The Life of the Law in the Islamic Republic of Iran
Banakar, Reza LU
and Keyvan, Ziaee
(2018)
In Iranian Studies
51(5).
p.717-746
- Abstract
- Beyond the esoteric deliberations of Islamic jurists and their exegesis of criminal and private law doctrines, Iranian law lives a life of its own. It is a life of routine practices of judges, court clerks, lawyers and clients, each of whom is striving to turn the law to their own advantage. It is also a life of contested legality, a relentless struggle over the right to determine the law in a juridical field which is infused with strife and hostility. These conflicts are reproduced daily as two competing conceptions of law, and their corresponding perceptions of legality clash in pursuit of justice. The Iranian judiciary’s concept of law, their reconstruction of Islamic jurisprudence and their methods of dispensing justice, which on the... (More)
- Beyond the esoteric deliberations of Islamic jurists and their exegesis of criminal and private law doctrines, Iranian law lives a life of its own. It is a life of routine practices of judges, court clerks, lawyers and clients, each of whom is striving to turn the law to their own advantage. It is also a life of contested legality, a relentless struggle over the right to determine the law in a juridical field which is infused with strife and hostility. These conflicts are reproduced daily as two competing conceptions of law, and their corresponding perceptions of legality clash in pursuit of justice. The Iranian judiciary’s concept of law, their reconstruction of Islamic jurisprudence and their methods of dispensing justice, which on the surface are reminiscent of Max Weber’s “qadi-justice,” collide with the legal profession’s formal rational understanding thereof. However, Iranian judges are not Weberian qadis, and the legal profession is not a homogenous group of attorneys driven by a collective commitment to the rule of law. To understand their conflict, we need to explore the mundane workings of the legal system in the context of the transformation of Iranian society and the unresolved disputes over the direction of its modernity. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Beyond the esoteric deliberations of Islamic jurists and their exegesis of criminal and private law doctrines, Iranian law lives a life of its own. It is a life of routine practices of judges, court clerks, lawyers and clients, each of whom is striving to turn the law to their own advantage. It is also a life of contested legality, a relentless struggle over the right to determine the law in a juridical field which is infused with strife and hostility. These conflicts are reproduced daily as two competing conceptions of law, and their corresponding perceptions of legality clash in pursuit of justice. The Iranian judiciary’s concept of law, their reconstruction of Islamic jurisprudence and their methods of dispensing justice, which on the... (More)
- Beyond the esoteric deliberations of Islamic jurists and their exegesis of criminal and private law doctrines, Iranian law lives a life of its own. It is a life of routine practices of judges, court clerks, lawyers and clients, each of whom is striving to turn the law to their own advantage. It is also a life of contested legality, a relentless struggle over the right to determine the law in a juridical field which is infused with strife and hostility. These conflicts are reproduced daily as two competing conceptions of law, and their corresponding perceptions of legality clash in pursuit of justice. The Iranian judiciary’s concept of law, their reconstruction of Islamic jurisprudence and their methods of dispensing justice, which on the surface are reminiscent of Max Weber’s “qadi-justice,” collide with the legal profession’s formal rational understanding thereof. However, Iranian judges are not Weberian qadis, and the legal profession is not a homogenous group of attorneys driven by a collective commitment to the rule of law. To understand their conflict, we need to explore the mundane workings of the legal system in the context of the transformation of Iranian society and the unresolved disputes over the direction of its modernity.
(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/f73a97c7-39fb-464a-aa97-62dabf22188d
- author
- Banakar, Reza
LU
and Keyvan, Ziaee
- organization
- publishing date
- 2018-06-26
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Iran, Law, Judiciary, judge, Bar Association, Lawyers, female lawyers, Fiqh, Shari'a, Islamic Jurisprudence, Family law, Legal Services, Qadi, legal profession, Field theory, Illusio, Doxa, modernity, Law, Iran, Judiciary, Bar Association, Lawyers, legal profession, Female lawyers, Fiqh, Islamic Jurisprudence, Shari'a, Field theory, Doxa, Illusio, legal culture, Qadi, courts, Legal system, Sociology of Law, Family law, Socio-Legal Research, Habitus, legal practice
- in
- Iranian Studies
- volume
- 51
- issue
- 5
- pages
- 29 pages
- publisher
- Routledge
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85054629952
- ISSN
- 0021-0862
- DOI
- 10.1080/00210862.2018.1467266
- project
- Iranian Legal Profession
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- f73a97c7-39fb-464a-aa97-62dabf22188d
- date added to LUP
- 2018-04-15 10:37:14
- date last changed
- 2024-03-01 17:14:28
@article{f73a97c7-39fb-464a-aa97-62dabf22188d,
abstract = {{Beyond the esoteric deliberations of Islamic jurists and their exegesis of criminal and private law doctrines, Iranian law lives a life of its own. It is a life of routine practices of judges, court clerks, lawyers and clients, each of whom is striving to turn the law to their own advantage. It is also a life of contested legality, a relentless struggle over the right to determine the law in a juridical field which is infused with strife and hostility. These conflicts are reproduced daily as two competing conceptions of law, and their corresponding perceptions of legality clash in pursuit of justice. The Iranian judiciary’s concept of law, their reconstruction of Islamic jurisprudence and their methods of dispensing justice, which on the surface are reminiscent of Max Weber’s “qadi-justice,” collide with the legal profession’s formal rational understanding thereof. However, Iranian judges are not Weberian qadis, and the legal profession is not a homogenous group of attorneys driven by a collective commitment to the rule of law. To understand their conflict, we need to explore the mundane workings of the legal system in the context of the transformation of Iranian society and the unresolved disputes over the direction of its modernity.}},
author = {{Banakar, Reza and Keyvan, Ziaee}},
issn = {{0021-0862}},
keywords = {{Iran; Law; Judiciary; judge; Bar Association; Lawyers; female lawyers; Fiqh; Shari'a; Islamic Jurisprudence; Family law; Legal Services; Qadi; legal profession; Field theory; Illusio; Doxa; modernity; Law; Iran; Judiciary; Bar Association; Lawyers; legal profession; Female lawyers; Fiqh; Islamic Jurisprudence; Shari'a; Field theory; Doxa; Illusio; legal culture; Qadi; courts; Legal system; Sociology of Law; Family law; Socio-Legal Research; Habitus; legal practice}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{06}},
number = {{5}},
pages = {{717--746}},
publisher = {{Routledge}},
series = {{Iranian Studies}},
title = {{The Life of the Law in the Islamic Republic of Iran}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00210862.2018.1467266}},
doi = {{10.1080/00210862.2018.1467266}},
volume = {{51}},
year = {{2018}},
}