Legal Studies in Digital Age

Land grabbing, as one of the most significant crimes related to property and the illegal use of land, has created widespread problems in Iran’s road and urban development sector. This offense leads to disorder in land allocation, increased administrative corruption, environmental degradation, and disruption of urban and construction planning. Therefore, legislative criminal policy, as the main instrument for combating land grabbing, holds particular importance. Legislative criminal policy in this field encompasses the formulation of comprehensive laws, determination of deterrent punishments, establishment of supervisory mechanisms, and reform of judicial procedures. In Iran, although legal provisions exist to confront land grabbing, multiple challenges—including legal ambiguities, insufficient penalties, weaknesses in the implementation of justice, and deficiencies in property registration—have impeded the full realization of the policy’s goals. For effective prevention of land grabbing, in addition to legal reforms, the utilization of modern technologies such as digital cadastral systems and satellite imagery, enhanced coordination among responsible institutions, and strengthened public participation are essential. Moreover, addressing the social and cultural dimensions of this crime and raising public awareness play a key role in the success of criminal policies.

In this study, the author examines the concept of electronic sale within the legal frameworks of Iran and England. Electronic sale is one of the contemporary phenomena that has evolved as a result of technological advancement. Today, merchants engage in commerce through electronic communications. Since a healthy and dynamic economy is considered one of the hallmarks of a country’s progress and development, understanding the laws governing electronic sales in today’s world is of great significance. Moreover, if traders and their legal representatives are thoroughly familiar with the laws of their foreign trade partners, they will be in a better position to conclude valid contracts. The author explores the strengths and weaknesses of each of the legal systems of Iran and England in regard to electronic sale. The study points out that, under the Iranian legal system, the moment of dispatch of acceptance constitutes the moment of contract formation, while in the English legal system, it is the moment of receipt of acceptance that determines the formation of the contract. According to Iranian law, legitimacy is recognized under Clause 4 of Article 190 and Article 217 of the Civil Code. The principle of party autonomy is enshrined in Article 967 of the Iranian Civil Code, and the doctrine of the delayed application of the governing law in electronic sale is accepted. In contrast, under the English legal system, the law of the place of dispatch of acceptance is deemed the governing law for electronic sale. It is worth noting that England has acceded to the UNCITRAL Model Law. The UNCITRAL Model Law refers extensively to provisions related to electronic commerce in many of its articles. It is regarded as one of the most significant international instruments and has been adopted by many countries worldwide. Therefore, in this study, the author attempts, through a descriptive-analytical research method, to examine the legal provisions related to electronic sale.

Across the globe, discourse surrounding the internet consistently centers around a fundamental tension between two competing principles: the right to freedom of expression and free networking on the one hand, and the sovereign right of states to control public order and safeguard national interests on the other. This study, conducted using a descriptive-analytical method and library-based sources, investigates state-imposed restrictive interventions, with a particular focus on the current challenges facing the Islamic Republic of Iran. It was observed that the central issue in Iran's cyberspace—mirroring that of many other countries—is the conflict between internet sovereignty and network power (in a general sense) versus national sovereignty and authority. The findings of the study indicate that the state’s negative intervention through filtering tools has proven ineffective. Therefore, there is a critical need to redesign the relationship between the state’s sovereignty and citizens’ rights to access cyberspace. Redefining this relationship entails a dual approach encompassing both “governance with cyberspace” and “governance over cyberspace,” wherein a proper balance must be established between national sovereignty and internet sovereignty (arising from networked power). Accordingly, the redefinition of these relations should, in terms of purpose, aim to guarantee national independence and preserve the country’s sovereign integrity, and, structurally and operationally, be realized through the development and expansion of the National Information Network (NIN). The principal component in formulating a desirable policy framework for cyberspace governance in the Islamic Republic lies in preserving sovereignty through a redesigned relationship between the state and cyberspace, while simultaneously protecting the internet rights of citizens. This redesign, which serves as the cornerstone of the Islamic Republic’s cyberspace policy theory, must also be supported by additional elements, including appropriate tools and governance processes.

In today’s world, fundamental human rights play a vital role in the realm of contract law, to the extent that the content of contracts must conform to this category of rights. In this study, the author aims to clarify the necessity of the influence and penetration of fundamental rights in the domain of private law, especially in contracts between individuals. The objective is to emphasize that these rights are not only binding upon public authorities to safeguard citizens’ rights, but they are also mandatory for private contracting parties. This remains true even though, under the principle of freedom of contract, such parties are free to mutually agree upon contractual terms. Attention to the underlying values and principles of contracts—particularly the tension between the autonomy of contracting parties and the protection of the weaker party’s rights, as well as the promotion of distributive justice—is both significant and worthy of examination. More importantly, considering the discourse on fundamental rights, the freedom of contract, private relationships, and the jurisdiction of courts to intervene, it becomes essential to determine where, how, and when the judiciary intervenes to strike a balance between the protection of fundamental rights and respect for the autonomy of the parties. In other words, private contracts must not violate fundamental rights, whether in their core principles or subsidiary components. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of fundamental rights and their impact on contract law and the principle of freedom of contract, and consequently, to uphold the essential societal values recognized by laws and conventions. The paper also examines the position of contractual adjustment in private agreements based on this foundation.

