Journal of Studies in Islamic Law & Jurisprudence

Journal of Studies in Islamic Law & Jurisprudence

Liability of a Person Authorized to Commit an Offense in Islamic Jurisprudence and Iranian Law

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 University Lecturer, Tehran, Iran.
2 Associate Professor of Islamic Jurisprudence and Law, University of Religions and Islamic Denominations, Tehran, Iran (Corresponding Author)
3 Professor of Islamic Jurisprudence and the Foundations of Law, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Nowadays, one of the practical issues in law concerns permission to dispose of property and the liability that becomes relevant for both the person granting permission and the person receiving it following such authorization. Despite the extensive body of scholarship on civil liability in Iranian law and Shi'a jurisprudence, the liability of an authorized person has received relatively little attention. This issue has generally been addressed only sporadically within the context of nominate contracts involving permission or in other related areas. Although members of society live alongside one another, each individual possesses property, a private life, and a sphere of privacy into which others are not ordinarily entitled to intrude. Nevertheless, despite having separate spheres of rights and interests, individuals remain dependent on one another. In order to benefit from one another's privately owned assets, transactions and legal arrangements have consequently developed within society, enabling individuals to benefit from each other's resources within an established legal order. In this regard, individuals serve and benefit from one another through contracts, unilateral legal acts, permissive acts, and authorized acts of disposition. The legal effect of permission, namely the removal of the prohibition and of civil and criminal liability from the authorized person, must not conflict with divine law insofar as such permission is issued within a legal system derived from Islamic law. This is because divine rulings take precedence over permission granted by a religiously observant person. If the permission granted or accepted conflicts with a divine ruling, such permission is merely formal and lacks legal and religious validity. Consequently, if the authorized person, relying on such permission, performs an act affecting another person's property, life, or reputation, he or she is not exempt from liability for that act and may even be subject to criminal punishment. Only where the permission is genuine and operates within the framework of the applicable Islamic legal ruling can the authorized person be exempt from liability.
Keywords

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