'Military report on Tehran and adjacent Provinces of North-West Persia (including the Caspian Littoral)' [‎134r] (272/610)

See Chapter VI.
Before the revolution a Vizir of Justice (Vazxr-i-Adliyeh)
was appointed in Tehran, but he was merely an individual judge
to whom commercial cases were referred and was entirely
subordinate to the Grand Vizir (Sadr A’zam).
Justice was divided into two branches, the “ Shar”, i.e.,
religious law based on the Quran, commentaries, and traditions,
and administered by the Mujtahids, and the “ Urf,” i.e., secular
law based on custom and uncodified, and on the treaty rights
of foreign subjects, which was administered by the governors.
The “ Shar’ ” in a Muhammadan country has a very wide
and elastic scope and no hard and fast division can be made
between cases which should fall under the “ Shar’” and cases
which should fall under “Urf,” but “ Shar’” may roughly be said
to embrace “ Civil ” with the exception of commercial cases
and “Urf” “Criminal” cases of assault, robbery, etc., which
directly affect the Government (although technically the death
sentence could only be inflicted in accordance with the ‘ fatvah *
of a mujtahid) and commercial cases.
The Mujtahids act as wardens of the temporal and spiritual
interests of religion as expressed in the “ Shar and declared
their approval or ban of the laws and regulations of the tem
poral powers on the standard of their conformity with or diver
gence from it. The power of Mujtahids depends on the personal
influence they have acquired from the recognition of their
sanctity and learning by the populace, who regarded them as
their protectors against governmental oppression.
The most influential Mujtahids are called “ hakim-i-shar’”.
The people voluntarily had recourse to them as judges and
their verdicts were taken to the governors for execution.
Mujtahids consequently possessed no legal civil power
or authority and the judicial procedure rested on practice,
and it follows that the division of jurisdiction between Governor
and Mujtahids depended on the personality of the individuals
concerned and a good deal of overlapping resulted. A strong
Governor might decide that doubtful cases belonged to “ Urf ”
and deal with them himself and even refer back a Mujtahid’s
verdict for reconsideration or amendment, or the positions
might be reversed and a very influential Mujtahid would concern
himself with most judicial cases and the Governor become his
executive agent.
War Office
Gendarmerie
Police.
Administration
of Justice.
Pre-revolution,