Overview of Iranian Laws Currently Practiced in the Country - Research Paper Example

Law INTRODUCTION Laws are often observed to act as an imperative aspect in the proper functioning of a society and a nation entirely. They are duly considered to be effective guidelines based on which, conflicts and chaos does not seem to occur, resulting in the formation of a well-structured and secured society and a nation. It is the respective government of any nation, who are often observed to formulate effective laws for safeguarding and serving the self-interests of a particular individual or a societal member. It is worth mentioning that various functions of law include resolving any sort of dispute, boosting people to determine what is appropriate in the community, defending the individuals and promoting the good common among others (Gorman 4-15). It would be vital to mention that the various purposes of law can be apparently observed as concentrated on maintaining law as well as order in the society, safeguarding the innocent individuals from being harmed due to the unethical, unjust and irrational behavior of others. Moreover, laws tend to protect people as well as nations from any class of exterior aggression or harm and establish rules for the community to dwell in peacefully (Raz 225). Correspondingly, these can be identified as the certain reasons for which, the governments belonging to various nations have introduced laws that are mandatorily required to be followed by the individuals. Similarly, various laws have also been introduced in Iran that are collectively acknowledged as Iranian laws aimed at promoting the self-interests of the individuals and also for safeguarding the nation from internal and external threats altogether. It is strongly believed that the Iranian laws, introduced by the government of Iran, protect the properties along with vested rights of the citizens and their established relationships among others. Thus, it can be affirmed from a broader understanding that laws introduced in various nations such as Iran and America tend to make sure that the residents are valued on the basis of their human rights and interests uniformly in order to maintain peace within the national society. THESIS STATEMENT AND RATIONALIZATION OF THE CHOSEN TOPIC Based on the above stated notion, this research paper intends to discuss about the Iranian law as applied currently, address the prevailing differences between Iranian laws and examine the roles played by these laws to control the country through its critical implications. It would be vital to mention that this particular topic has been chosen with the intention of acquiring a brief idea about the legal framework currently practiced in Iran, which is held liable for conducting various activities. These activities comprise promoting the self-interests of its people, safeguarding the citizens’ vested rights and most vitally, controlling the nation with respect to various lawful regulations. The rationale for selecting this particular area of study for this paper can be grounded on the motive to get familiar with the rights that are vested over the Iranian men as well as women, with the scope of further exploring the differences persisting between the major legislations in the world (taking the example of the US laws) and the Iranian laws. OVERVIEW OF IRANIAN LAWS CURRENTLY PRACTICED IN THE COUNTRY Prior to discussing about the Iranian laws that are currently being practiced in Iran, it is quite essential to obtain a brief understanding about the background of Iranian law. Similar to its social construct, the legal framework followed in Iran, and represented through Iranian laws, still largely favor men in authoritative positions as compared to women. Specially mentioning, the Constitution of Iran, which was adopted in the year 1979, has been criticized owing to its lacunas in treating women on gender equality principles. The constitution dictates that the legal codes of Iranian laws principally follow the Islamic moral codes, which is primarily based on the Koran and Sharia laws. Based on this notion, Article IV of the constitution affirms that “all civil, penal, financial, economic, administrative, cultural, military, political and other laws and regulations must be based on Islamic criteria” (The Library of Congress, 2005). Identifiably, the law sources in Iran mainly constitute Government by-laws, constitutional law, Islamic principles, legislation and custom along with revolutionary principles. A majority of the populaces in Iran can be mainly observed as Shia Muslims who follow these law sources inevitably. Apart from these populaces, certain other inhabitants, such as Jewish, Sunni Muslim, Christian and Zoroastrian also have their presence in the nation. The Iranian laws that are currently being practiced in Iran can be mainly determined through various legislative articles, incorporated within 1979 Constitution of Iranian laws. In this similar context, it can be apparently identified that Article 12 of the 1979 Constitution of Iranian law declares that the major religion of the State is Islam and the dominant law school persisting within this State is the Jaafari School, which is regarded as the biggest branch of Shia jurisprudence. Nonetheless, Article 4 of the 1979 Constitution of Iranian law asserts that all legal guidelines must be adhered based on the Islamic principles and religious worldviews following