The “Intellectual Development and Perfection” of a Child in the Light of Neuro-criminal Law; looking at American jurisprudence

According to Article 91 of the Penal Code, any kind of doubt on the "intellectual development and perfection" of a child causes the punishment of Hadd and Qisas to fall. In fact, by expressing this concept, the legislator has taken a valuable step towards the transcendence of the principles of criminal law for children and adolescents; but at the same time, due to the ambiguity and theoretical shortcomings, this issue is associated with many intellectual conflicts among legal scholars. If this concept and its relationship with intellect in the field of criminal responsibility are not well clarified, multiple practices in criminal proceedings in this regard will be expected. Intellectual development is a concept that inherently related to some of the basics of neuroscience. Therefore, the present study strives to explain this concept in the context of neurolaw and to determine its achievement criteria. In this regard, using the valuable experience of the American jurisprudence to localize its mechanisms and legal teachings in our country's criminal justice system can be very fruitful. The findings of this study, in addition to significantly eliminating scientific gaps in this field, provide judges with appropriate views and criteria regarding the intellectual development in juvenile delinquency.