Dismissal of Actions (A Critique of Article 107 of the Civil Procedure Code with a Comparative Study of French Law)

The chapeau of Article 107 of the Iranian Civil Procedure Code states that the withdrawal and dismissal of actions “…shall be in the following order…”. Then, in three paragraphs, paragraph (A) mentions the withdrawal and dismissal of actions, paragraph (B) refers to the withdrawal and dismissal of actions before the end of the negotiations, and paragraph (c) provides the withdrawal of the claims after the end of the negotiations. In all three paragraphs, withdrawal of a petitions and claims are voluntary, and only in paragraph (C) (withdrawal of the claims after the end of the negotiations) the consent of the defendant is the precondition for dismissal. Even in this case, if the defendant does not consent, the plaintiff can resort to withdrawal and dismissal of actions. But the court should issue the writ of suit’s dismissal and the plaintiff no longer has the right to sue on the same matter. Therefore, according to this Article, the will of the plaintiff is effective in the withdrawal of a petition and claim and the will of the defendant or defendants has no effect. In addition, there is no mention of the court's obligation to rule on payment of the costs of the proceedings in the case of dismissal of actions. It is despite the fact that, undoubtedly, file a case and then the petition impose some costs on the defendant or defendants and the court has a duty to address it. Furthermore, four terms of petition, claim, termination of negotiations and dismissal of action are mentioned in this Article, but their meaning are not stated. This paper tries to discuss and critique this Article and compare it whit similar cases in French law.