1 Case Concerning United States Diplomatic and Consular Staff in Tehran (United States of America v. Iran), Order of Dec. 15, 1979, [1979] ICJ Rep. 7, reprinted in 74 AJIL 266 (1980); Judgment of May 24, 1980, reprinted infra at p. 746. For the U.S. position, see Memorial of the Government of the United States of America to the International Court of Justice, January 1980.

2 This term is synonymous with Islamic law.

3 Bassiouni, , Islam: Concept, Law and World Habeas Corpus, 1 Rut.-Cam. L.J. 163 (1969)Google Scholar [hereinafter cited as Bassiouni, Islam]. References to the Sunna are not always cited because they appear in so many diverse sources. The most widely recognized source is Al-Bukhari, but its many editions in Arabic make it difficult to give a useful cite to the reader. The cites from the Sunna are all certain or Moakada, and there is no dispute over its authoritativeness.

4 500 UNTS 95, 23 UST 3227, TIAS No. 7502 [hereinafter referred to as the 1961 Diplomatic Convention].

5 596 UNTS 261 [hereinafter referred to as the 1963 Consular Convention].

6 See infra pp. 623-25, and A. Ouda, infra note 46, vol. 1, pp. 324-25.

7 See infra pp. 617-19.

8 See also the earlier treaty of the Prophet with the Jewish tribes of Yathrib-Medina of A.D. 625, in Ibn-Khaldun, Muquaddimat Ibn Khaldun (Prolegomenon) 126 (1858); and see Ibn Khaldun, Kitab Al-Ibar Wa-Diwan Al-Mubtada Wa-Ikhbar; Ayyam Al-Arab, etc. (ed. Nasr al-Hurini, 7 vols., 1867). Ibn Khaldunʼs approach to the philosophy of law is discussed in M. Mahdi, Ibn Khaldunʼs Philosophy of History (1964). See further M. Watt, Muhammad at Medina 221-25 (1956).

9 See further, discussion hereinafter at pp. 612-17, and for a history of the privileges of envoys, Shams-El-Din El-Sarahsy, Al-Mabsut 320 (n.d.) and Sirat Al-Rasul (The Annals of the Prophet) (n.d.); Abdul-Rahman Al-Tabari, Tarikh (History or Annals) (n.d.) [hereinafter referred to as Tabari]; A. Iqbal, Diplomacy in Islam (1965); and M. Hamidullah, Corpus des TraitÉs et Lettres Diplomatiques Dʼislam À LʼÉpoque du ProphÈte et des Califes Orthodoxes (1935).

10 Koran 41:5.

11 Tabari, supra note 9.

12 Sirat Al-Rasul, supra note 9, at 649.

13 Al Rawd Al-Nadir 301. For a contemporary position relying on traditional precedents, see G. Abdel-Salam in 2 Al-Wasit Fi Al-Qanun Al-Dawli Al-Am 18 (A Manual of Public International Law) (1979). See also, e.g., M. Hamidullah, Corpus, supra note 9, and Conduct, infra note 14.

14 M. Hamidullah, Muslim Conduct of State 139 (4th ed. 1961) [hereinafter referred to as Hamidullah, Conduct]. A major historical source is Tabari, supra note 9. See generally Ibn Al-Farra, Kitab Rusul Al-Muluk (The Book of the Envoys of the Kings) (Salah el-din al-Munajjid ed., n.d.); Aboul-Fedaʼs History: Tarikh Aboul-Feda (I. Washington trans., 1965).

15 See generally Siyar al-Shaybani, translated as The Islamic Law of Nations (Khadduri ed. & tr., 1966); M. Khadduri, War and Peace in the Law of Islam (1955); Law in the Middle East 36 (Khadduri & Liebesny, eds., 1955); Hamidullah, supra note 14. See also J. Schacht, An Introduction to Islamic Law 130-31 (1965). But see A. Ouda, infra note 46, vol. 1, at 324-25.

16 According to some scholars, the diplomat is immune from the jurisdiction of the state except for Hudud crimes. See infra pp. 623-25 and accompanying text. This category of offenses is irrelevant to the case of the American detainees since their alleged offense is “spying,”which is a Taazir offense subject to diplomatic immunity. See also A. F. Bahnasi, Al-Jaraiim Filfiqh Al-Islami (Crimes in the Jurisprudence of Islam) 245-55 (A.H. 1388, A.D. 1968).

