The Jurisprudential Criterion of Changing the Hadd of Theft to Ta’zir for Children, While Considering the Effective Social Factors in Committing a Crime

In the Islamic legal system, young age is considered one of the factors that mitigate criminal liability, and jurists consider puberty as one of the common conditions of obligation. As a result, a child who has committed a crime which has caused hadd (punishment) is not considered to be deserved to Hudud or Qisas (punishments or retaliation in kind). In the penal regulations of Iran, the lack of criminal liability of minors has been explicitly accepted, but at the same time, in crimes with non-ta’zir punishments, educational and punishment measures have been established for them, which in the last part is against the principle of lack of criminal liability of minors. In this regard, in addition to paying attention to the explanation and matching the opinion of experts in the field of Sharia with the minors penal regulations in the field of converting the hadd of theft to Ta'zir, the effective causes of children's delinquency can be checked and evaluated. Most of the studies and researches that are carried out on the axis of social structure, focus on correcting the behavior and thought of this particular group and analyze the effective factors in the deviation or guidance of this age group. Perhaps the most important reason for the special attention of specialists and experts to this issue is the effective role that children will play in the future structure of society.