Raisi: The Charter of the Judiciary is the Leader's Mandate and the Basis for Its Transformation is the Leader's Statement

Ebrahim Raisi, the new head of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, stated on Monday, March 9, during his inauguration ceremony that the charter of the judiciary's performance in the new era will be the mandate of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, and the work of this branch will proceed based on the statement of the 'Second Step'. The Second Step statement is a recent declaration issued by Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the 1979 revolution's victory. In part of that statement, the Supreme Leader mentioned: 'My dissatisfaction with the functioning of justice in the country is due to the fact that this noble value should be the unique gem atop the Islamic Republic system, and it is still not.' Mr. Raisi, who replaced Sadegh Amoli Larijani as the head of the judiciary, said on Monday during the farewell and inauguration ceremony: 'The basis of judicial transformation in this period... in my opinion, should be shaped within the framework of the Second Step of judicial transformation. The judicial transformation program within the framework of the Second Step, as the Supreme Leader stated, will hopefully require cooperation from all sectors, both in the government and in the parliament, so that everyone in their respective fields can work to ensure that this step, especially in the implementation of justice, is taken well.' He also added: 'In our country, every day a party and a movement comes; we must agree on the implementation of the law and take this matter seriously, and I will also pay attention to it as a central point.' Ebrahim Raisi, who was appointed as the head of the judiciary by the Supreme Leader on March 7, is subject to EU sanctions and was a member of a four-person committee in 1988 that decided on the execution of political prisoners. The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran appointed Ebrahim Raisi as the new head of the judiciary and called for 'the powerful beginning of a new era' that, according to him, 'should be worthy of the Second Step of the revolution.' The appointment of Ayatollah Khamenei for Ebrahim Raisi's presidency was met with reactions from political, civil, and human rights activists, who referred to Raisi's background in the 1980s, describing this appointment as 'salting the wounds of the survivors of the 1988 massacre.' The new head of the judiciary, who referred to Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, as 'Imams,' acknowledged the implementation of justice as endorsed by both and stated: 'I do not want to say that the implementation of justice is equivalent to the implementation of the law, but for now, if we want to agree on a principle, it is the implementation of the law; no one in any situation or position has the right to circumvent the law or commit legal violations.' According to Ebrahim Raisi, 'The issue of law enforcement must be taken seriously at all levels of the country today.' Raisi did not consider 'the prolongation of litigation and the number of incoming cases to the judiciary' as 'worthy of the Islamic system' and stated: 'The role of prevention is also the responsibility of both the government and the parliament through the enactment of preventive laws; there is no institution in the country in the economic, social, or cultural fields that does not have the duty to prevent crime.' The head of the judiciary emphasized that 'all actions must be aimed at preventing anomalies in society,' calling 'the issue of prevention' a 'very important matter.' According to the new head of the judiciary, 'Today, the claimants of fighting corruption within the judiciary are the judges themselves.' He emphasized that he is 'determined' to 'ensure the integrity of the judiciary.' Ebrahim Raisi, in part of his remarks, described 'the issue of protecting social freedoms and the rights of the people' as 'a very important point' and stated: 'The issue of citizens' rights is a serious matter in the judiciary. As public rights, we cannot be indifferent to violations of water, soil, forests, the environment, and the health of the people and what constitutes the rights of the people; the judiciary will not remain silent in this regard.' Ebrahim Raisi was appointed as the new head of the judiciary of Iran on Thursday by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, replacing Sadegh Larijani, who was appointed as the head of the Expediency Discernment Council. Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, in one of his electoral campaign events where he competed with Ebrahim Raisi for the presidency, stated that people at the ballot boxes would declare that they would not vote for those who had 'only known executions and prisons for 38 years.' In 1988, when a large number of political prisoners were executed by the order of Ruhollah Khomeini, Ebrahim Raisi was the deputy prosecutor of Tehran and a member of a committee that was entrusted with decision-making regarding the executions of prisoners. Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a Shia religious authority, described those executions as 'the greatest crime in the history of the Islamic Republic' during a meeting with members of this committee.