International Criminal Law

International Criminal Law

Public service and community service and fines in Iranian and Turkish law

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Ard.C., Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran.
2 Department of Law, Bil.C., Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran.
3 Department of Law, Ard.C., Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran.
10.22034/iclj.2026.546548.1185
Abstract
With the ineffectiveness of imprisonment, alternative punishments to imprisonment have been considered as one of the effective solutions in this regard. The purpose of this article is to examine the approach of Iranian and Turkish criminal law towards public service and community service and fines as some examples of alternative punishments to imprisonment. This article is descriptive and analytical and uses a library method to examine the mentioned issue. The findings indicate that public service and community service and fines are accepted in Iranian criminal law, but the necessary infrastructure and implementation platforms for the implementation of public service and community service have not been provided, and the implementation of this type of punishment faces challenges in practice. For example, many institutions responsible for providing public services have refused to accept individuals convicted of crimes, and specific mechanisms have not been developed in this regard. In Turkish criminal law, unlike Iranian law, the punishment of public service and public benefit, although it existed in the previous criminal laws of this country, was removed in subsequent amendments, while a fine in lieu of imprisonment is formulated and implemented in the criminal law of this country. A fine in lieu of imprisonment in Turkish criminal law, like Iranian law, is possible for minor crimes and at the discretion of the judge. Of course, in Iranian criminal law, the plaintiff's forgiveness and the existence of mitigating factors are the conditions for this type of punishment.
Keywords


Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 31 May 2026

  • Receive Date 11 September 2025
  • Revise Date 06 October 2025
  • Accept Date 31 May 2026