"Hujjatoleslam Hassan Gharib": It is the month of Ramadan and people's cars are not considered private property
Referring to the beginning of the month of Ramadan, Hojjatoleslam Hassan Gharib spoke about individuals' cars not being considered private property.
Qom Prosecutor Hojjatoleslam Hassan Gharib announced the selection of special branches in the Qom Prosecutor's Office during the month of Ramadan to handle cases of people who fast in public.
According to reports by "Vaklapress", Hassan Gharib said on March 3, while emphasizing the need to preserve the sanctity of the month of Ramadan: "A special branch in the Qom Prosecutor's Office has been designated to handle cases of violators of norms in public and people who fast in public. Since Ramadan this year coincides with Nowruz, special centers have been designated at the provincial level to provide services to Nowruz travelers, and the necessary instructions have been issued to all law enforcement authorities, executive agencies, and guilds."
The Qom prosecutor also announced: "According to Article 638 of the Islamic Penal Code, punishments are provided for people who fast in public and in public places and pretend to do a forbidden act. In addition, the privacy of individuals' cars is not violated, and pretending to fast in a car will also be subject to legal action."
He also added: "The main approach of the police to monitor places, in addition to monitoring food sales centers, especially at transportation terminals, also includes preventive measures, education, warnings, and legal guidance. If preventive measures are ineffective, legal action will be taken."
Hassan Gharib, while emphasizing the judicial system's support for the officers and officials, also called on the people of Qom to cooperate and support them. The Qom prosecutor's statements that people's cars are not considered private property, fasting in cars, and dealing with them legally were criticized by lawyers.
Dr. Ali Khaleghi also criticized the statements of the Qom prosecutor and published a note in which he gave a legal description of “what is private space.” He wrote in this regard: “On the eve of the holy month of Ramadan, a letter was sent by the Attorney General to the commander of the police force, emphasizing the need to observe the sanctity of this month and deal with violators. Regardless of whether fasting in secret or publicly, and in the latter case with or without showing off, is a crime and in accordance with Article 638 of the Islamic Penal Code (Ta’zirat) or not (which some people do not think is the case), the part of the aforementioned letter in which it is announced to the officers that “a car is not considered private space” does not seem to be without problems. Ever since the Law on the Protection of Enjoiners of Right and Forbidden from Wrong was passed on April 13, 2015, with two urgent conditions, and a phrase was added to Article 5 of it, fears of misinterpretations or misuse of it have also arisen. According to this phrase, "places that are exposed to the public without scrutiny, such as common areas of apartments, hotels, hospitals, and vehicles, are not subject to privacy."
Legally, a person's home and car are considered part of their privacy, and entering them requires the permission of the owner or legal occupant. The criterion that a place is exposed to the public without investigation is not an acceptable criterion for denying the title of privacy of that place; because the windows of residential houses may not have curtains on certain days of the year due to painting or general cleaning, and the inside of those places may be visible to the public without investigation. In these circumstances, can anyone not consider such houses as the privacy of their owner?!
In order to control the scope of the above phrase, which has ignored the legal standards related to privacy, it is necessary to interpret it ultimately within the scope intended by the legislator. The above phrase is included in the form of a note to Article 5 of a specific law. In our substantive law, in terms of the method of writing laws, a “note” does not have an independent existence, but rather is a subordinate phrase and complements the sentence of the “text of the article”. In interpreting a note, one must pay attention to the sentence of the text of the article and consider the note to be a reference to and a complement to that sentence. The sentence of Article 5, the prohibition of encroachment on the dignity, life, property, housing, job, privacy, and rights of individuals, is in the implementation of the command of good and the prohibition of evil, and for this purpose alone, it is not considered a vehicle for privacy, not for the purpose of declaring a general sentence. Therefore, the case-specific, limited, and irregular sentence contained in the note to Article 5 should not be made a rule and used for other cases where it is necessary to respect the privacy of citizens, including determining the duties of judicial officers in dealing with crimes.
