The Status of the Interest in Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Family Law of Iran

According to the explicit provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (CRC) and the Family Protection Act of 1391, the best interests of children's issue is the most significant subject. But personalization of interest or viewing laws and decisions without case by case assessment would lead to its destabilization. The child interest in CRC entails elements including communication with parents, attention to comments and views, identity, health, safety, education which should be examined in a case by case basis in order to achieve the highest child benefits. Therefore, the examination of these elements seems to be necessary even in the same subjects due to the difference in children's conditions that in most cases is conducted during judicial proceedings. In the present article, through as descriptive analytical method, it is attempted to notably decrease the ambiguities as to interest and determine its principal status by introducing and clarifying the elements of interests in the CRC and comparing them with Iran's laws relating to family. Iran's laws have explicitly introduced the family court and judges as the competent authorities for determination of best interests of the child. But CRC, while acknowledging the competent court element, considers the specialization in the children's affairs, having the adequate facilities and providing the expert opinion to the judges to be the necessary factors to achieve the best interests. Consequently, necessity of paying attention to and recognizing and prioritizing the elements of interest mentioned in the CRC will largely prevents the adoption of personal interpretations in the decisions related to children in Iranian courts and will provide the child with the highest levels of protection and care.