The policy of decriminalization has been embraced within the Iranian criminal justice system, and it is assumed that under such circumstances, this policy should be uniformly reflected across criminal laws. However, in certain cases, contradictory and opposing approaches by the legislature can be observed. On one hand, the legislator aims to moderate punishments; on the other hand, a completely different orientation supports punitive and severity-based policies. Under such circumstances, the ordinary living space of citizens turns into a penalized environment, leading to the marginalization of justice-centered approaches and the dominance of security-driven and punitive tendencies in the realm of criminal law. Given the significance of this issue, the present article adopts a descriptive-analytical and library-based methodology to examine the contradiction between penal populism and decriminalization policies in Iran's criminal justice system. According to the conducted analysis, it can be stated that the new legislative period (beginning in 2013) may be referred to as a period of expanded decriminalization policies. Nevertheless, from a policy depth perspective, within both general and specific laws, signs of tension between penal populism and decriminalization—or a lack of confidence in the new regulatory frameworks—persist. Examples of this contradiction can be found in several statutes, including the Law on the Protection of Promoters of Virtue and Preventers of Vice (2015), the Plan for Intensifying the Fight Against Violent Crimes (2011), the Law on Combating the Financing of Terrorism (2015), the Law on the Punishment of Persons Involved in Unauthorized Audiovisual Activities (2007), and the Islamic Penal Code (2013). A notable manifestation of penal populism is particularly evident in the Islamic Penal Code (2013), which reveals a strong inclination toward the use of severe punishments. Therefore, it is imperative for the legislator to address and rectify the contradiction between penal populism and decriminalization by undertaking the necessary legal reforms aligned with the overarching national policy of adopting minimal penal intervention.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has introduced significant transformations in the field of law and judicial procedures. Intelligent legal systems, utilizing machine learning and natural language processing, can enhance both the speed and accuracy of judicial processes. However, the adoption of this technology presents legal challenges such as the protection of privacy, the risk of bias, and ambiguities in accountability. In recent years, researchers and policymakers have become increasingly aware of the potential disruptive effects of AI on court operations and judicial decision-making. Although AI systems are currently employed to a limited extent in courts, debates persist regarding the future of this technology in judicial decision-making. Designing an automated court or an AI judge requires consideration of societal expectations, as well as the necessary skills and resources. Fundamental principles such as fairness, impartiality, and efficiency must be integrated into the design of new judicial systems in order to maintain public trust. AI has the potential to expand access to justice, render judicial decisions based on logical evidence through data analysis, and prevent discriminatory outcomes. Additionally, this technology may enhance transparency and public trust while increasing the efficiency and accuracy of case adjudication. This article adopts a descriptive-analytical approach, relying on library-based sources, to explore the role of AI in the judicial process. It aims to elucidate the applications of AI within this domain and to identify both its strengths and weaknesses.

The rapid growth of emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, has brought concepts such as the "robot judge" from the realm of imagination into the domain of serious scientific and legal discourse. The idea of replacing or complementing human judges with robots—aimed at increasing the speed, accuracy, and impartiality of judicial proceedings—has attracted the attention of many legal systems around the world. Simultaneously, this transformation raises profound legal, ethical, and cultural challenges, especially in systems based on Islamic law and traditional judicial principles. In this context, examining the feasibility of implementing a robot judge within Iran’s judicial system—founded on the principles of fair trial, human dignity, and jurisprudential foundations—seems to be an inevitable necessity. The objective of this study is to analyze the legal, jurisprudential, and practical dimensions of incorporating a robot judge into the Iranian adjudicative process, while exploring the potential opportunities and threats posed by this technology. The central research question of the article is: "Given the legal framework, the requirements of fair trial, and the jurisprudential foundations present in Iran, to what extent is the realization of a robot judge feasible and justifiable?" The research method employed in this article is descriptive–analytical, utilizing library sources and a comparative review of the experiences of select countries in implementing artificial intelligence within their judicial systems. The findings of this study indicate that although AI-based tools used to assist judicial decision-making or predict judicial outcomes may be beneficial and justifiable in certain areas, the complete replacement of a human judge with a robot judge faces serious legal and jurisprudential barriers due to the necessity of exercising reason, fairness, ethical responsibility, and attention to human dignity. Under the current conditions of Iran’s judicial system, such replacement lacks full legal legitimacy.

The contribution of this paper is that it seeks to answer several legal challenges facing the intellectual property rights of products in which artificial intelligence plays a minimal or maximal role in their creation. First, if artificial intelligence can improve the underlying algorithm of the program with methods (such as machine learning methods, which will be discussed later) or if the programmer with the help of artificial intelligence can improve the underlying algorithm of the program, can artificial intelligence be granted a patent and does it include the rights of inventors? What challenges will not taking into account the role of artificial intelligence in the case of a role in the invention create? Then, it is examined whether the underlying algorithm of the program can be protected in the laws of developed countries according to copyright laws and what legal solutions, if possible, have been proposed in international law for this challenge so far? Results showed that supervised, semi-supervised, and reinforcement algorithms can be covered by copyright protection in legal systems if human creativity is observed in their algorithms and their choices completely change the model.