Illegitimate Parentage and Its Civil Effects with an Approach Based on Imam Khomeini's Views

Despite the emphasis on marriage and the importance of civil effects resulting from illegitimate parentage, one cannot ignore the existence of a child born outside marriage and through sinful union of a man and a woman. Official and unofficial statistics in some countries show rapid increase in the number of illegitimate children. Therefore, it is necessary to study the parentage of children born out of adultery. The child born out of illegitimate sexual relation is called “bastard”, “adulterine”, and “natural child”, and its parentage will be “parentage resulting from adultery” or “illegitimate parentage”. In Iranian law, the rule stipulated in Article 1167 of Islamic Civil Code, says that a child born of adultery shall not belong to the adulterers. According to the surface meaning of this article, the legitimate parentage effects such as inheritance, natural guardianship, child custody and sustenance shall not be attributed to the illegitimate parentage, except the prohibition on marriage. This article has been stipulated based on the views of renowned Imamiyah jurists. In 1997, a precedent-setting verdict was passed at the General Board of the Supreme Court of Iran that made a drastic change in Iranian law, particularly in connection with the civil effects of parentage resulting from adultery. This verdict was issued by virtue of non-positive opinions of Imamiyah jurists and based on Imam Khomeini’s’ Fatwa (religious decree) on this issue. The judgment equalized the rights of legitimate and natural children except in the case of inheritance. This opinion rests upon lack of proof according to Sharia law truth on the concept of the child, and on the contrary, the truth of common law attesting that the child is born out of illegitimate sexual relation. The paper, developed in descriptive-analytical method, clarifies the theories and opinions on illegitimate parentage and its civil effects.