Journal of Research and Development in Comparative Law

Journal of Research and Development in Comparative Law

A Comparative Study of Principles and Approaches Governing Crimes against Security in Iranian and United States Law

Articles in Press

Document Type : scientific research paper

Authors
Hadi Rostami 1
Hamidreza Maarefi Zanjani Asl 2
1 Department of Law, Faculty of Humanities, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran.
2 Department of Jurisprudence and Fundamentals of Islamic Law, Faculty of Theology, Islamic Studies and Guidance, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran. Department of Jurisprudence and Principles, Qom Seminary, Qom, Iran.
10.22034/law.2025.2073991.1718
Abstract
Maintaining public security and ensuring a balance between individual rights and collective interests is one of the fundamental and complex issues in contemporary criminal law, especially in the face of crimes against security that can directly threaten political stability, social order, and national security. Determining the type and extent of punishment in this area, in addition to observing fundamental criminal principles such as proportionality, deterrence, and justice, requires legal flexibility and a variety of criminal and supervisory tools to respond to emerging threats, including cybercrime and transnational terrorism. In the Iranian criminal system, the framework based on Islamic jurisprudence and codified laws has provided for severe hadd and ta’zir punishments such as execution, amputation, long imprisonment, and flogging for crimes against security; these punishments are mainly designed with the aim of absolute deterrence and protection of public order, but the lack of objective criteria and broad definitions of some concepts has led to diverse and sometimes disproportionate interpretations in issuing sentences. In contrast, the American system, based on the common law and civil rights tradition, faces diverse supervisory and criminal instruments and federal and state separation; however, security policies after 9/11 have created restrictions on fundamental rights and in some cases have violated the principle of proportionality.

This study has examined the laws, regulations, and judicial procedures of the two systems using a comparative approach and documentary analysis. The findings show that efforts to deter and prevent security crimes in both systems face limitations; the Iranian system, with its focus on severe penalties and legal restrictions, and the American system, with its combination of supervision and punishment, both face challenges in maintaining a balance between security and individual rights. The comparative results show that Iran can target the social roots of crime by utilizing preventive tools and data-driven analyses, and the American system also needs to review its security policies to ensure the protection of individual rights and public trust, and to achieve a sustainable balance between security and civil liberties.
Keywords
Crimes against security
public order
criminal justice system
rights of the accused
political sovereignty

Subjects

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Journal of Research and Development in Comparative Law

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 04 November 2025