Investigating the comparative approaches of criminal law in Iran with the United States and the European Union regarding the espionage crime

Abstract

Crimes against national security including espionage are serious crimes. Espionage crime is an organized and transnational crime in which the vital information of a country is provided to other country or countries through organized and human resources. Examining the basis of criminalization of espionage, its interaction with the main crime and the constituent elements of this crime in Iranian law are among the most important issues that have been addressed in this research through descriptive-analytical method and from library sources. Considering that Iran's legal system in criminalizing espionage has been influenced by the German Roman system and at the top of them France, espionage is one of the crimes that has a special place in all the classifications presented in the field of crimes against security. Investigating espionage in the European Union laws (case study: England, Germany and France) as the cradle of the modern and American legal system and its adaptation to the legal articles related to espionage in the laws of Iran, in showing the gaps and legal deficiencies of this crime in the laws of Iran, is very fruitful. From the comparative analysis of the crime of espionage, it was concluded that despite the Iranian legislator's attention to this crime and placing it in the chapter of crimes against security, there are flaws in the legislator's approach, which does not provide the possibility of effectively dealing with the perpetrators of this crime. Also, Iran's legislator has expanded the scope of cases of violations of the principles of criminal law more than necessary, and this is not only in the interest of the society but it will also have harmful effects on the government in the long terms.