The Rule of Law in the Islamic Republic of Iran
Power, Institutions, and the Limits of Reform

The volume assesses the rule of law and rule by law in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Hadi Enayat (Edited by), Mirjam Künkler (Edited by)

9781108481427, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 17 April 2025

507 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.9 cm, 0.926 kg

'After Iran's 1979 revolution, the new regime sought to build an Islamic legal system, a process the authors say is still ongoing, and still contested. In this volume they discuss the rule of law in Iran in relation to criminal, family and labour law; minority rights; policing; medicine; and more.' Survival

After Iran's 1979 Revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini denounced the secular legal system of the Pahlavis and pledged his commitment to distinctly Islamic conceptions of law and justice: the application of both the shariʿa and the rule of law (hākemiyat-e qānun) became major ideological pillars of the Islamic Republic. This precipitated the Islamization of the legal system, the judiciary and the courts, a process which still continues today and is the subject of intense ideological and political contestation. The Rule of Law in Iran is the first comprehensive analysis of judicial and legal institutions of the Islamic Republic of Iran in their social, political and historical contexts. Scholars and practitioners of law, many with experience of working in Iran, shed light on how the rule of law has fared across a variety of areas, from criminal law to labour law, family law, minority rights, policing, the legal profession, the visual and performing arts, trade law, and medicine.

1. Governing the Law in the Islamic Republic of Iran Mirjam Künkler
2. Law Enforcement and the Judiciary in Post-Revolutionary Iran Saeid Golkar
3. Rule of Law or Rule by Law? Iran's Bar Association as a pawn in Islamic-republican Contestations Mirjam Künkler
4. Shiʿi Family Law under the Rule of Law? The Iranian Model and Current Approaches in the Shiʿi World Hannah L. Richter
5. The Islamic Penal Code of 2013: Traditions and Innovations Silvia Tellenbach
6. The Administration of Criminal Justice in Iran: Ideology, Judicial Personalism and the Cynical Manipulation of Security Drewery Dyke and Hadi Enayat
7. Reform from within? Hākemiyat-e Qānun from the Reformist Era until 2022 Mirjam Künkler
8. Iran's Religious and Ethnic Minorities in the Eyes of the Judiciary and the Security Apparatus Shahin Milani
9. Legal Barriers to Key Populations Accessing HIV/AIDS Services in Iran, and Creative Responses to Overcome Them Arash Alaei and Kamiar Alaei
10. The Problem of Overcrowded Prisons in the Islamic Republic of Iran Anna Enayat and Hadi Enayat
11. Labour Rights in Post-Revolutionary Iran M. Stella Morgana
12. The Effects of the JCPOA, and Subsequent US Withdrawal, on Iranian Law Faezeh Manteghi and Seyed Emadeddin Tabataba'i
13. Multi-layered Mechanisms of Control and Censorship of Arts and Culture in the Islamic Republic of Iran Roozbeh Mirebrahimi and Azadeh Pourzand
14. The Legal Situation Regarding Assisted Reproduction in Iran: Current Developments and Concerns Shirin Naef
15. Conclusions: Regressions and Progressions in the Rule of Law of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hadi Enayat and Mirjam Künkler.

Subject Areas: Constitution: government & the state [JPHC]