Islamic Ethics and Civil Liability in Compensating Innocent Prisoners: A Comparative Study of Iranian and American Law

Background: There are many cases in which the accused does not deserve to be detained and is detained without observing the legal terms and conditions or imprisoned due to a judicial error. In such cases, compensation for an innocent detainee is an important issue that needs to be addressed due to the violation of the fundamental rights of individuals. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to investigate the approach of Islamic ethics against compensation of innocent prisoners and a comparative study of this issue in the Iranian and American legal systems. Conclusion: In Islam, there is a rule called “no harm in the law of Islam" according to which no one has the right to harm another, and if he causes harm, he will be responsible for compensation. The no-harm rule also applies to the punishment of an innocent person, and the judiciary and the government must compensate the innocent person. In Iranian law, the mechanism of compensation for the days of detention is provided in Articles 255 to 261 of the Code of Criminal Procedure adopted in 2013. However, it is possible to compensate for the days of detention in two ways; one in case of acquittal and the other with a restraining order against the accused, which will be paid from the credit fund provided in Article 260 of that law. In American law, compensation for detention is the responsibility of the government, with the difference that in Iranian law, if the detention is due to a biased declaration of a crime, false testimony or fault of judicial authorities, the government can refer to the principal after compensation, but in US law The government has full responsibility for damages, and the presiding judge has no responsibility.