An Analysis of Article 10 of the Constitution of the Islamic ‎Republic of Iran and the Application of its Standards to the ‎Laws Governing the Family

Family is regarded as the main cell of society. In order to facilitate, maintain and strengthen the family, the Iranian Constitution states standards, and ignoring these standards harms the family. The purpose of this article, which is done by descriptive-analytical method, is to the examine how the standards laid down in Article 10 of the Constitution, have been applied in upstream documents, policies declared by the Supreme Leader and the existing laws on family. The findings indicate that rules and factors discussed in Article 10 of the Constitution were all considered as a requirement in upstream documents, such as General Policies on the Family notified by the Supreme Leader in 2015, the Act on the Facilitation of Youth Marriage passed in 2006 by the parliament, the Civil Code and the Family Support Law passed in 3013, etc. However, high divorce rates, filing of lawsuits in family courts, including subsistence alimony, marriage portion, divorce and, most importantly, reduction in marriage rates, indicate defects due to the lack of full attention to General Policies and the incomplete implementation of existing laws in the country's judiciary and lack of supervision by those in charge. Moreover, it is suggested that an appropriate and clear pattern for families be presented.