Penal Code and Social Change

The revised penal code of the Islamic Republic of Iran was finalized in April of 2013. There are a number of meaningful changes in the code that could be interpreted as the outcome of pressures exerted by both domestic and international agents on the system to modify the archaic laws. For example, the most controversial article of stoning is removed from the code; a clear response to the international and national outcry against this primitive method of punishment. So are the limitations put on the Islamic judges that hitherto sentenced the accused based on their own speculations, without any need to support their opinions by articles of law. Again, this will significantly reduce the wantonness of the decisions of judges whose main credentials are based on their years spent at the seminary. In this paper, the sociological aspects of changes in the penal code of the Islamic Republic will be discussed, hypothesizing that the level of changes made in the penal code represents the degree of flexibility of the regime corresponding to social change and demographic volatility.