PPrior to approving the Islamic Penal Code Act 2013, the concept of repentance was accepted to some extent in the context of provisions related to Hudud (fixed religious penalties). In the latest efforts to revise the Islamic Penal Code, the lawmakers dedicated some articles to repentance which stipulated specific rules on the framework and other detailed provisions on applying this concept. This initiative of the legislators can be challenged on the one hand through the criminological analysis of the subject, and on the other hand, in the context of its implementation within the framework of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Due to its ignorance of modern criminological theories, particularly on victimology, the deviation of attention from offender’s personality to the criminal act, and the impossibility of realization of all repentance conditions, it appears that approving legislative provisions on repentance in the Islamic Penal Code will result in a serious crisis. Therefore, in order to reach an effective criminal policy, it is necessary that all aspects of the concept be duly scrutinized. Taking into account the substantive and procedural limits surrounding this topic, the gap between the bases of repentance in the Islamic Penal Code with the recent developments in criminal policy and also the absence of practical approaches to materialize this concept, it seems that its implementation will face challenges, thereby making the criminal policy far away from being effective.
 

Keywords: Acknowledgement of Repentance, Criminology, Criminal Policy, Criminal Justice System.

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