NAMEH-YE-MOFID
Year:2001 | Volume:7 | Issue:2 (26) Law|Papers Count:11

In private international law there are two different solutions relating to personal status of individuals. In some countries, the accepted rule is that personal status of individuals are basically governed by their national law, while in others, the applicable law is the law of their domicile. Conflict of several national laws occurs in the courts of countries where the applicable law in matters of personal status is the national law of the individuals, just as conflict of nationalities, whose resolution is prior to the conflict of laws occurs in the same courts. The effect of nationality on marriage and vice versa also arises in countries where the personal status of individuals are governed by their national law. In this paper the causes and grounds of conflict among several national laws are examined and the solution for resolving the conflict is also proposed.

While huge investment in infrastructural plans is an urgent need for developing countries, they are not able to provide sufficient capital to fund these projects. One of the new ideas to solve this problem is to use build - operate - transfer (BOT) contracts. This method enables the private sector to participate in public, infrastructural projects without being the permanent owners thereof. The Iranian government has recently shown interest in using BOT contracts for the purpose of privatization, foreign investment attraction, access to advanced technology and technical skills, and benefiting from efficient management. As an example, paragraph 14(6) of the Economic Improvement Plan of the Islamic Republic of Iran, promulgated by the President last year, has emphasized the entry and attraction of foreign investment through BOT contracts.The paper attempts first to study the mechanism of such contracts and then to distinguish it from similar mechanisms while explaining BOT contracts characteristics in order to facilitate their application in infrastructural projects and in privatization, technology and know-how attraction and access to efficient management.

This paper examines briefly the rule of law in political and legal thoughts. Three approaches of ideologic, positivist and ethical, each on the basis of values determined by itself, define the rule of law. Whilst in the first approach the rule of law is an instrument for exploiting the well-off class as much as possible, the two other approaches share some positive and common features, though there are certain differences between the positivist and political and ethical approaches on the values underlying the rule of law.The paper aims at offering an outline of the rule of law and its characteristics.

The principle of the legality of crime and punishment (nullum crimen sine lege -nulla poena sine lege) is recognized in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. However, according to Principle 167 of the Constitution, the judge, when faced with lacunae in the law, is obliged to refer to Islamic sources or authoritative juristic opinions. The main question here is that considering Principle 36 and other relevant principles of the Constitution, whether Principle 167 extends to criminal cases or is limited to civil ones. Four opinions are proposed in this regard. According to the first, Principle 167 is only limited to civil cases, since Principle 36 is an exception to Principle 167. The second is that, Principle 167 extends to criminal cases, but covers only procedural and not substantive criminal laws. The third opinion holds that the principle is applicable to identifying criminal facts only and not criminalizing and laying down punishments. And according to the fourth opinion, Principle 167 applies to both civil and criminal proceeding and the judge may criminalize some acts. The paper examines these opinions in a critical manner.

Statutes of limitations in Islamic punishments (Hadd - Ta'zir) mean that after the lapse of a specified period subsequent to the commission of crime, criminal prosecution or issuance of sentence or its implementation would be barred. Statutes of limitations are recognized in most judicial systems of the world; in Iran they were applied prior to 1979 in all crimes pursuant to Articles 49 to 53 of the Criminal Code. But after the victory of the Islamic Revolution they were abrogated because of being considered contrary to the Islamic law (shariah). Due to some executive and judicial problems, however, they were again recognized in certain cases including those under Articles 173 to 175 of the Criminal Procedure Law of 1999.In Sunni jurisprudence, the discretionary punishments are subject to the lapse of time in God's rights and the public rights. But no such opinion exists in Shi'a jurisprudence. However, relying on the general principle thereof, we might argue for the adoption of the doctrine.The paper first exposes the famous opinions in different Islamic schools of jurisprudence relating to the statutes of limitations in both fixed and discretionary punishments and then studies the possibility of their adoption on the basis of Islamic perspective.

The relationship between the rights embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN subsequent human rights instruments, on the one hand, and the international labour standards framed by the International Labour Organization, on the other, is among the frequently examined issues. Of particular importance is the extent to which international labour standards make part of human rights as such, and the mutual impact of the two categories of rights in terms of norms and institutions. The author, while not believing in the subdivision of human rights into civil and political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights, does believe in the inextricable link between the above two categories and starts a fresh examination of the issue in the light of the threat posed by globalization process.

Studying the nature of natural laws is a central and basic investigation in philosophy of science which penetrates well into the boundaries of epistemology and metaphysics.One of the most but interesting subjects in this regard is the "uninstantiated laws". In this paper, after explaining two main viewpoints on the nature of natural lawa, the way they treat the problem of uninstantiated laws is reported and their shortcomings are laid bare.

The present writing has as its aim to examine semiotics from the Purse' viewpoint.Purse' semiotics is a multifaceted theory applicable in the fields of epistemology.Philosophy of mind, philosophy of language and metaphysics. For Purse, idea is itself a sign that becomes meaningful through interpretation by another idea or conception. Purse believes that each sign has a triple relation including the sign itself, its object and the interpretant. On this basis, Purse suggests three divisions of the sign which indicate his triple ontological system. He called the three categories firstness, secondness, and thirdness.