In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
All praise is due to God, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and our Prophet, Abul Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and his untainted, pure, chosen Progeny, particularly the Remnant of God on earth.
Welcome my dear brothers and respected officials of the esteemed Judiciary, who have one of the highest, most important responsibilities in the country. I would like to congratulate you on the occasion of Eid al-Ghadir. I would also like to congratulate you on the birth anniversary of Imam Hadi (pbuh), which is today. We honor the memory of the prominent martyrs of the Judiciary, dear martyr Beheshti and other martyrs, especially the latest martyrs including the late Mr. Raisi (may God be pleased with him), who had a distinguished, remarkable record in the Judiciary. We honor the memory of all these dear martyrs. May God elevate their ranks and reward their efforts.
I sincerely thank the honorable staff of the Judiciary, including the managers, judges, and administrative personnel for their dedicated efforts. As Mr. Mohseni stated, and I am not unaware of this, praise God, good efforts are being made within the Judiciary. We are very grateful for your hard work and efforts. And I am particularly thankful to the honorable head of the Judiciary himself. In our meetings with him, we hear about the work that has been done in the Judiciary. We give him feedback and listen to his reports. They are working hard, praise God, and they are doing a good job. In addition to the positive qualities that Mr. Mohseni possesses, this is also an important point and, praise God, a virtue in him that he knows the Judiciary and is familiar with the components, aspects, and features of this branch due to his long tenure there. This is an outstanding strength. In any case, we extend our thanks to all of you.
I would like to say a few words about the Judiciary. The report that was presented was a good one, and the work that has been carried out is valuable and commendable. The main function of the Judiciary, everywhere in the world and not just in our country, is to solve people’s problems based on justice. This is one aspect. Another aspect is to prevent the crossing of legal red lines. This is the foundation of the Judiciary’s job. Hence, you can see that in our country the Judiciary has been known from the beginning as an adliyeh [place of justice] or dadgostari [administrator of justice]. The Judiciary is, in fact, all about "justice." This is the cornerstone of its work. All attention should be primarily focused on ensuring justice in the disputes that arise between people and in the complaints that are filed. This highest volume of case filings, as was mentioned, are complaints. Attention must be paid to the issue of upholding justice in these cases.
In Islam as well — and, praise God, you gentlemen are all aware of this — the issue of justice is a significant point in the Islamic teachings, including in the Quran, in the Nahj al-Balaghah, and in the hadith. [Some examples from] the noble verses of the Quran include: “But if you judge, judge between them with justice” (5:42), “And when you speak, be fair” (6:152), “Indeed, Allah enjoins justice” (16:90), “Say, ‘My Lord has enjoined justice’” (7:29), “I have been commanded to do justice among you” (42:15), “Be maintainers of justice and witnesses for the sake of Allah, even if it should be against yourselves or [your] parents and near relatives” (4:135), “And ill feeling for a people should never lead you to be unfair” (5:8), and there are many other verses. The core of these is justice. In other words, no other issue in the Holy Quran and other Islamic sources is given as much importance and attention as justice is given.
As a result, all the efforts of the Judiciary must be bravely focused on establishing justice. Of course, this is not an easy task as I have mentioned. It requires courage. We must approach this task with courage and implement justice without any biases. Verdicts must be fair and impartial.
As Imam Sajjad (pbuh), in Supplication 22 of Sahifah al-Sajjadiyah, states, “I should act in such a way that my enemy feels safe from any wrongdoing and injustice on my part, and my friend loses hope of any bias or favoritism from me.” The Judiciary, judges, and administrators should act in such a way that the enemy feels safe from being oppressed and from injustice, while friends and acquaintances lose hope of being shown favoritism.
If this [justice] is achieved, then judicial security, as well as spiritual and mental security, will be established in society. This means that people will feel secure. It is very important for people to feel that they will not be oppressed with the existence of the Judiciary, and that if someone is unjust to them, this will be dealt with fairly. This is the main issue. In order for such justice to be realized, I have noted two or three points that I would like to address.
The first thing is that the Judiciary should operate with a “plan.” Well, they have mentioned that there are good plans, praise God. There are the reform documents, whether the one that was previously prepared or the one that was later revised, and I have recently heard that this document has been updated. Those who have seen it and are informed talk about it. Well, these documents are positive documents, but what concerns me is that these good documents have not had much impact on the major indicators of the Judiciary.
These documents are very good documents. Now, I will mention a few [indicators] that I am quoting from the written report sent by the Judiciary itself. For example, consider the time it takes for proceedings. This is one of the major indicators. The time required for proceedings should be reduced.
[Or consider] the reversals in the rulings given by the first court. I have repeatedly emphasized that when a court convenes, judges attend to a case, they issue a verdict, and then the ruling is overturned in an appellate court, this indicates that the initial verdict was weak. So much effort has been put into this process, as well as time, money, and human resources. But the result wasn’t satisfactory. The reversal of lower court rulings must be reduced. Despite the fact that these documents are strong, good documents, this has not happened.
