A Comparative Study of Aggravating Punishment Factors in Sexual Offences Against Juvenile and Adolescents in the Criminal Law of Iran, France and Canada

Most legal systems in the light of international instruments, especially the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) adopt a protective approach in their criminal policy about children and youths, victims of sexual offenses. “Criminal protection” of Juvenile victims is a one of the tools of criminal policy about the sexual crimes against children. This criminal protection is important since it emphasizes the psychological reconstruction of juveniles. Two criminal policy tools in criminal protection, i.e., the mechanism of “criminalization” and the mechanism of “aggravating circumstance” are observed in most legal systems to protect children against such crimes. In this article, through the comparative study of three quite different legal systems, i.e. Iran, Canada and France, on the question of sexual offenses against children and adolescents, we notice the importance placed on the protection of youths in this criminal policy. However, we analyze the differences between these three legal systems on the objective and subjective elements of the aggravating circumstances for such offenses. This study can be more effective in the adoption and application of more comprehensive acts to protect children and youth against such crimes.