which, the 1967 Family Protection Act, which represents the equality of women within a family, was repealed after the end of the 1979 Islamic Revolution (Reunite International, “Iran”). A broad assortment of Iranian laws can be apparently observed being practiced currently in Iran. In this similar concern, one of such laws is the Press Law, which was passed by the Iranian Parliament in the year 1985. According to Article 2 of this law, the purposes of the presses existing in the nation have been depicted as quite significant in raising public understanding as well as knowledge, enlightening the opinions made by the public and striving towards eradicating divisive along with false social boundaries in order to facilitate the overall growth of the society and the country (HRW, “Iran”). Additionally, the other provision as included in the set of Iranian laws is the Islamic Criminal Law. Specially mentioning, Article 1 of Iran’s Islamic Criminal Law mainly aims at determining various offences, punishments and security issues along with rehabilatory measures that would be applied to the offenders on humanitarian grounds. Most importantly, Article 3 of the law depicts that the above discussed aspects, such as offences and punishments along with measures would be applied to every individual within the nation if they are found guilty for committing offence in relation to the Iranian airspace, water and land territory among others (Iranian Law Network, “Iran’s Islamic Criminal Law”). The other Iranian law, which is currently practiced in the nation, is its Computer Crimes Law. The Iranian Parliament approved this law during the year 2009 with the intention of addressing and mitigating the threats that emerge from the crimes conducted online or in terms of internet medium, taking the advantage of the 21st century patronage of informational accessibility. The Iranian government strongly realized that the aforesaid law has been quite instrumental in the repression as well as the prosecution of the bloggers and the cyber-activists. Moreover, the government of Iran also believed that Iran’s Computer Crimes Law is the newest addition towards the “Islamic Republic of Iran’s vast censorship apparatus.” The prime intentions of the Iranian Parliament to introduce this law fundamentally include increased control of the internet activities that are conducted largely in the nation, promoting national security, strengthening laws relating to human rights and protecting the freedom of expression of the Iranian people. In fact, this Iranian law establishes imprisonment for the conduct of computer crimes such as piracy breach, hacking, online defamation, phishing and publishing any kind of material, which are treated as unethical or conflicting with the sentiments of the residents in Iran (Ziccardi 244). DIFFERENCES BETWEEN IRANIAN LAWS AND AMERICAN LAWS The disparities prevailing between Iranian and American laws can be better understood by examining its various dimensions along with the underlying values, principles and perceptions. One of such dimension is the positioning of feminism, which can be apparently observed as dissimilar in the contexts of Iran and America. To be precise, in accordance with Iranian laws, women belonging to Iran do not possess the ‘right of assembly.’ Moreover, the Iranian law also asserts that the married women are not facilitated to access education above primary school. Thus, it can be affirmed that under Iranian law, the Iranian women are not deemed as entitled to make any sort of protest against the respective government of the nation, which certainly limits their human rights to a certain extent. Comparatively, the American law postulates that women belonging to America are free to express themselves, access higher education, make public speeches, write critiques about immoral governmental practices if any and make protests in opposition to discrimination (Graves, “Women In Iran: Obstacles To Human Rights And Possible Solutions”). Furthermore, based on the grounds of criminal justice system, the differences persisting between Iranian and American laws can be ascertained. It can be apparently observed in this similar context that every nation worldwide possesses its own form of criminal justice mechanism wherein a sequence of organizations works collaboratively towards performing various activities. These activities include prosecuting, apprehending, sentencing, defending and punishing those people, who have been found guilty for conducting any criminal activity either directly or indirectly in aid of the offender. In most of the developing as well as developed nations globally, greatest contributions are usually found to be made by respective attorney generals, law courts and enforcement agencies among others for making better progression of their working collaboration within the system of criminal justice. However, these sorts of procedures might not be completely applicable in certain nations (Bonello, “Comparing and Contrasting the Criminal Justice Systems of Iran and Australia”). . Evidence has been portrayed in the following, depicting the differences existing in Iranian and American laws related with the dimensions of criminal justice system. With respect to the criminal justice system, the Quran is duly considered to be a moral as well as a legal code for the Iranians, which not only deals with religious norms but also with civil and political matters. It