Originally published in Persian on 23 February 2023. This essay presents the author’s views at that time; artificial intelligence has continued to develop since it was written. Will artificial intelligence replace lawyers? Could a judicial system be built around it? These questions are being widely discussed. I would like to see that day, but I believe it is still a …
Read More »
Originally published in Persian on 7 September 2024. The following is an account of a mediation tradition in Khuzestan. For years, customs among Arab communities there have included rules and rituals observed with a formality comparable to diplomatic protocol. When a dispute arises, particularly in a killing, Arab sheikhs gather in a guest house known as a mudhif to resolve …
Read More »
English edition of Hamed Zat Ajam’s Persian commentary. Iran has one of the highest execution rates in the world. Yet imposing a death sentence requires legal procedures and safeguards that can, in ordinary circumstances, slow the work of the security apparatus. This essay examines how the choice of charges and court can be used to work around those safeguards. The …
Read More »
Why abolishing the death penalty does not mean abandoning accountability Whenever I argue against the death penalty, one question returns: what should happen to someone who commits murder? It deserves a serious answer. Behind it are bereaved families, fears about public safety, and the understandable demand that a terrible crime should have consequences. My answer begins with a distinction: opposing …
Read More »
Majidreza Rahnavard was arrested, tried, sentenced to death and publicly executed in just 23 days. The speed of his case raises a troubling question: how can a judicial process provide a meaningful defence and review when a person’s life is at stake? Iranian authorities accused Rahnavard of killing two members of the Basij in Mashhad on 17 November 2022. He …
Read More »