Supreme Leader’s Speech to Judiciary Officials

Supreme Leader’s Speech to Judiciary Officials
27/06/2011

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on June 27, 2011 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with the head and officials of the judiciary.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

First of all, I would like to welcome the dear brothers and sisters, the honorable families of those who were martyred by the Haft-e Tir bombing [the bombing of the headquarters of the Islamic Republican Party on 28 June 1981] and the employees, officials and honorable judges of the judiciary. I would also like to thank Ayatollah Amoli Larijani, the esteemed head of the judiciary who mentioned many points in his well-prepared report and informed the people of the praiseworthy measures taken by the judiciary. I pray to Allah the Exalted to bestow His blessings on Ayatollah Larijani and his colleagues and to help them on this bright and auspicious path. Thankfully Ayatollah Larijani has distinguished himself in scholarly work, innovation, dynamism and motivation and has firm determination, so this is what is expected of him. I hope Allah the Exalted will accept these services from all of you.

I would like to make a few points about the Haft-e Tir event and a few points about the judiciary. The Haft-e Tir event was a real tragedy. It was indeed a shocking and bitter blow to the country and the system. This tragic event happened at the heart of the country's management system, killing prominent figures such as Shahid Ayatollah Beheshti and other political and scholarly figures from the judiciary, the Majlis and the administration. It was indeed difficult. However, there is a point that has been tangible throughout history: whenever a nation, a group of people or a person has exercised patience and shown insight in the face of hardship, that hardship has turned into a blessing for them. This is the secret behind the victory and promotion of the truth and the propagation of monotheism throughout history. Divine prophets and in some cases the nations which were ruled by them tolerated all those hardships, so the names of these prophets should have been wiped off history. Their ideas and their path should have been wiped off in the course of bitter events of history. But you see that the opposite has happened. That is to say, the message of divine prophets has become more popular among people of the world with the passage of time. The secret is the point that I mentioned: patience and insight in the face of hardships.

Our people demonstrated this art in the case of the Haft-e Tir event. Instead of losing hope and self-confidence, instead of being intimidated by the enemy and surrendering to him and instead of showing signs of weakness, our people exercised patience and resisted because of the insight they enjoyed and because of the insight that our magnanimous Imam used to instill into our people. They managed to turn the wave against the enemy.

I heard the news related to the Haft-e Tir bombing later on. I was unconscious for a few days after the bombing, but when I heard what had happened and how the people had reacted to it, I was truly surprised like an outside observer. Our people should preserve this spirit. We should preserve this as a lesson - a lesson that we practiced, a lesson that went down in history.

A nation like the Iranian nation that has entered the arena with such a lofty goal - namely, achieving Islamic values and practicing and promoting Islamic principles in society - would inevitably face many such events. After all, you are acting according to a religion that is opposed to oppression, coercion and giving in to the bullying of the enemy. Islam is not indifferent even when other people are being bullied in the world. Who would stand up against such a movement? Global bullies, global oppressors, colonialists, international autocrats and oppressive and violent dictators would all deploy their forces against such a movement. They have money, media outlets, political power and propaganda machines, so they can create problems for you. It is necessary to stand up against them. Our nation has emerged successful out of this trial.

In terms of power, progress and different kinds of capabilities, and in terms of international prestige and the ability to spark hope among other nations, today the Islamic Republic is very different from 28th of June, 1981. This is because of the resistance of our honorable nation. Therefore, we should keep in mind the principle that the Haft-e Tir event taught us: whenever a hardship is imposed on us and we face it with patience, resistance and insight, then that hardship turns into a ladder for our transcendence and a tool for our progress. And this was what happened, and by Allah's favor, the situation will be the same in the future as well.

I would say that the judiciary needs two things in order to be successful. In any government and in any society, the judiciary is the organization that settles disagreements and helps justice prevail over oppression, transgression, corruption and other such things. The judiciary needs two things in order to be able to achieve this high goal: one is power and authority, and the other is trust. That is to say, the judiciary needs to be powerful and trustworthy among the people. These are two requirements for the judiciary. It is possible for the judiciary to gain power through human and technical infrastructures. The esteemed head of the judiciary elaborated on the advances that have been made in this regard, and I have been informed to a large extent about the measures that have been taken so far. The judiciary can gain power and authority by increasing its internal strength and by training and employing qualified, knowledgeable, trustworthy and honest people. This authority can be created by passing appropriate legislation, by arranging appropriate supervision and by utilizing different technical and organizational advances throughout the world. I have repeatedly said that we are not ashamed of learning from other people. We are ready to learn from any nation, any country and any judiciary system in the world with a strong point.

Of course we will not blindly follow the methods and recommendations of different people. This is wrong. It is wrong to act in a certain way just because it is the norm in the world. "And if you obey most of those in the earth, they will lead you astray from Allah's way: they follow only conjecture and they only lie." [The Holy Quran, 6: 116] We will not imitate the methods applied by other people. It is wrong to conclude that we should act in a certain way just because westerns, easterners or certain countries act in that way. No, this is wrong. We will act on the basis of our own judgment. That is to say, when we see that there is something in the judiciary system of a remote country - big or small - that has facilitated that country's judiciary procedures and has produced fruitful results, and when we judge their actions as appropriate for ourselves, then we will adopt the same actions. This is not imitation: this is acting according to logic, and it is good. These things will bring about authority for the judiciary. Efforts and constant innovation bring about power. We cannot afford to sit idly by and watch the world go by. The officials of the judiciary should look for the weaknesses and problems, and they should eliminate them through innovation. And people with superior and prominent intellect can help. Thankfully, there are such people who work for the judiciary, and the judiciary should make use of such people even if they do not work for the judiciary. Technical infrastructures should be developed. Human infrastructures should be developed. This can bring about power and authority for the judiciary, making it a powerful and authoritative organization that has the capability to move towards its goals. This is the first pillar of the judiciary.

