What it means
دادستان (dâdsetân) is the official title for a prosecutor in the Iranian legal system. The word is built entirely from native Persian roots: dâd, meaning justice, and the suffix setân, a locative particle meaning “place of” or “seat of.” At its core a dâdsetân is the place, or institution, of justice. The compound is ancient, appearing already in classical Persian poetry, and was formally adopted into the modern legal system when Iran built its judiciary in the twentieth century. Unlike most Persian legal vocabulary, which comes from Arabic, this term draws on native Persian elements. A close contrast is قاضی (qâzi), a judge, who decides cases rather than pressing charges.
How to use it
- دادستان اعلام کرد که پرونده بسته شد. (Dâdsetân e’lâm kard ke parvande baste shod.) “The prosecutor announced that the case was closed.”
- او به عنوان دادستان کل کشور منصوب شد. (U be onvân-e dâdsetân-e koll-e keshvar mansub shod.) “He was appointed as the Attorney General of the country.”
- دادستان درخواست صدور حکم داد. (Dâdsetân darkhâst-e sodur-e hokm dâd.) “The prosecutor requested that a verdict be issued.”
- وکیل مدافع با دادستان موافق نبود. (Vakil-e modâfe’ bâ dâdsetân movâfeq nabud.) “The defense lawyer did not agree with the prosecutor.”
Cultural note
In Iran’s judicial structure, the دادستان holds a prominent and politically sensitive position. The Prosecutor General, called دادستان کل کشور, operates under the judiciary and can bring charges in both criminal and certain political matters. The independence of the Iranian judiciary is a debated topic in legal and human rights discourse, and the role of the dâdsetân often comes up in discussions of civil rights and due process. The word’s purely Persian construction reflects the long native tradition of legal vocabulary that survived and was integrated into the modern judicial system.