Nouraei & M. Mostafavi Law Offices – October 13,2024- Tehran- According to Article 18 of the Family Protection Law of 2013:” In jurisdictions where family counseling centers have been established, the family court may, if necessary, request the opinion of these centers on family matters and differences by specifying the subject of the dispute and setting a deadline for receiving the opinion.” Article 19 of the same law sets the mandate of the family centers as :”The family counseling centers while providing counseling services to the couples, implement the demands of the court within the stipulated time and try to make the couple reach conciliation in related cases.”
To evade the presence of the clients in the counseling centers in consensual divorce, the family lawyers had devised a manner that the Judiciary Power now blocks.
The Deputy First of the Judiciary, Mr. Hamzeh Khalili, in his circular letter No. 1000/14178/1000 dated 04/07/1403 (25 September 2024), has issued a significant order to the courts across the country:
“According to the report received, some lawyers about the consensual divorce file a petition on behalf of one of the spouses and then declare the couple’s consensus in the first court session so that the case will not be referred to counseling centers. Accordingly, due to the process of filing a divorce petition by one of the spouses (statement of a dispute) and their subsequent consensus, and in light of Article 18 of the Law showing the discretionary authority of the court to refer the disputes of the spouses to the counseling centers, some courts, in these cases, do not introduce the couples to the counseling centers. However, in light of Article 25 of the Family Protection Law approved by the Islamic Consultative Majlis (parliament) on 01/12/2013 (19 February 2013), which states, “if the couple is applying for a consensual divorce, the court must refer the matter to the family counseling centers.”, the issue is not subject to Article 18 of the mentioned law, and despite the consensus at any stage of the proceedings, the court is bound to refer the case to the counselling centers’’.
Now, despite the consensus for divorce, the obligation set in the aforesaid circular letter of the Judiciary alters the legal process, making the consenting spouses attend the counseling sessions in person.
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