can be apparently observed in this similar concern that Iranian laws relating to criminal justice system are mainly based on the religious values of Muslim and Islamic laws, which is also acknowledged as the “Shariia Law”. On the other hand, American laws concerning the facet of criminal justice system are fundamentally based on the common laws of the nation, federal laws ratified by the American Parliament and the laws executed by the Parliaments of the respective American States along with Territories. Based on the above identified facts, it is quite apparent that the Iranian laws provide much importance to the Quran as well as the “Shariia Law”, while the American laws deliver much weightage towards the US Constitution rather than any particular religious worldview. It is worth mentioning that the court systems followed by America play a conclusive role in developing an effectual criminal justice system within the nation based on which, American laws concerning the aspect are designed. On the contrary, no courts of appeal provisions are found existing in Iran and thus, it can be asserted that once a sentence is handed over by the Qadi, it cannot be repealed. Based on this criteria, the Iranian laws, with regards to criminal justice system are designed (Ebbe 35-36; Falk 23-45). Apart from differences identifiable in the positioning of feminism and criminal justice systems, the Iranian laws also differ from American laws with respect to the design of computer crime related laws. In this similar context, it has been apparently noted that in America, the laws associated with computer crimes are designed into three fundamental perspectives that entail ‘international law’, ‘the states’ laws’ and ‘central United States federal laws’ (Zeraatpishe and Varvai 1-19). On the other hand, laws relating to computer crimes in Iran are designed based on various Articles such as Article 19 of “The Computer Crimes Law of the Islamic Republic of Iran” rather than segregating the laws based on the aforesaid aspects witnessed in America (Ziccardi 244). However, the examples of the computer crimes in respect of which, the above discussed laws would be exercised, remains identical between America and Iran. In this regard, the examples of the computer crimes as defined in the Iranian laws refers to the misuse or unofficial use of computer systems, data messages, programs along with remote communication appliances, causing damages to internal communication and damaging computers in terms of disrupting the stored programs (Zeraatpishe and Varvai 1-19). In addition, the Iranian and American laws are also found to differ based on their respective Constitutions. For instance, according to the Iranian Constitution, extreme focus is laid on religious control instead of considering the protection of the rights along with the freedom of the people belonging to Iran. Thus, it can be affirmed that the Iranian laws are majorly designed and applied by taking into concern the religious aspects rather than thinking much about safeguarding the self-interests of the Iranian people. On the other hand, the US Constitution is mainly concerned about how to promote and protect the self-interests of the Americans. It would be vital to mention in this similar context that the American government tends to elaborately discuss about the duties of the judiciary, legislature as well as executive branches so that the self-interests of the American people are promoted as well as safeguarded maintaining parity with the constitutional beliefs and principles. Thus, it can be affirmed that American laws are designed with the intention of sufficing the self-interests of the Americans rather than focusing on the religious factor to the utmost level (U.S. Department of State, “Iran”). IMPLICATIONS OF IRANIAN LAWS IN CONTROLLING THE COUNTRY After acquiring a brief idea about the Iranian laws and their respective nature, it can be affirmed that these laws have both positive as well as negative implications in controlling the national prudence of Iran. From the perspective of positive implications, Iranian laws can control the country in terms of guarding its independence along with its territorial integrity following the provisions of law and order strictly, setting up an effective Supreme National Security Council and Islamic Republics armed forces. This can be justified with reference to the fact that Article 176 of the Iranian Constitution mandates establishing the Supreme National Security Council and charges it with maintaining Islamic Revolution, national autonomy and territorial reliability among others. With regards to analyze the positive implications of the Iranian laws in controlling Iran, it can be apparently noted that The Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) plays an imperative role in protecting the country from any sort of external threat. The MOIS is typically viewed to be one of the inexplicable entities, which is performing its operational functions as a significant facet of the Islamic Republic with the aim of controlling the country. Notably, the MOIS foundation law was passed in the year 1983 by the Iranian Parliament, charging the Ministry with the responsibilities of collecting, procuring, analyzing and most significantly classifying necessary information inside as well as outside the nation. In addition, the Ministry is also held liable for disclosing conspiracies that damage Islamic