Legal Reforms in the Shi'i World - Recent Legislation in Iran and Iraq
![handle is hein.journals/sjls10 and id is 300 raw text is: Vol. 10 No. 2
LEGAL REFORMS IN THE SHI'I WORLD - RECENT
LEGISLATION IN IRAN AND IRAO
The purpose of this paper is to examine recent reforms in the Shi'i
world, especially the Family Protection Act which was recently enacted
in Iran - having received the Royal Assent on 24th June, 1967. This
statute is one in a series -of reforms enacted by the Iranian legislature
as part of what the Shah terms his White Revolution. Examples of
other statutes are those concerned with the land reforms, and with the
enfranchisement of women.
It may perhaps be worthwhile to compare this statute, as far as
is possible, with some earlier legislation enacted by Iraq, since Iran and
Iraq may be said .in some sense to represent the Shi'i, as opposed to the
Sunni, world. Iran of course is wholly Shi'i, while Iraq is fairly evenly
divided between Shi'is and Sunnis, with the Shi'a, perhaps, numerically
superior, but the Sunnis having undoubted political ascendancy. The
Iraqi legislation we are concerned with is the Law of Personal Status,
which was promulgated in 1959 by the government of 'Abd al-Karim
Qasim after the revolution which overthrew the monarchy and made Iraq
a Republic. Important amendments were made to this Law in 1963
when, in its turn, the Qasim regime was overthrown by that of Colonel
'Arif. The Law was to apply to Sunnis and Shi'a alike, and thus effect
a unification of the Iraqi family law.
It is not possible to make an exact comparison between the Iranian
and the Iraqi legistation. The Iranian law is extremely short, con-
sisting of a mere 23 Articles and one Note, and is concerned mainly with
procedural matters, divorce, polygamy and the custody of children; while
the Iraqi law consists of 88 Articles (which is still quite short when
compared with similar Codes enacted by other Middle East countries),
and attempts to cover in outline the full scope of the family law. The
Iraqi Law of Personal Status was a radical piece of legislation at the
time of its enactment, although not as radical as the Tunisian Law; 1
but it is by no means as revolutionary as the Family Protection Act.
The first five articles of the Iranian Act are concerned with the
procedure to be followed in actions for divorce and other family disputes
which are defined as civil disputes between husband and wife, children,
paternal grandfather, executor and guardian. Perhaps one of its most
important provisions is that henceforth jurisdiction in all such matters,
including of course divorce, belongs to the civil courts: either the Shah-
ristan Courts, which are roughly equivalent to the [English] County
1. Law of Personal Status, 1957. For a full discussion of this Law see J.N.D.
Anderson, A Law of Personal Status for Iraq, (1960) 9 I.C.L.Q. pp. 542-
563.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/sjls10&div=22&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Legal Reforms in the Shi'i World - Recent Legislation in Iran and Iraq
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