The second pillar - which is public trust - will be possible through administration of justice and careful and wise implementation of the law. It is necessary to build public trust. When the people see that the judiciary keeps its promise of administering justice, they will trust it. Even those who are convicted will agree in their heart that the judiciary has done the right thing. They may complain about the verdict, but they will accept it in their heart. In this way, the judiciary will be able to build trust among the people, and this trust is necessary.

Justice is very important. If we want justice to be a widespread and constant current within the judiciary, it is necessary to institutionalize piety and impartiality in the judiciary in the case of big and small issues that are referred to the judiciary: everybody who works for the judiciary should observe piety and impartiality, regardless of the importance of their position. This is an essential point. In this way, it will be possible to build trust.

One of the things that works against public trust is creating doubts about a certain branch of the government - be it the judiciary, the executive branch or the legislative branch. A bad habit has developed. Of course this is not new: it has always been the case. But due to the spread and availability of communication tools, this problem is more visible today. This bad habit is the tendency to question official reports. For example, when the judiciary presents a report, certain people question the accuracy of the report. They create a doubt. Similarly when the executive branch presents a report, there is always somebody who questions the accuracy of the report. They create doubts. The same is true about the legislative branch. It is not right to trample on the efforts of an active organization because of a baseless doubt. This is wrong. Of course it is not possible to stop those who do not have control over their tongues, but our government officials should be careful. The media outlets that feel responsible should be careful. They should take care not to question the reports of our prominent officials without any reason. This applies to all the three branches of the government. Questioning the efforts that have been made would make these efforts ineffective. These days the statistics presented by the executive branch are being questioned. The statements and statistics of the judiciary are being questioned. The positive actions of the legislative branch are being questioned. Such actions would destroy public trust. As the readers of these reports, we should think critically about the reports, but we should also give them the benefit of the doubt. Of course in certain cases a wrong statistic may be presented on purpose, but we must not generalize from that single instance and create doubts. Such things would destroy public trust in our governmental organizations. Our government officials should pay attention to this point. Therefore, this public trust is very important.

Regarding the judiciary, its performance and the feedback it receives, there is another issue that should be taken into consideration. This issue was pointed out by the esteemed head of the judiciary as well. The judiciary is faced with the accused. When somebody is accused of something, the judiciary is responsible to investigate the issue through the channels that have been specified by the law, and it should determine whether the accusation is false or not. Being accused of a crime is not the same as being convicted of a crime. Everybody may face an accusation. As long as a crime is not proven through legal channels, nobody has the right to disgrace a Muslim inside or outside the judiciary, from official podiums and minbars or in the mass media. This is a very important issue. Sometimes the judiciary is pressured to expose certain people. No, there is no need to expose anybody. In certain cases holy sharia has specifically demanded that the people see the punishment or the person who is punished. But these are exceptional cases. It is necessary to be particularly cautious when there is a tendency in society to generalize from particular instances. Definitely as long as a crime has not been proven, nobody should be identified by name. As long as it has not been proven that somebody has committed a crime, it is also necessary to avoid leveling allegations against him. This is because when you accuse somebody, public opinion would not distinguish between a person who has only been accused and a person who has been convicted. Why is it necessary to identify a person by name even after he has been convicted? As I said, there are exceptions in this regard. "And let a party of believers witness their punishment." [The Holy Quran, 24: 2] There are a few cases in which the convict should be identified by name. For example, even if a person has committed a crime and he has been convicted in a court of law and sentenced to prison, why is it necessary to identify him by name in newspapers and make his child feel ashamed to go to school as a result? What is wrong with letting him serve his sentence in prison and then start a normal life with his family? After all, he has been punished for his crime. Is it necessary to disgrace him? This is an essential point.

Of course I am not addressing this point to the judiciary only. I am addressing it to government officials inside or outside the judiciary and our media. On the one hand, it is necessary to avoid questioning the performance of the judiciary. It is wrong to accuse the judiciary of having ulterior motives whenever it takes a particular action. On the other hand, just because a person has been accused does not mean he should be identified by name or the accusation should be made public. How would this action benefit public opinion? What is the use of letting the people know that a particular person has committed an offense? It is necessary to pay attention to these points.

As I said, piety is the factor that will guarantee all of these things. Piety requires that we watch our words, actions, orientations and behavior. Even the most insignificant thing that we do is recorded by divine agents. "He who has done an atom's weight of good shall see it, and he who has done an atom's weight of evil shall see it." [The Holy Quran, 99: 7-8] Our words and actions are all recorded, and we will be held accountable for them. Everybody will have to answer for his words and actions on Judgment Day. Piety requires that we pay attention to this point and watch our words and actions.

Thankfully since the beginning of the Revolution up until today, the judiciary has taken a step forward during each and every term. There has been valuable progress during each term. Thankfully today the advances that are made in the judiciary and the measures that are adopted are indeed promising. It is enjoyable to see this dynamism, this determination, this spirit of innovation and this hope among judiciary officials. Our judiciary officials are moving forward, and by Allah's favor, their movement is a wise and innovative movement. These things promise a good future.

I hope Allah the Exalted will accept these services from all of you. I hope God will make all of you benefit from the prayers of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake). I hope He will make the holy heart of the Imam of the Age (a.s.) satisfied with you. May God make the immaculate souls of our martyrs and the holy soul of our magnanimous Imam satisfied with all of us.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1478