Judicial Supervision of Custom
Abstract
Custom and usage, as an important part of legal and Islamic jurisprudential sources, play a key role in regulating social relations and interpreting statutes. However, their legal status varies across legal systems, and this divergence affects judicial processes. In Iraq and Egypt, custom is recognized as a principal source following legislation, and courts refer to it in the absence of a statutory text. By contrast, in Iran, under the influence of Imami jurisprudence, custom is considered merely an instrument for explaining legal concepts and identifying factual instances. The aim of this study is to conduct a comparative analysis of the legal position of custom and the manner of judicial supervision over it in the three mentioned countries. The findings indicate that the precedence of custom over Sharia in Iraq and Egypt has led to legal conflicts, while Iran’s approach has prevented such inconsistencies.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Abbas Mezher Salhood (Author); Saeid Mansouri; Alireza Shamshiri (Author)
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