, primarily, the focus must be on corruption within the judiciary. Of course, saying primarily does not mean that we should finish this and then turn to the other sectors; no, in a balanced manner, as previously mentioned, all of these must proceed.

2) A professional look at the fertile grounds for corruption and consideration of justice towards the accused. The next point is that in the area of corruption, attention must be paid to the fertile grounds for corruption; and this requires a professional perspective; as previously mentioned. That is, we must identify the grounds for the emergence and production of corruption with a professional perspective, recognize them, and with that professional perspective, fight against corruption and strive for its eradication. The criterion for the judiciary in combating corruption is right, justice, and law. That is, no other considerations should be taken into account; the consideration of right must be taken into account, the consideration of justice must be taken into account. And if in a case, the fight against corruption is in accordance with right, justice, and law, it must be pursued without consideration.

Of course, I insist on not being lenient, but I also insist on not being excessive; that is, we do not only rely on not being lenient, but we also emphasize not being excessive. God forbid, if someone who is not guilty and is not corrupt is recognized and introduced as corrupt and treated as such, this is a great injustice; or if someone is punished and blamed more than they deserve, this is also completely wrong; that is, the existence of corruption and the corrupt is very dangerous, but transgressing against the innocent is even more dangerous; I emphasize this.

Dear ones and officials of the judiciary must be vigilant—both those who are working in the prosecution offices and those who are working in the courts—to act according to right and justice. That is, if somewhere right and justice require severity of action, they must act without consideration. And where right and justice require a lack of severity, they should not be swayed by the atmosphere that says, "Now, because the atmosphere says this, we should do such and such"; this pertains to both the dear ones of the judiciary and those who are outside. The spectators of your courts also express opinions in this regard; especially now that the virtual space is very common, many people express opinions and judge in the virtual space; and with their statements and writings, they actually place themselves in the position of a judge and give verdicts based on this judgment; sometimes they insult, sometimes they slander, and do similar things; everyone must be vigilant, meaning that those who are outside the judiciary must also be vigilant so that the fight against corruption does not lead to transgressing against individuals.

I must also mention that in this recent period, in the recent court case that is being discussed in the judiciary, some of the previous clean-handed dignitaries of the judiciary were insulted and wronged; that is, they were truly wronged, and this should not have happened and must not happen. Of course, my address is to the faithful individuals, the faithful youth; otherwise, nothing can be done with those who are adversarial. Some individuals want to take revenge on the firm revolutionary positions of a certain personality when they are no longer in that position; I have no business with them; my address is to the faithful and religious people and good youth who want to act according to right; they must be vigilant not to transgress, not to wrong, not to oppress. This movement against corruption, which thankfully is now manifesting itself well within the judiciary, began during the time of Mr. Amoli; that is, he was the initiator of this movement; both within the judiciary and outside the judiciary; these must not be overlooked.

3) Supporting economic movement and preventing the closure of production units. Another point regarding this issue of the judiciary and this fight against corruption is that one of the good works of the judiciary is to support production and prevent the closure of these units. The fact that Mr. Raisi mentioned in his report "one thousand production units" is a very important matter; this is a very significant task. Truly, every part of the Islamic Republic that can assist in the economic movement of society must fulfill its duty. The people are facing hardships in terms of livelihood; that is, the livelihood of the people is difficult; anyone who can assist in the economic matter must do so, and one of the contributions of the judiciary is to prevent the closure of production units. Recently, Mr. Raisi announced that banks that have confiscated some production units or are holding them as collateral have no right to close them; this is very correct; this statement is completely correct; and this can be generalized; that is, you can apply this to other cases as well. For example, suppose that the private sector buys a factory from the government, then that factory is left idle, the workers are laid off, its machinery is auctioned off, and its land is turned into a 20 or 25-story building! Well, these are blows to the economy of the country; you can truly pursue these matters in a meaningful way, as they relate to the livelihood of the people.

4) Establishing commercial courts and legal infrastructure. Another point is the establishment of commercial courts, which I have previously mentioned for resolving economic disputes. One of the necessary tasks in combating corruption, which I previously referred to and said I would return to, is the need for public oversight. Well, for public oversight and public reports, legal infrastructure within the judiciary is necessary; that is, you must specify the place for these reports within the judiciary, how they will be reviewed, how the validity of these reports will be recognized, and how the security of the reporter will be preserved; this is one of the important issues. The one who enjoins good and forbids wrong, which includes the reporting of corruption in a certain place, in a certain transaction, in a certain administration, must have their security—both their material security and their moral security—preserved and not be subjected to harm. Sometimes, for example, a faithful, committed young person comes to you with a report out of a sense of duty, but because they are not a legal expert, they make a mistake here; for example, they mention a name that they should not have specified in a certain place; they make a mistake in this regard; the legal expert who is a lawbreaker uses this small mistake of this young person and hides the large corruption behind it, and this young person is condemned, while the other escapes! These matters must be taken into account. This requires that within the judiciary, a legal infrastructure be established that secures the safety of public reporters and also verifies their validity. Additionally, a pathway must not be opened for slander, so that now, when they see that there is an institution that listens to and accepts public reports, anyone with a minor grievance can immediately accuse them; no, it must be anticipated and considered that this should not be the case. Ultimately, the one who enjoins good and forbids wrong must feel reassured that the judiciary supports them. This is also regarding this point.

