Investigating the Difference between Judicial and Objective Ignorance in Committing a Crime and Its Effect on Criminal Liability

Judicial and subjective ignorance are considered as the key concepts in the field of criminal responsibility in the Islamic legal system. Ignorance of a ruling means ignorance of a person's Shariah or legal ruling of his action, which is divided into two categories: negligent ignorance and culpable ignorance. Culpable ignorance that is caused by failure to learn science and knowledge does not eliminate criminal responsibility, but culpable ignorance that is not based on negligence and inattention can eliminate criminal responsibility. This is known as forced error. On the other hand, ignorance of the subject means ignorance of the characteristics and features of the subject of the crime or not understanding the nature and truth of the act that a person commits. In intentional crimes, if a person commits a crime by mistake, such as a mistake in the identity of the victim, his criminal responsibility is dismissed. But in non-intentional crimes, the mere mistake in the nature of the act generally does not remove the criminal responsibility, except in cases where the law has made an exception. Therefore, the main difference between judicial and objective ignorance is that in judicial ignorance, a person does not have the knowledge of the sanctity and the legal prohibition of the action, while in the subject ignorance, the person is unaware of the nature and truth of the action he is doing. This substantive difference will have different effects on the individual's criminal responsibility, which is emphasized in this article.