17 See the Jaafari jurisconsult, Sheikh Abul-Quasem Negm-el-din Jaafar ibn-al-Hassan el-Helli (d. A.H. 676) in Al-Muhtassan Al-Nafeh (The Approved and the Useful) 112 (n.d.), and his Sharaʼi Al-Islam, 4 vols, (n.d., ed. Abdel-Husayn Ali, a noted Shiite authority).

18 Among the many contemporary authorities, see generally T. Al-Ghunaimi, The Muslim Conception of International Law and the Western Approach (1968); Hamidullah, Conduct, supra note 14; N. Armanazi, Lʼislam et le Droit International (1929); Reshid, , Lʼhlam et le droit des gens, 60 Recueil Des Cours 4–30 (1937 II)Google Scholar; Draz, , Le Droit international public de lʼhlam, 5 Rev. Egyptienne Droit Intʼl 17 (1949)Google Scholar; Majid, , The Moslem International Law, 28 L. Rev. Q. 89 (1912)Google Scholar; Rabbath, , Pour une theorie du droit international musulman, 6 Rev. Egyptienne Droit Intʼl 1 (1950)Google Scholar. 19 See infra pp. 623-25.

19 Mustaʼmin: Imam Abu-Hanifa held that a Mustaʼmin could not be prosecuted for a crime involving the rights of God or society except for a Had crime, but only for transgressions against the rights of individuals for which Diya or compensation was the appropriate remedy. See Ibn Human, 4 Sharh Fath El-Quadire 152-56 (1st ed. A.H. 1313) (an explanation of Islamic jurisprudence according to the Hanafi school on which the Shias rely heavily); and KASANI, infra note 42, vol. IV, at 131-33.

20 See Sirat Al-Rasul, supra note 9, at 647-48, 655-57.

21 See. Hamidullahʼs annotated compilation in Corpus, supra note 11, of the treaties and diplomatic correspondence at the time of the Prophet and the first four Caliphs, including the Caliphate of Ali ibn Ali-Tabi, whom the Shias consider the most authoritative source after the Prophet.

22 A. Massignon, Annuaire du monde Musulman 24, 38 (1929).

23 See generally H. Corbin, En Islam Iranien (1972). The sources of Islamic law presented in this discussion are the Koran and the Sunna, which are unquestionable sources in Shiite doctrine. As for the Sunna, reference is made only to the Sunnah Moakada (affirmed), related through descendants of the Prophet as al-Akhbar (The News or Annals), which is required by all schools of the Shiite sect. There is therefore nothing in the sources and authorities from the Koran and the Sunna cited in section I supra that is not accepted and binding on Iranʼs Shias.

24 H. Corbin, note 23 supra. For two noted Shiite authors, see Muhammad Jawad Maghniyah, Fiqh Al-Imam Jaaʼfar Al-Sadiq (1965) (The Legal Science of Imam Jaaʼfar al-Sadiq); and Rushdi Alvan, Al-Aql Ind Al-Shia (1973) (Legal Reasoning in Shia).

25 Shahrastani, Al-Milal Wal-Nihal (The Sects and their Divisions) (printed on the margin of) 2 Ibn Hazmʼs Al-Fisal (The Principles of Judgment) (A.H. 1347-48).

26 M. Baquir, Hal Al-ʼuqul 44 (n.d.); M. M. Al-Kazimi, 2 Anawin Al-Usul (The Headings of Principles) 7 (A.H. 1342).

27 See A. Fyzee, Shiʼi Legal Theories in Khadduri & Liebesny, eds., supra note 15, at 112.

28 Al-Hilli, Al-Muhaqqiq, 1 Tadhkirat Al-Fuqqaha (Recollections of the Philosophers) (n.d.); and supra note 17.

29 H. Corbin, supra note 23.

30 The Siyars were translated by M. Khadduri as The Muslim Law of Nations and published in 1966.

31 This book was translated into French by Z. Fagnan in 1915.

32 Sheikh Al-Tayefeh Al-Tusi, 1 An-Nihaya (The Ending or the Conclusion) 30 (A.H. 1342).

33 Sheikh Al-Tayefeh Al-Tusi, 2 Al-Mabsut 14-15 (1967).

34 Id. at 15.

35 N.Y.L.J., January 14, 1980, Letters to the Editor, at 2, col. 6. See also Mottahedeh, , Iranʼs Foreign Devils, 38 Foreign Aff. 19, 31–32 (1980)Google Scholar. 36 See text at notes 7 - 9 supra and notes 8 and 9.

