Statements of the Supreme Leader in Meeting with the Head, Officials, and Judges of the Judiciary

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

Honorable gentlemen; dear brothers and sisters; officials and employees of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic! Welcome.

In this annual meeting, what I consider my main duty is to express gratitude and say 'well done' to you present brothers and sisters, each of whom is engaged in the very important work of justice and its related matters in this great institution. The work in the judiciary, although like work in all institutions of the Islamic Republic, is worship, reward, and good deed; however, this institution has the characteristic that if it is healthy and works well, all other institutions of the country will also be healthy and work well. I have repeatedly stated this to the officials and employees of the judiciary over the years, perhaps for ten years or more, and I want to emphasize this point again. Because if good work and the realization of rights are done in this institution and crime, violation, and transgression of the law are combated; in other words, when a competent, expert group constantly fights crime, it is obvious that this ominous phenomenon will also be defeated and retreat in society and other institutions. In this case, the criminal will also be deterred from committing a crime. But if this institution does not perform well, this poor performance, in addition to indicating corruption within this institution itself, God forbid, will also cause corruption in other institutions and in society; because the dragon of sin, corruption, and desires is such that if it sees its way open, it advances and expands and increases its volume. That is, the nature of sin is that if it is not confronted, it grows in a strange way.

These confrontations are varied, one of the most important types of which is judicial confrontation. Well, then the status of the judiciary became this: 'If it is reformed, everything else will be reformed'; and God forbid, 'If it is corrupted, everything else will be corrupted.' That is, it has a central role in the Islamic society. The importance of the judiciary is from this perspective.

In the noble verses of the Quran and repeated narrations, it is stated that the judiciary is for the realization of rights: 'And judge with justice,' 'A man judged with justice.' The issue of 'right' is constantly repeated in matters related to justice and judgment. Well, what is right? Right in the Islamic worldview is the true order of the universe: 'We did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between them except with truth.' And in another noble verse as I recall: 'He created the heavens and the earth with truth.' And again in two other verses: 'God created the heavens and the earth with truth' and 'God did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between them except with truth,' one in Surah 'Ankabut' and the other in Surah 'Rum.' The noble verse 'And We did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between them in play' is also there, followed by the next verse saying: 'We did not create them except with truth.'

Well, what does right mean? It means the true order of the world of existence. That which God has created as it should be. That which is the product of divine wisdom and should be as such and should proceed in such a way that it is in accordance with reality and divine wisdom. Therefore, the narration of truth is in accordance with reality and the divine order of truth, and contrary to reality and the divine order of falsehood, which among the individual sins of a human being, no sin is as great as it. In the sense that if the narration of reality is contrary and, for example, the correct statement of a person is falsely denied, in fact, one of the greatest moral vices of humanity has emerged.

So, whenever you want to convey something, you are obliged to say it as it is. That is, in accordance with the true order of existence. If you say otherwise, it becomes falsehood, and falsehood is the great sin that is so emphasized to avoid in the Quran and Islamic narrations.

What we said and was so important was only the narration of truth. The realization of truth is much more important. That is, managing the universe on the basis that God has created and determined its nature and defined its right and wrong, advancing it and moving in harmony with it. This is right and very important, and you certainly strive to act on this basis.

Every sin is a deviation from the truth. Every violation of the law in the divine and Islamic system, where the laws are divine laws, is a deviation from the truth. Every injustice is a deviation from the truth. Every negligence in performing a duty where there is a duty is a deviation from the truth. In such conditions, the judiciary stands firm and stands against these various types of deviations from the truth.

This is the importance of the judiciary. You stand to prevent falsehood from dominating the system of people's lives. In this community where you live, in fact, everyone is committed to the truth; that is, to guarantee the correct implementation of what is the main order of existence and creation of the Almighty. It is not without reason that in the sacred law and in our jurisprudence, so much attention has been paid to the issue of judgment and the officials and executors of the matter of judgment. While none of the governmental tasks have been so emphasized and stressed that it should have this characteristic and not have that one. This is due to the importance of this subject.

If someone asks: 'If we see problems and shortcomings and lack of progress in work [the same expression that has become very famous today and some rightly or wrongly emphasize it and give wrong results and statistics to people about it; that is, the issue of productivity], what should we do?' The answer is: If productivity was low or there was a violation or, for example, work was not progressing and inappropriate people were engaged in work, we must carefully find out where the judiciary is deficient and whether this defect is in the supervisory sections and organizations like the General Inspection Organization of the country, which belongs to the judiciary, or is it related to another place? If it is related to the Inspection Organization, which of course its inspection must have legal guarantees, it is a defect in the overall composition of the judiciary, and the judiciary must address it.

