A Study of Jurisprudential Principle of Rights of Children to be with Parents and Relatives with Emphasis on Imam Khomeini

Relationship between parents and children are among the most necessary needs of children to attain all-out growth, which are sometimes denied to them by their parents or relatives. The right of the children to be with parents are recognized by Iranian law in two provisions: custodianship and visit. Hence it is necessary to study the jurisprudential principles of these provisions. The most important principles are the laws of “no damage” and “no duress”. Hence, hence the present paper is an attempt to study the right of child to be with the parents and relatives on the basis of the said two rules.According to Imam Khomeini, the rule of “no damage” can be considered as a base for the right of the child to be with the parents and relatives only if it is taken as governmental prohibition. But, the problem is that he maintains that the rule of “no damages” applies only to the “rule of authority”, i.e. “people are in control of their properties” which is not related to the subject under study. Therefore, if we accept that the rule of “no damage” as a basis for all argumentations of the primary commandments or accept the applicability of the “rule of authority” to souls, then this problem is solved and this right is established for the children. As such, a judge as representative of the ruler will have the authority to issue verdict in the interests of the children with regard to custodianship and visiting their parents. The rule of “no duress” too has established this right for the children and Imam Khomeini too relies on this rule in his arguments.