A/HRC/40/67 44. According to the Civil Code, the age of “maturity” for girls is 9 lunar years, and for boys 15 lunar years.80 Maturity in this context is assessed according to the child’s physical development according to some traditional rulings in Islamic jurisprudence. Articles 146 and 147 of the 2013 revised Penal Code also specify the age of criminal responsibility at 9 lunar years for girls and 15 lunar years for boys. 45. Criminal responsibility for crimes punishable by hudud (punishments fixed by God) or qisas is maintained at the same age of maturity, that is, 9 lunar years for girls and 15 lunar years for boys. These crimes carry mandatory punishments such as death, flogging and amputation, giving no discretion to the court as to what sentence is appropriate based on individual circumstances, age, and mitigating factors. All child offenders executed in 2018 were executed on the basis of qisas. 46. In contrast, the age of responsibility for the frequently less serious ta’zir crimes (crimes for which the judge has discretion as to the sentence imposed) is 18 years for all children. In such circumstances, convicted children are sentenced to correctional measures. 47. The Special Rapporteur notes further inconsistencies within the legal framework. In the 2017 amendment to the drug trafficking law, the death penalty was retained for any individual who “has exploited children or juveniles under the age of 18 … for the commission of the crime”.81 Article 35 continues to sanction “anyone who forces children and juveniles under the age of 18 … to use drugs”. These provisions indicate a clear acknowledgment that individuals below the age of 18 years have less “maturity” or “mental development” than those above the age of 18 years. 48. Other legislative provisions reflect a similar understanding. Article 1 of the Protection of Children and Adolescents Act, of 2002, defines a child as every human being below the age of 18 years old. Furthermore, only an individual over 18 years old can obtain a passport, 82 vote,83 or obtain a driving licence. 49. In the light of the inconsistencies described, the Special Rapporteur reiterates the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to the Islamic Republic of Iran to revise its legislation to increase the age of maturity to 18 years. 84 In its comments, the Government noted that “the minimum age for criminal liability has been determined through taking into account of the mental and psychological development of children and juveniles, and considering of geographical, cultural, social, religious and racial conditions. When an age is recognized as the minimum age for criminal liability, it indicates that the juvenile, at this age, has reached the level of emotional, mental and psychological maturity that may recognize his/her liability against his/her behaviours. Therefore, the recognition of the minimum age is associated with consideration of the mental maturity of juveniles.” (b) Legislative developments 50. In 2013, the Penal Code was amended. Article 91 of the amended Code exempts children aged below 18 years and above the age of maturity from the death penalty if it is assessed that they “do not realize the nature of the crime committed or its prohibition, or if there is uncertainty about their full mental development, according to their age”. Article 91 also stipulates that “the court may ask the opinion of forensic medicine or resort to any other method that it sees appropriate in order to establish the full mental development”.85 Following the amendment, child offenders on death row began to apply to the Supreme Court for retrials. Some applications were successful but others were refused. This led to the issuance of a “unifying judicial precedent” by the Supreme Court in 2014 which confirmed that applications for retrials were admissible. In submissions to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Islamic Republic of Iran noted that “the retrial of all adolescents who were 80 81 82 83 84 85 Article 1210, note 1. Art. 45. Passport and Immigration Law, sect. 1, art. 18. Election Law, art. 36. CRC/C/15/Add.254, para. 23; and CRC/C/IRN/CO/3-4, paras. 27–28. See https://iranhrdc.org/english-translation-of-books-i-ii-of-the-new-islamic-penal-code/. 11