Functions of Alternative Punishments to Imprisonment in Reducing the Criminal Population of the State Prisons

In accordance with the inefficiency of imprisonment punishments in reforming and rehabilitating the prisoners, also due to the criminal environment of the prisons, economic costs of the prison and damages caused by imprisoning the head of the household, contradiction with the principle of personal punishment, health and mental problems existing and the like, are some of the problems which have created serious challenges for the imprisonment punishments. Hence, attempts for employing other punishments as alternatives to the imprisonment punishment have drawn the attention of various countries and legal systems. Accordingly, today the Iranian criminal policy makers, in line with dis-imprisonment and prohibiting the indiscriminate use of imprisonment punishment have begun to enact a law in which a chapter has been assigned to alternatives of the imprisonment punishment and prediction of a half freedom system. This paper, while introducing and investigating alternative punishments of imprisonment in the Islamic Penal Code of 2013 concludes that not only is transparent and clear rules and regulations necessary in this area, but also a successful enforcement of these laws requires an appropriate culture building in the society. On the other hand, the issue of alternatives should be institutionalized among the judges.