Special Clerical Court

E829876

The Special Clerical Court is a controversial Iranian tribunal that operates outside the regular judiciary to investigate, try, and discipline Shia clerics for political, religious, and moral offenses.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Special Clerical Court canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf religious tribunal
special court
appealAuthority Supreme Leader or his delegate
linked to: Supreme Leader
appealProcess limited
appliesTo clerics with political influence
clerics with religious influence
associatedWith Office of the Supreme Leader
canImpose ban on clerical activities
defrocking of clerics
exile within Iran
imprisonment
characterizedAs controversial tribunal
country Iran
criticizedBy Iranian reformists
human rights organizations
international legal experts
criticizedFor lack of due process
lack of transparency
politically motivated prosecutions
distinctFrom General Courts of Iran
Iranian Revolutionary Courts
establishedAfter 1979 Iranian Revolution
linked to: Iranian Revolution
establishedDuring Islamic Republic era
handlesOffenses moral offenses by clerics
political offenses by clerics
religious offenses by clerics
headquarteredIn Tehran
independenceFrom Iranian Judiciary
jurisdiction Shia clerics
languageOfProceedings Persian
legalBasis decree of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
legalStatus extra-constitutional body
legalSystem Islamic Republic of Iran
linked to: Iran
notableFor closed trials
secretive proceedings
operatesOutside regular Iranian judiciary
primaryFunction discipline clerics
investigate clerics
try clerics
purpose maintain discipline within Shia clergy
protect image of the clergy
religiousTradition Twelver Shia Islam
linked to: Twelver Shia
reportsTo Supreme Leader of Iran
subjectOf academic studies on Iranian judiciary
international human rights reports
supervisedBy Supreme Leader of Iran
usedTo silence dissenting clerics
usesLaw Islamic law
special regulations for clergy

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

judicial branch of Iran mainBody Special Clerical Court
judicial branch of Iran includesCourtType Special Clerical Court