I find it necessary to thank all the judges and honorable managers who are engaged in difficult tasks throughout the judiciary and are fulfilling their duties—in the area of transformation and various other duties of the judiciary. Now, Mr. Raisi mentioned that during the coronavirus period and the challenges of limited communication and such, the work of the judiciary continued, and tasks progressed, and some are truly working in the area of transformation; I thank all of them, and I also thank their families; that is, half of the efforts of those who are striving and working in an institution and providing round-the-clock service are actually related to their spouses and families, and divine reward is directed towards them, and I thank all of them.

The need for comprehensive vigilance from officials and the people regarding the issue of the coronavirus. In my concluding remarks, I would like to refer to the issue of coronavirus. Some people think that the issue of coronavirus is over, resolved; no, the issue of coronavirus continues. Thankfully, first of all, the medical, health, and hospital systems, and such, which have truly been at the forefront, have made sacrifices—this has been mentioned before, and even if we say it ten more times, it is not too much, because their work has been truly outstanding, and they are still engaged—and then the volunteers who entered the field voluntarily, from within hospitals and cities to cemeteries and everywhere, have worked and helped; the people have also responded well, and I sincerely thanked the people at the beginning of the year for their response during the 13th of Farvardin holiday. Well, what was the result? The result was that we were introduced to the world as a successful country in dealing with coronavirus. Some heads of countries who spoke with the President—he told me—asked him what you did? This indicates that our work, the successes of our country in combating coronavirus have been reflected in the world, that officials of other countries ask our President what you did; this was the first work; now, when we look, we see that it seems that the initial movement, that initial struggle has weakened from some of the people and some officials. I see that the esteemed officials appear on television, while there are people around them, and they do not wear masks; well, I do not have a mask now, but if two or three people come around me, I will certainly wear a mask, as I do in some cases, and one sees that this mask is not worn; well, when you, as a government official, do not wear a mask in a public gathering, this young person walking in the street, who does not feel like wearing a mask, is encouraged not to wear it; what is the result? The result is that after our fatalities had reached double digits and had come down to around thirty, now it has reached over one hundred and thirty; this saddens a person. About a month or a month and a half ago, in the statistics provided to us, some provinces were mentioned where there had been no fatalities at all; I was truly happy from the bottom of my heart, I thanked God that thankfully there are provinces where there have been no fatalities; now recently, just a few days ago, I received a report that some of those same provinces that were reported to have no fatalities have reported multiple fatalities; it saddens a person, well, we should not do this, we must take care, we must be vigilant; both the people must take care, and the officials must take care. Thankfully, the medical teams are still standing firm; my concern is that they may become fatigued; the medical teams have endured; well, until when, how long? We must do something so that the burden on them is not so heavy. God forbid, if our nurse, our doctor, and the other elements related to treatment and hospitals become fatigued, well, truly, the work will lag, and the situation will worsen.

It is said that economic problems arise; yes, that is true; we must anticipate a situation where economic problems due to coronavirus do not arise, or are minimized and alleviated, but we must also keep in mind that if, God forbid, we neglect and once again coronavirus spreads widely, well, the economic situation will become more difficult, it will worsen, and problems will increase; and today we need to be vigilant from all aspects. You see the hostilities, you see the wicked America, the wicked England, the European governments, you see the actions they take against the Islamic Republic, and thanks be to God, their heads hit the stone, and they cannot achieve their goals, and whatever they do with their so-called "maximum pressure" to bring the Iranian nation to its knees, thankfully, the response is the fist of the Iranian nation hitting their chest and pushing them back, and they are not successful; this is provided that we all can fulfill our duties, God willing.

I am very grateful to Mr. Raisi, the esteemed President of the judiciary, and his colleagues in the board, in the institutions, assistants, heads of the judiciary, and all the responsible and esteemed elements and all the honorable judges of the judiciary and their esteemed staff; I thank all of them. God willing, may God grant you all success, assist you all, and may God make the pure soul of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) pleased with these efforts you are making, and may He also unite the pure souls of the dear martyrs with the Prophet, God willing.

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