37 See Hamidullah, Corpus, supra note 9, on the history of Islamic diplomacy under the Prophet and the first 4 Khalifas, among which was Ali, the highest authority after the Prophet in Shiite doctrine.

38 On these and other related questions of extradition, see generally M. C. Bassiouni, International Extradition and World Public Order (1974).

39 Id. at 511-34.

40 For the view of a contemporary author, see A. Mahdi, Sharh Al-Quawaed Al-Ama Li-Quanun Al-Uqubat (Explanation of the General Principles of Criminal Law) 37-40 (1979).

41 See text at note 61 infra.

42 See Imam Alaa El-Din Abu-Babkr Masʼud Al-Kasani, 7 Badaee Al-Sanaee Fi Tartib Al-Shariʼa (The Brilliant Workings of the Shariʼaʼs Structure) 67 (1st ed. A.H. 1327-1328). See also A. F. Sorour, Al-Wasit Fi Qanun Al-Igraat Al-Ginaia (A Manual of Criminal Procedure) 71-73(1980).

43 For Hudud crimes, see infra pp. 623-24.

44 For Quesas crimes, see infra pp. 624-25.

45 See, e.g., supra note 42.

46 See A. Ouda, Al-Tashri Al-Jinai Al-Islami (Islamic Criminal Justice), 2 vols. (2d ed. 1969); and M. Abu-Zahra, Al-Garima Wal-Uquba Fil Islam (Crimes and Punishment in Islam) (n.d.).

47 See A. OUDA, supra note 46, and A. Al-Mawardi, Al-Ahkam Al-Sultaniya (The Proclamations of the Sultans) 233-39 (A.D. 1058).

48 See generally A. Ouda And M. Abu-Zahra, supra note 46.

49 Surat al-Baqara 3:179; Surat al-Nahl 16:126.

50 See A. Ouda, supra note 46, at 81-82.

51 See id. at 324-25 and A. F. Bahnasi, supra note 16.

52 See supra pp. 613-17, and also Surat al-Tawba 9:118.

53 M. Moussa, Islam and Humanityʼs need of IT 236-37 (2d. rev. ed. 1960). See also Bassiouni, Islam, supra note 3. See generally Hamidullah, Conduct, supra note 14; Nawaz, , The Concept of Human Rights in Islamic Law, 11 How. L. Rev. 325 (1965)Google Scholar; Ahmad, , Islamic Civilization and Human Rights, 12 Rev. Egyptienne Droit Intʼl 1 (1956)Google Scholar.

54 For the constitutional texts, see Constitutions of the Countries of the World (Blaustein & Flanz, eds., 1971-); for a specific analysis of constitutional principles of “due process,”see A. Mawdudi, Islamic Law and Constitution (3d ed. 1967); K. Faruki, Islamic Constitutions (1953); and Hussain, , Due Process in Modern Constitutions and the Process of Sharia, 7 Karachi L.J. 57 (1971)Google Scholar.

55 See, e.g., A. Ouda, supra note 46; Tusi, supra notes 32 and 33; A. F. Sorour, supra note 42; A. Mahdi, supra note 40; M. Hamidullah, Usul Al-Tashri Al-Islami (The Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence) (1977); A. Gamal el-Din, Al Shariʼa wal-Ijraat al-Jinaiia (The Shariʼa and Criminal Procedure), 16 Mejallat Al-Ulum Al-Quanounia Wal Iqtisadia (Review of Legal and Economic Studies) 359 (1974); S. Ramadan, Islamic Law, its Scope and Equity (1961); and the consensus of Muslim scholars in the 1976 Conference on Islamic Criminal Justice in Riyadh, in Al-Nadwa Al-Ilmiya Li Derasat Tatbik Al-Tashrii Al-Jinaii Al-Islami Wa Atharoha Fi Mokafahat Al-Garima Fil-Mamlaka Al-Arabia Al-Saudia (The Scientific Conference on the Study of the Application of Islamic Criminal Justice and its Influence on Combating Crime in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) (2 vols. 1977). It was also the consensus of the participants in the First International Conference on the Protection of Human Rights in the Islamic Criminal Justice System held at the International Institute for Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences in Siracusa, Sicily, in May 1979. For its final resolution, see p. 628 ff. infra; the resolution also appeared in Bassiouni, Iranʼs Revolutionary Justice is not Islamic, Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 16, 1979, at 26. Some of the papers presented were published in Arabic in Al-Mejalla Al-Arabia Lil-Difaa Al-Ijtimii (The Arab Review of Social Defense), October 1979.

