According to Article 15 of the Protection and Improvement Law approved on 28/03/1974, environmentalists are considered special bailiffs of the judiciary, but compared to general bailiffs, they do not enjoy the necessary legal protections, especially in the area of using weapons.This issue is so noticeable that in 2010, the legislature passed the Law on Judicial and Insurance Protection of Protection Unit Officers in order to fill this gap. In addition to re-emphasizing that Environmental Protection Unit officers are bailiffs, it agreed to the use of weapons by these individuals within the scope of paragraphs"1", "2" and "3" of Article 3 of the Law on the Use of Weapons approved in 1373. The legislator's attention to criminal protection of environmentalists is not sufficient, and cases such as the use of weapons in environmental patrols, preventing the escape of illegal hunters or environmental crime criminals, the use of weapons in confrontation with smugglers, etc. are among the controversial challenges of this group of judicial officers due to the lack of sufficient protection in the field of criminal law for environmentalists.
In this study, an attempt is made to examine the criminal protection of environmentalists in the Iranian legal system using a descriptive-analytical method and library resources, and in this regard, identify existing legal obstacles and challenges and provide solutions to overcome them.Expanding the powers of environmentalists in the use of weapons to the necessary arrangements for criminal proceedings and also enjoying legal assistance can be considered examples of criminal protection for environmentalists.