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Special Communication: Biotechnology From the Perspective of Iranian Law

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Notes

  1. Due to increased environmental issues, most countries in the world charge a specified agency with responsibility for environmental protection. In Iran, this mission has been given to the Department of Environment (Abdollahi and Faryadi 2010). The Iranian Department of Environment is a governmental organization, under the supervision of the president, and is responsible for matters related to safeguarding the environment. The origins of the department can be traced back to the Hunting Club of Iran, established in 1956. Later, it developed into an organization overseeing hunting and fishing activities in the country. In 1971, the organization changed its name to its current one.

  2. Article 132: “a person cannot make use of this property in such a manner as necessarily to involve a neighbor in loss, except such use as is customary and is required in order to satisfy his needs or to avoid loss.”

  3. Article 44: “The economy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is to consist of three sectors: state, cooperative, and private, and is to be based on systematic and sound planning. The state sector is to include all large-scale and mother industries, foreign trade, major minerals, banking, insurance, power generation, dams and large-scale irrigation networks, radio and television, post, telegraph and telephone services, aviation, shipping, roads, railroads and the like; all these will be publicly owned and administered by the State. The cooperative sector is to include cooperative companies and enterprises concerned with production and distribution, in urban and rural areas, in accordance with Islamic criteria. The private sector consists of those activities concerned with agriculture, animal husbandry, industry, trade, and services that supplement the economic activities of the state and cooperative sectors. Ownership in each of these three sectors is protected by the laws of the Islamic Republic, in so far as this ownership is in conformity with the other articles of this chapter, does not go beyond the bounds of Islamic law, contributes to the economic growth and progress of the country, and does not harm society. The [precise] scope of each of these sectors, as well as the regulations and conditions governing their operation, will be specified by law.”

  4. Article 975: “The court cannot enforce foreign laws or private agreements which are contrary to public morals or which may be considered by virtue of injuring the feelings of society or for other reasons, as contrary to public order, notwithstanding the fact that the enforcement of such laws is permissible in principle.”

  5. Agenda 21 is a document made public at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit), held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, where 178 governments voted to adopt the program. The final text which can be found at http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/Agenda21.pdf, was the result of drafting, consultation, and negotiation that began in 1989 and culminated at the 2-week conference (see Robinson 1993; Sitarz 1993).

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Acknowledgments

My warmest thanks go to Leigh E. Rich for her support, suggestions, and valuable editorial help. Any remaining errors are mine.

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  1. Department of Law, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

    Hamid Reza Salehi

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  1. Hamid Reza Salehi
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Correspondence to Hamid Reza Salehi.

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Salehi, H.R. Special Communication: Biotechnology From the Perspective of Iranian Law. Bioethical Inquiry 11, 125–130 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-014-9527-2

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