In Mazandaran Court, a Judge Appeals to International Law
A judge in an appeals court in Mazandaran province has issued a verdict which directly references the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, basing his decision on this instrument of international law. In his decision upholding the right of a divorced child to visit his mother, the judge affirmed the applicability of international human rights law in the Iranian judiciary, citing article 9 of Iran's Civil Code which states that "َagreements concluded between the Iranian government and other governments on the basis of the Iranian Constitution are to be treated as law."
Excerpts from the text of the decision itself appear below:
In addition to the reasons given by the original court, the right to mother-child visitation is stipulated and affirmed in article 9, note 3 of the UN General Assembly’s 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the Islamic Republic joined with reservations and which is to be treated as domestic law per article 9 of Iran’s Civil Code: “States Parties shall respect the right of the child who is separated from one or both parents to maintain personal relations and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis, except if it is contrary to the child's best interests.”