Diya for Women and the Legal Policy of Iran: From Commitment to the Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence (fiqh) to Human Rights Standards

The obligation to compensate for the damages incurred on individuals is regarded as one of the most important principles of Fiqh and Law, and the bodily harms to women are included among compensable bodily damages. In case of harm, a financial compensation known as Diya is paid to the injured person, while in the pre-revolutionary laws of Iran, no reference was made to such financial compensations for damage.  But with the victory of Islamic revolution and adopting of the Constitutional Law, an appropriate ground was developed for the judicial system of Iran to be adapted with Islamic legal principles as well as with the Shi'a Twelver doctrine. With the enactment of the Diyat Law, the amount of Diya for women was reduced to half the amount of Diya for men, in some cases. Due to the perception that exist about Islam enjoying a perfect legal system and assigning a fundamental role to women as well as the international adverse publicity of the ongoing law, the Legislature proceeded to resolve the problem of inequity of Diya for women and men re-codifying the Islamic Penal Code, enacted 2013, in order to disregard the gender for damage compensation and to observe the international norms. The legislators introduced the law that the government has to pay the balance of inequity of Diya for women.