56 See Bassiouni, Islam, supra note 3, at 23-24; A. Mawdudi, supra note 54, at 339.

57 See A. Qutb, Islam: The Misunderstood Religion 249 (6th ed. 1964), who quotes Imam Khattabi on the fact that there can be no detention without an order of a court of law, a position that is uniformly accepted among Muslim scholars as being in keeping with the Shariʼa; and Bassiouni, Islam, supra note 3, at 36.

58 A. Mawdudi, Human Rights in Islam 19 (1977) [hereinafter cited as Mawdudi, Human Rights]. The taking and detention of the hostages and the failure by the Iranian Government to secure their release also threaten the right to security of life and property under Islamic law. This principle is made evident in the works of Tusi cited at notes 32 and 33.

59 Mawdudi, Human Rights supra note 58, at 25-26.

60 See supra notes 17, 32, and 33.

61 See note 55 supra.

62 See supra note 42 and text accompanying notes 40-42.

63 See section I supra

64 See A. OUDA, supra note 46.

65 GA Res. A/3166 (XXVIII), Feb. 5, 1974. See M. C. Bassiouni, International Terrorism and Political Crimes 285-310 (1975).

66 UN Doc. E/CN.4/NGO/213, Feb. 1, 1978. See also GA Res. 3452 (XXX) 1975; and Bassiouni, , An Appraisal of Torture in International Law and Practice: The Need For an International Convention for the Prevention and Suppression of Torture, 48 Rev. Intʼle Droit Penal 17 (1977)Google Scholar.

67 As discussed in the text at notes 53-63 supra.

68 See, e.g., M. C. Bassiouni & V. P. Nanda, A Treatise on International Criminal Law, 2 vols. (1973); Bassiouni, , An Appraisal of the Growth and Development of International Criminal Law, 45 Rev. Intʼle droit Penal 405 (1974)Google Scholar; and M. C. Bassiouni, International Criminal Law: A Draft International Criminal Code (1980).

69 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, GA Res. 217A (III), Dec. 10, 1948. For contemporary writers upholding the applicability of internationally protected human rights under Islam, see S. H. Tabandeh, A Muslim Commentary on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Gouldin trans. 1970); see also Ishaque, , Human Rights in Islamic Law, International Commission of Jurists, The Review, June 1974, at 30 Google Scholar; M. Z. Khan, Islam and Human Rights (1970) and his Foreword to Bassiouniʼs Islam, supra note 3, at 160-61; Said, , Human Rights in Islamic Perspective in Human Rights: Cultural and Ideological Perspectives (eds. Pollis, & Schwab, , 1970)Google Scholar; Nawaz, , The Concept of Human Rights in Islamic Law, 11 How. L.J. 325 (1965)Google Scholar; M. Al-Gazhali, Hukuk Al-Insan Fi-Taalim Al-Islam (Human Rights in the Teachings of Islam) (1962); Khalafallah, Islamic Law, Civilization and Human Rights, 12 Rev. Egyptienne Droit Intʼl 1 (1956); and A. Khalifa, Fundamental Human Rights in Islam (1952). See also A. H. Hairi, Shiism and Constitutionalism in Iran (1977).

70 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, GA Res. 2200A (XXI), Dec. 16, 1966.

71 284 UNTS 93, 8 UST 899, TIAS No. 3853.

72 See supra note 1, Memorial of the United States of America to the International Court of Justice, at 45.

73 Al-Hindi, 2 Kanz Al-Ulamaa Fi Sunan Al-Aqwal Wa-Al Afʼal 299 (A.H. 1211).