The status of the judiciary, the Administrative Justice Court, or any other organization involved in these matters is not merely to see and present violations; rather, it is to fight against violations. If, for example, injustice was prevalent in a part of society or, God forbid, there was a lot of murder or the rights of a segment of society (for example, women and children; in the family or outside the family) were violated and issues of this kind occurred, the solution is to think and find out what deficiencies the responsible sections in the judiciary have that they have not been able to prevent the growth of these violations?

In the Islamic governance system, the judge was appointed by the 'wali' (in our today's expression, 'guardian of the affairs'); but this same judge sometimes also prosecuted and held accountable the guardian himself! Of course, a brave and truthful judge. Because dependent and non-brave judges like 'Yahya ibn Aktham' have also existed in the world. I am not talking about them.

The status of the judiciary is what we said: the status of correction, the status of reform, and the status of fighting against oppression and falsehood. This is summed up in the 'word of falsehood.' Of course, between us and God, if we want to observe fairness, our judiciary, with this composition as far as we are aware of the state of the world, is unparalleled in the world. Where else in the world are there so many pure and faithful people, with a just and scholarly head? Well, in other countries of the world, we clearly see who the heads of the judiciary are. Who are the appointers and who are the appointees, and what characteristics do the judges have? Of course, brave, conscientious, and justice-seeking judges exist everywhere in the world, and we should not violate the rights of different people even in speech and narration. But overall, the reality is that, honestly, the order and basis of work here are better than anywhere else. It is appropriate to thank those who laid the foundation of this high-status institution, especially the great martyr, the late Ayatollah Beheshti, may God's mercy be upon him, who with his strong and firm personality and innovative thinking and awake and lively spirit, was a prominent founder of this institution, and we should pray for their pure souls and ask God Almighty for their exaltation of ranks.

It is certain that the work of the judiciary is good; but advice is also not bad. What I say to the judiciary today and always is to consider the status of judgment and adjudication in the Islamic system, then measure the status of the judiciary and your adjudication work with it. There is definitely a gap. Measure this gap this year and strive to reduce the gap by next year and measure the gap again, see if you have moved towards aligning the reality of your judiciary with that ideal Islamic judiciary and whether this movement of yours has been reasonable and fast or not? If not, try to bring this speed to the necessary level.

In the judiciary of the Islamic Republic system, above all, knowledge and awareness and understanding are necessary. Therefore, the seminaries and law faculties and institutions related to judicial rights must send their elites to the judiciary. Especially the seminary, which must send its most distinguished scholars and jurists and personalities; just as it has always been and from the oldest times in this country, it has been so.

Of course, in the past, there was no judicial system, but great jurists were the executors of the matter of judgment and they wrote documents and their signatures gave validity to deeds and contracts. It has been so in all sections and today it should be so. That is, some great jurists of the seminaries, we do not say all jurists, should form a group; some should teach, some should research, some should train students, some should, God willing, go through the high stages of jurisprudence and reach the highest ranks, and some of their elites should also be sent to the judiciary. This is a duty.

Law faculties and institutions and organizations that train judicial law students should also send their elites to the judiciary, and the judiciary should also attract them. This is a duty.

Well, first 'knowledge' is necessary and in the second stage 'truth-seeking'; that is, that which arises from justice, a pure conscience, and a spirit of fighting falsehood. Everyone, whether those who are engaged in the judiciary or those who are in other administrative and office sections, must have these characteristics. But these characteristics must be more in the judiciary; because wherever, God forbid, corruption occurs, it is related to the body of the judiciary. The judiciary must be an institution with such characteristics and, God willing, progress in this direction day by day. In any case, the same supervision and oversight that exists from the heads, elders, and top officials over the judiciary, as Mr. Yazdi also mentioned, must continue and as much as possible, efforts should be made to attract competent elements and if there are those who, due to lack of knowledge and necessary characteristics, cannot bear this heavy burden, the judiciary should cleanse itself of their presence; because if the judiciary is at the minimum level of what is necessary and desirable, not the maximum, you will see that day by day in society, crimes and problems will decrease day by day in the body of government institutions. Achieving these goals is certainly dependent on the help of the legislative power, which by setting strong and necessary legal materials, provides this possibility so that the judiciary can implement them with its powerful hands. Our duty is also to pray for the honorable gentlemen.

We hope that God will help you and the favors and blessings of His Holiness the Remaining of God, may our souls be sacrificed for him, will support you so that you can fulfill your heavy duty in this important historical period.

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