Research and development in private law

Research and development in private law

Feasibility of choosing the applicable law to contract between Iranian nationals abroad

Document Type : Original Article

Author
farzad karamikolmoti
Assistant Professor, Department of Law and Political Sciences, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran.
10.22034/jpl.2025.2053409.1192
Abstract
According to the appearance of Article 968 of the Civil Code, Iranian nationals do not have the possibility to choose the applicable law to their contract. However, by going beyond the appearance of the law, it can be assumed that the scope of Article 968 is specific to domestic contracts. The logical conclusion and correct interpretation of Articles 5 and 968 is that firstly Article 5 contains the principle of locality of laws in international relations. Therefore, in the position of resolving the conflict of laws, wherever there is doubt about the application of Iranian or foreign law, the principle is the application of Iranian law to residents of Iran. Secondly Iranian laws are generally implemented within the political borders of the country and govern all persons and property within it. Thirdly laws related to public policy are implemented for all residents of Iran and prevent the implementation of foreign law (like laws related to personal status and property located in Iran). Therefore, the Iranian conflict resolution rule subject to Article 968, based on Article 5 of the Civil Code, only governs contracts concluded in Iran and has a specialized exception for contracts concluded outside Iran. The result is that the determination of the applicable law to a contract between Iranian nationals outside is subject to the laws of the country where the contract was concluded or is to be performed or is most closely related to the contract. The possibility of choosing the applicable law to contract by Iranian nationals and the limits of that choice depend on the law of that country.
Keywords
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Industrial Property Protection Act
Subjects
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