With Parliament's Approval: Obstructing Enjoining Good and Forbidding Wrong is a Crime

On Tuesday, February 3, the representatives of the Parliament approved that not only will obstructing the enjoining of good and forbidding wrong be considered a "crime," but the judiciary must also allocate a special branch to support those who enjoin good and forbid wrong. On October 8, despite government opposition, the Parliament approved the general outline of the 24-article bill "Support for Enjoining Good and Forbidding Wrong" and sent it to the Guardian Council for approval. The Guardian Council identified 14 articles of this bill as having issues and ambiguities and returned it to the Parliament for further review. In the Tuesday session, Article 9 of this bill was "amended" and approved, stating that obstructing those who enjoin good and forbid wrong will be a crime. According to this article, "individuals or legal entities do not have the right to create obstacles against the execution of enjoining good and forbidding wrong. Any kind of obstruction or disturbance recognized as a crime by law will result in a punishment of imprisonment or a grade 7 fine in addition to the prescribed penalty." This article also states that "in the case of legal entities, individuals who misuse their power or legal and administrative authorities through threats, warnings, reprimands, reduction of salaries or benefits, temporary or permanent disconnection, relocation, demotion, revocation of activity licenses, deprivation of other rights and privileges to obstruct the enjoining of good and forbidding wrong will be subject to administrative penalties according to the law on administrative offenses, as well as the punishment of section p of Article 20 of the Islamic Penal Code." According to the judiciary-affiliated news agency Mizan, in today's public session, representatives also obligated the judiciary to "allocate a special branch to expedite the handling of crimes related to this law." The note of this article states that those who enjoin good and forbid wrong are subject to judicial protections as per Article 4 of the Judicial Support Law for the Basij approved on January 1, 1992. Article 4 of the Judicial Support Law for the Basij states, "In order to support individuals under this law, legal and judicial support offices for Basij members will be established within the Basij Resistance Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in connection with the implementation of this law." According to the note of this article, "Legal experts in this office can act as representatives on behalf of the mentioned individuals in all stages of litigation without the obligation to obtain a power of attorney from the Bar Association." Previously, in the public session on Sunday, February 1, Article 7 of this bill was reviewed and approved, which states that the punishment for "criminal acts" against "those who enjoin good and forbid wrong is not subject to reduction or suspension." In the Tuesday session, Article 8 of this bill was also approved, which allows people to enjoin good and forbid wrong from officials, authorities, and managers of all branches of governance and the three powers. Opponents of this bill had previously stated that the legalization of some of its provisions would cause chaos in government agencies and offices.