History of the Iranian Judicial System
François Ameli
Lawyer and professor at the University Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne and Sciences Po Paris
Iran has over 25 centuries of history. The sources of the law and the judicial system of this country have undergone numerous evolutions and submitted to a variety of influences.
These influences have been ethnic, religious and legal. Sometimes they were imposed on successive Iranian governments, but at other times they were accepted voluntarily.
Since the Arab invasion of Iran in the seventh century, the Shi’ah Islamic rules and sources of judicial organisation have been the foundation of Iranian law. Iran was, and still is, the only country in the world having Shi’ah Islam as its official religion.
This is why the general principles of its legal system are somewhat different from those found in the other countries having officially adopted Islamic law.
Since the 7th century, although many things have changed in Iran, one thing has remained constant: the concept of Shi’ah Islamic law as the foundation of the Iranian legal system.
As far as the judicial system is concerned, the changes were quite minor until the end of the nineteenth century. The judicial power had until then always been in the hands of the clergy, which was the natural and legitimate authority for interpreting Islamic sources on which the Iranian law was based.
Although the history of the Iranian judicial system through the ages comprises numerous events of interest, the most significant and meaningful part of this history is that of the Twentieth century, when the Iranian judicial system was modernised, a modernisation which influenced the 1979 revolution and the resulting changes.
You can order the PDF version of this article for 4 Euros
You can order the PDF version of Analytica Iranica Volume II for 15 Euros
François Ameli Lawyer and professor at the University Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne and Sciences Po Paris
Iran has over 25 centuries of history. The sources of the law and the judicial system of this country have undergone numerous evolutions and submitted to a variety of influences.
These influences have been ethnic, religious and legal. Sometimes they were imposed on successive Iranian governments, but at other times they were accepted voluntarily.
Since the Arab invasion of Iran in the seventh century, the Shi’ah Islamic rules and sources of judicial organisation have been the foundation of Iranian law. Iran was, and still is, the only country in the world having Shi’ah Islam as its official religion.
This is why the general principles of its legal system are somewhat different from those found in the other countries having officially adopted Islamic law.
Since the 7th century, although many things have changed in Iran, one thing has remained constant: the concept of Shi’ah Islamic law as the foundation of the Iranian legal system.
As far as the judicial system is concerned, the changes were quite minor until the end of the nineteenth century. The judicial power had until then always been in the hands of the clergy, which was the natural and legitimate authority for interpreting Islamic sources on which the Iranian law was based.
Although the history of the Iranian judicial system through the ages comprises numerous events of interest, the most significant and meaningful part of this history is that of the Twentieth century, when the Iranian judicial system was modernised, a modernisation which influenced the 1979 revolution and the resulting changes.
You can order the PDF version of this article for 4 Euros
You can order the PDF version of Analytica Iranica Volume II for 15 Euros
History of the Iranian Judicial System
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François Ameli
Lawyer & professor of law
L’interprétation de l’erreur dans les productions orales
Rahim Fahandej Saadi
PhD in didactics of French
La privatisation des entreprises publiques en Iran
Victoire Taheri
Institute for Iranian Studies' deputy director
André Godard protecteur des vestiges historiques de l’Iran
Marzieh Yazdani-Delfani
Institute for Iranian Studies' vice president
On the Iranian Diaspora
Sam Sasan Shoamanesh
Managing Editor of Global Brief
See other articles ...