Criminal prosecution of abandoning alimony in Iran's judicial system

One of the Shariah and legal duties of the citizens is to pay alimony to the persons who are liable for it. If a person does not fulfill this obligation, the persons liable for alimony can claim their rights through filing a lawsuit, and the court will condemn the obligated person and oblige them to pay alimony. Since non-payment of alimony sometimes causesirretrievable harm to the family institution and the life of the alimonyobligors, not paying the alimony has been criminalized in Iran's judicial system for a long time, and the person who refuses can be prosecuted through a criminal lawsuit. Of course, this statement does not mean that a person who is obligated to pay alimony is subject to criminal prosecution and punishment simply because he does not pay alimony, but this category is contingent upon a number of conditions. Some of these conditions are specific to the wife, some are reserved for relatives, and some others are shared by all persons liable for the alimony. However, the qualities and details of some of these conditions have not been sufficiently examined and sometimes it has been debated among lawyers and resulted in the conflict of judicial opinions. Therefore, conducting the current research is one of the essential needs of the judicial system.In the current research, the authors have explained and described these conditions with a descriptive-analytical method.