Abstract
<p>One the innovations in the new act of family support is observed in article 4 for the authorities of religious minorities. Concerning the competence of these authorities and their relationships with the judicial courts, legislators deny the competence of the general courts in hearing the minority affairs based on their religious commonalities and certain rules and habits. Moreover, given that these authorities are competent to hear the personal status and non-litigious affairs of the religious minorities and are legally recognized to do so, they can be, to some extent, considered as an exceptional part of the judicial judgment institution. As a result, their decisions are valid in the courts and are ratified and enforced if they are compatible with the public order and morality.</p>
Highlights
One of the innovations in the new act of the family support is that, unlike the Family Support Act, approved in 1974, it explicitly refers to religious minorities and considers the decisions of the ultimate authorities of these minorities valid, enforceable, and ratifiable in the courts
Before approving the new act of family support, legislators considered the “matters” that should be heard based on the religious common and certain rules and habits rather than considering the “authorities” who heard the minority affairs. With respect to this change and the lack of stipulation for these authorities, it is appropriate to investigate the nature of these authorities and their position in the judicial hierarchy of Iran. This is effective in determination of the rights and assignments of Iranian minorities that should benefit from the right of petition and freedom based on the Principle 12 of the Constitutional act of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the matters of religious teachings and personal status, provided that they are compatible with the public order and morality
In a case of filed lawsuit on behalf of religious minorities, must by virtue of Article 2 of the Civil Procedure Code, issue an order not to hear the case, and guide the parties to the lawsuit in their own institutions. The reason for this is that based on the law and what is outlined above, resolving disputes of minorities in family law is exclusively within the competence of certain authorities of them, and this means a decline of referring to the courts to resolve disputes concerning non-litigious affairs and personal status
Summary
One of the innovations in the new act of the family support is that, unlike the Family Support Act, approved in 1974, it explicitly refers to religious minorities and considers the decisions of the ultimate authorities of these minorities valid, enforceable, and ratifiable in the courts. Before approving the new act of family support, legislators considered the “matters” that should be heard based on the religious common and certain rules and habits rather than considering the “authorities” who heard the minority affairs With respect to this change and the lack of stipulation for these authorities, it is appropriate to investigate the nature of these authorities and their position in the judicial hierarchy of Iran. This study aims to investigate the Amendment of Article 4 of the new Act of Family Support, approved in February 19, 2013 in order to explain the nature, position, competences and latitudes of the authorities of religious minorities as well as their relationships with the judicial courts. It is supposed that legislator by recognizing these authorities, tries to grant them a concession on the religious minorities’ affairs, and disputes; these authorities cannot be considered as a part of the judicial system of Iran
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