Republic’s integrity by a considerable level (PBS, “The Structure of Power in Iran”). Thus, with this concern, it can be affirmed that this particular Iranian law provision, i.e. the MOIS foundation law, has positive implications in controlling Iran based on the objective of protecting the nation from any sort of disruptions caused either due to internal or external forces or both. Apart from the above stated positive implications of Iranian laws in controlling the nation, it is noteworthy to elaborate on certain negative implications, which are also expected to lead towards disrupting the overall welfare of the Iranian society. As described earlier, Iranian women are not vested with the rights of accessing higher education and protesting against any sort of discrimination among others. This negatively affected the social along with political and financial status of women belonging to Iran, resulting in adverse implications in controlling the nation. One of the controversial Iranian laws, which had negative implications in controlling Iran, was the 1967 Family Protection Acts (FPA). This particular Iranian law was duly considered to be a controversial one and failed to control the nation owing to the reason that the FPA was meant to confront every family issue through the courts, protecting the confidentiality of the families at large. Findings revealed that the family issues were mostly triggered owing to age gaps amid the couples or because of their immaturity, which was required to be barred through the imposition of a minimum age for marriage for both men and women. Consequently, such disputes led to radical changes in the Iranian society. One of such radical changes can be apparently observed as increasing the bar for the minimum marriage age of both Iranian men as well as women to twenty and eighteen respectively (Girgis, “Iran Chamber Society”). CONCLUSION Based on the above analysis and discussion, it is quite apparent that laws are formulated and applied in every nation such as Iran and America with the aim of maintaining peace within the nation and safeguarding the self-interests of the individuals in the nation. It has been apparently noted that numerous Iranian laws are currently being practiced in the country to suffice these purposes. Contextually, few of the major Iranian laws include Computer Crimes Law, Islamic Criminal Law and Press Law among others. One of the prime characteristics of Iranian laws is that these laws are primarily based on Muslim religion, following the principles of the Koran and Sharia rules. One of the lacunas that might have been responsible for the isolation and differentiation of Iranian laws from the global legislations is that these laws do not concentrate on promoting the self-interests of the Iranian women. It has often been criticized that these laws rather prohibit women towards accessing higher education and making protests against any sort of discrimination. After acquiring a brief idea about the various sorts of Iranian laws that are currently being practiced in Iran and their characteristics, it can be affirmed that there lay significant differences between Iranian and American laws. These differences can be duly measured in terms of the positioning and value accreditation of feminism, criminal justice mechanism and designing of computer crime related laws. The existing differences eventually reveal that Iranian laws are much confined in comparison with the American laws. It would be vital to mention in this similar concern that the confinement of the Iranian laws ultimately impose negative implications on controlling the nation with utmost effectiveness. Works Cited Bonello Rochelle. “Comparing and Contrasting the Criminal Justice Systems of Iran and Australia.” 2014. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. Ebbe Obi N. I. Comparative and International Criminal Justice Systems: Policing, Judiciary, and Corrections, Third Edition. US: CRC Press, 2013. Print. Falk Gerhard. The American Criminal Justice System: How It Works, How It Doesnt, and How to Fix It. US: ABC-CLIO, 2010. Print. Graves Alison E. “Women In Iran: Obstacles To Human Rights And Possible Solutions.” 1996. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. Girgis Monique. “Iran Chamber Society.” 1996. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. “Iran”. HRW. n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. “Iran’s Islamic Criminal Law.” Iranian Law Network. n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. Jacqueline Laks Gorman. Why Do We Have Laws? United States: Gareth Stevens, 2007. Print. “The Structure of Power In Iran.” PBS. 2014. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. Raz Joseph. The Authority of Law: Essays on Law and Morality. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print. “Iran.” Reunite International. 2005. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. The Library of Congress. “Introduction.” Women in Islamic Societies: A Selected Review of Social Scientific Literature: 1-19. Print. “Iran.” U.S. Department of State. n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. Ziccardi Giovanni. Resistance, Liberation Technology and Human Rights in the Digital Age. US: Springer, 2012. Print. Zeraatpishe, Roya, and Akbar Varvai. “The Legislative Process of Computer Crimes in the International Organizations.” International Journal of Law in the New Century 1 (2013): 1-19. Read More