Execution of Civil Judgments in Iran
Manners of execution of the civil judgments in Iran is based on the Law on the Execution of the Civil Judgments. There are also other rules and regulations which address the execution matters with an admirable accuracy.
Legal Framework for Execution of Civil Judgments in Iran
Legal Framework for Execution of Civil Judgments in Iran is based on the “Law on the Execution of the Civil Judgments” and the “Law on the Manners of Execution of the Financial Convictions”. These two laws constitute a general legal framework for executing civil judgments and have to be read together.
There are some other relevant acts which deal with relating issues like the Act of Prohibition on the Confiscation of the Municipal Property and the Act of Manners of the Payment of the Government Financial Convictions. There are also a range of indications for special paradigms, like some of the rules in the regulation of the execution of the enforceable official documents. Here we just approach the matter generally, based on the two main laws mentioned earlier.
Start your Journey by an Order of Execution
The execution process begins with the judicial “order of execution”, which the prevailing party has to seek in the competent court for execution matters. Soon we address this question in the paragraphs below. Then, the supposition is that the parties will come up with an agreed plan as to execute the judgment (article 40 of the Law on the Execution of the Civil Judgments).
has the losing party failed to go with the plan, then the execution officers are called to cross swords with him/her, according to a step-by-step course of actions prescribed by the law (article 41). For example, execution officers are not supposed to sally forth alongside police forces, but only in the case of emergency, they can use them (article 14).
Preconditions for Executing a Civil Judgment
The first condition is that the judgment must have been finalized (article 1). that doesn’t mean the judgment must have been irreversible, for a judgment might be finalized whereas it would be still possible to go through retrial process (article 39).
Interim Orders
Here, we are talking about judgments, but it’s noteworthy that interim orders are also executable by the same law (article 1).
Requests and Notices
The second condition is that the losing party must have been served and be noticed of the judgment. (article 2). The same article states that the execution process only may get started upon the request of the winning party.
The reason behind this rule is that the execution process is supposed to be carried out by the voluntary steps and common understanding between parties, and there is a number of articles throughout the law reflecting this policy (articles 40, 46, 73, 74, 76, 78, 79, 112). As you can see, even after the beginning of the process, parties’ agreements remains relevant.
Executability of the Judgment
The fourth condition is that the judgment must be executable. It means there are some qualities without them the execution is meaningless. For example, some judgments are just declaring a legal status like annulment of a document (article 4). How can one imagine an execution process for that? Some other court decisions pronounce a right attributed to the plaintiff but the subject of the right is not specified (article 3). The same problem again would resurface then.
Competent Court for Starting Execution Process
First of all, you should know appellate courts have no office to this purpose and one has to go back to the court of first instance. (article 5). Not to mention, the execution office of the court that issued the first judgment on the matter has the jurisdiction (article 19). Whenever part of the subject of execution were sited at another jurisdiction, the execution office of that district should continue the process (article 20).
Mid Process Quarrels
If in the middle of process some disagreements appear, the court under aegis of which the execution process is going on, has the jurisdiction. (articles 25 and 26). Bearing in mind of what was said in the previous paragraph, this court is not necessarily the court that had issued the first judgment on the case. But if the disagreement is about or is originated from the judgment per se, then the court that issued the judgment has the say-so, be it the court of first instance or appellate court (27).
Bankruptcy Take Over
In the case of bankruptcy, which only happens for businessmen or merchants, the execution process shall be stopped in view of liquidation process and the execution officers will send the last status of the bankrupt merchant to the liquidator (article 33).
Third Party Claims
If the subject of execution be found in the hand of a third party and he/she claims a right thereof and present evidence, the execution office shall give him/her one week to refer the case to the court. The third party has to solicit an order from the court addressing the execution office to stop the process. otherwise, the execution process will continue (article 44). The third party is liable for his/her claim if he or she couldn’t prove his/her claim later on in the court and the prevailing party may seek relief (article 61).
Obligations of Losing Party in the Civil Execution Process
According to the article 34, the losing party must satisfy what is wanted from him in the judgment within a period of 10 days after receiving the execution notice. He can also declare his or her inability as to execute the judgment.in that case, he or she must prepare a list of his properties and hand it over to the execution officers. The later part of the article provides that if losing party thereby misrepresent the truth and the truth transpires within the span of following three years, he or she shall be incarcerated from 61 days to six months.
Insolvency of Losing Party
In the case of inability, the detailed rules are embedded in the Law on the Manners of Execution of the Financial Convictions. Accordingly, the losing party shall either prove his or her insolvency or go to the jail for an indefinite time until he or she pay the bill. (article 3). However, the burden of proof is inversed, had the winning party failed to prove the earlier status of solvency of his/her counterpart. (article 7).
The jail here is a special prison separated from those of criminals. In these special prisons, they could avail themselves of the opportunity to continue their business and make money to pay the debts (article 5). The insolvency claims are to be brought before the court of first instance which issued the first judgment on the case or the court which issued the order of execution (article 13).
Insolvency and Installments
In the case of insolvency, the insolvent party has to pay his or her debts by installments, according to a plan devised by the court (article 11).
Seizure of the Properties
Let us get back to the Law on the Execution of the Civil Judgments. Article 49 of the law states that if the losing party refuse to execute the judgment and end up remiss under his or her duties under the order of execution, the prevailing party may request to seize his or her properties.
Immune Properties from Distraint
Some properties are considered to be necessary livelihood assets. It’s obvious the law will never seize your food or attire. An average house and workshop tools are always respected and execution office will never put hands on them. But detailed rules and the technical nuance differ dependent on the type of your claim, because under current legal system in Iran, there are four separate laws governing on the matter.
Article 523 of the Code of Civil Procedure, article 65 of the Law on the Execution of the Civil Judgments, article 24 of the Law on the manners of execution of the Financial Convictions and the article 61 of the regulation of the execution of the enforceable official documents, each provides a similar yet slightly different chart concerning the immunity status.
If you had any questions around the execution of civil judgments in Iran, just pick up the phone and get in touch with Iran Best Lawyer. never forget we are there for you 24/7.