The reports and complaints received by the General Inspection Office, which have increased rather than decreased, are another example. Such indicators exist. You must draft and implement the document in such a way that it has a noticeable impact on these indicators. Now, it should be determined if the problems are due to deficiencies in the document or the document was good but the plan for implementing it was not good. This needs to be investigated. In my opinion, it is important for the respected head [of the Judiciary] himself to assign individuals to investigate where the problem lies, whether these problems are due to the fact that the document cannot be implemented, or perhaps the problem lies in the implementation of the document.
One of the main obstacles preventing the Judiciary from reaching its desired position is the abundance of cases, which puts pressure on judges. A key factor contributing to a weakness in judicial verdicts is that the judge is under pressure, time is limited, and sometimes the end of the month reports may also contribute to this. These challenges often lead to judgments and rulings lacking in strength and decisiveness. It is essential to come up with a proper plan to address the abundance of cases, and this responsibility lies with you.
One of the things that I believe needs to be done in the Judiciary is to increase the knowledge of the judges. Praise God, we have no shortage in knowledgeable judges, but the Judiciary is vast. All our judges must increase their judicial knowledge. I have heard that the University of Judicial Sciences has a good capacity in this regard. We should use this capacity to the maximum extent. If judicial knowledge is increased, many problems will be solved. This means a mastery of judicial knowledge will lead to a more efficient, quicker processing of cases.
Another necessary action that should be taken is regarding the honorable judges and hardworking staff of the judiciary, and, praise God, they are not few in number in this vast organization. Among them, praise God, are individuals who truly work above and beyond their duty. These jihadi individuals should be encouraged.
In any case, the conclusion I have come to is that we must act in such a way that the public opinion sees the Judiciary as a house of justice, a center of justice. And justice must be upheld in the Judiciary without any biases. This is the issue.
Of course, the work that is being done to the side of these matters is valuable. The things that have been mentioned are valuable, but the primary objective is for the court proceedings to be just and for the judgment to be just. This justice should be perceived as justice by all, even the one against whom the verdict is issued. Of course, they will be unhappy, they may even object, but they should know in their heart that the court proceedings were just.
Another recommendation that I have mentioned before too is regarding the time it takes to process cases involving someone who is in prison. Sometimes we receive concerning reports at our public offices where an individual is in prison and their case is being processed, but the necessary speed in processing the case is lacking. Well, this prisoner is suffering [unnecessary] hardship. Their case should be determined as soon as possible. This is a very important point.
Or some individuals are faced with an insurmountable problem inside prison. An individual may go to prison because of a financial problem. Since they are unable to repay their debt, it increases day by day resulting in a longer prison sentence.
When one looks at some of these people, one sees that they will have to stay in prison for the rest of their lives, and in the end, the debt won’t be repaid either. This should be remedied in some way. I once told the Judiciary that in some cases you can and have permission to even use some of the Islamic tax money to help pay these debts. I am very strict about how the Imam's share of the Islamic taxes should be used. I do not allow mosques and the like to be built from the Imam's share [of the taxes], but I believe that in some instances money can be taken from the Islamic tax money for these kinds of cases. This problem must be addressed and a solution must be found.
Another recommendation that I would like to make is that I have heard that some honorable judges base their judicial rulings on the principles of Western human rights. This is wrong. Those principles are incorrect. They [the West] do not adhere to those principles themselves, and clear proofs of this are in front of everyone's eyes today. They do not even abide by those principles. Plus, those principles are wrong. Our judges cannot base their rulings on anything other than the laws of our own country. Rulings must be based on the laws inside the country.
My final recommendation pertains to the useful visits conducted by the head of the Judiciary. These visits should continue as they are both necessary and effective. They show that the Judiciary is concerned about the people and serve as an opportunity to observe problems first-hand. These are very important. However, it should be noted that the results obtained from these visits and the conclusions drawn from them must be followed up on and come to a final result.
Suppose the head of the Judiciary arrives at the customs office or another specific institution or location, raising people’s hope that the problems will be identified and solved. This hope arises in the people. If those problems are not solved, that hope will turn into despair worse than before. So these matters must be followed up, and this will definitely happen, God willing. These were the issues I wanted to address regarding the Judiciary.
Now, a few words regarding the [presidential] elections. Praise God, good television programs are being broadcast. They help people to become familiar with the opinions and views of various candidates. I recommend that during these discussions on television or in their meetings, candidates should avoid speaking in a manner that makes our enemies happy simply to gain an advantage over their opponents. They should not say things that please our enemies. This is an important point.
Sometimes, certain remarks may be made that please the enemies of the country, the nation, and the system of the Islamic Republic. This is not permissible. The words that are spoken should not make the enemies of the country, the enemies of the system, and the enemies of the people happy. It is assumed that all these gentlemen love Iran and the Islamic Republic. It is assumed that they want to be the president in this system and in this country to serve the people here. They should speak in a way that doesn’t make the enemy happy.
We hope, God willing, our Judiciary will come closer to the ideal point mentioned by Mr. Mohseni [Ejei] day by day and ultimately reach that point. May Almighty God help and grant success, God willing, so that all of the country’s affairs proceed in accord with His satisfaction. I hope that the pure souls of the martyrs and the spirit of our magnanimous Imam [Khomeini] are pleased with you, and may God’s divine blessings be upon all of you, God willing.
May God’s greetings, mercy, and blessings be upon you.
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