Mohseni Ejei's Directive for Oversight of Judicial Agents; A Special Commission is Formed

Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the head of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, issued a directive on 'the manner of exercising authority and oversight of judicial officials over judicial agents,' emphasizing the establishment of a 'special oversight committee.' This directive, approved on June 6 but published on June 22, states that to prevent overlapping responsibilities, a representative from 'specific and security agents' will be introduced as a liaison to pursue all judicial matters and 'legal requests of agents' through him. The appointment of representatives for agents and their targeted efforts come at a time when, over the past decades, the interference and influence of agents in political cases have faced protests from many well-known figures. Additionally, a member of the parliamentary legal and judicial commission had warned on September 20, 2010, against the 'information protection of the judiciary' becoming a tool for specific managements and the suppression of honest judges. Seyyed Salman Zakir had warned about the influence and empowerment of agents and emphasized that we oppose the activities of judicial agents outside the structure of this organization and that 'judicial police should be revived.' According to this report, the directive states that to properly execute judicial orders and create more coordination and synergy among agents for 'detecting conspiracies, preventing enemy infiltration, and identifying organized crime rings,' a 'commission' will be formed with the membership of the Attorney General, the head of the judiciary's protection and information center, the head of the judiciary organization of the armed forces, the Minister of Information, the Chief of Police, and the head of the IRGC intelligence organization. The emphasis on detecting conspiracies and identifying organized crime rings in the formation of this 'commission' seems to be related to the joint statement of the Ministry of Information and the IRGC intelligence on October 28, 2022, during the peak of last year's protests. Accordingly, the second clause of that statement mentioned: 'Based on available information, it has been established that the groundwork, preparation, and a significant part of the operational execution of the recent riots were designed by foreign intelligence services and implemented through some groups and networks associated with them in various ways within the country.' Another section of this 17-article directive involves decision-making regarding simultaneous actions that arise only in very sensitive and security-related matters. Article 12 of this directive states, 'In the case of simultaneous entry and action of agents in a single matter, the relevant judicial authority will determine the resolution. If necessary, he can refer the matter to the committee [which will be formed in provinces, counties, and districts] for providing an appropriate solution.' According to Article 28 of the Criminal Procedure Code, judicial agents are officials who, under the supervision and training of the prosecutor, act in discovering crimes, preserving evidence and signs, collecting evidence of the occurrence of crimes, identifying, locating, and preventing the escape and hiding of suspects, conducting preliminary investigations, serving documents, and executing judicial decisions according to the law. General agents have the right and authority to act regarding the matters mentioned in Article 28, and their duties and powers are not limited to specific crimes. Examples of general agents include commanders, officers, and non-commissioned officers of the police force. According to the laws of the Islamic Republic, specific agents are those whose authority and powers are limited to specific and defined crimes, and outside of those crimes, they do not have the right to intervene in any matter. Examples of these agents include officials from the Ministry of Information and the IRGC intelligence in the areas of 'preventing and combating corruption and disruption of economic security, organized crimes against security, terrorist actions, and security threats,' as well as officials from the Basij Resistance Force of the IRGC.