Judgeships in Iran

Dr. Delaram Farzaneh is currently a Scholar in Residence at the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at the NYU School of Law. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Law in Iran. After coming to the United States, she received her first LL.M. (Master of Laws) in Comparative Law, and a second LL.M. and Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) in International Legal Studies.

Her groundbreaking book is the first comprehensive critique of Iran's gender-based discrimination against women from the various perspectives of domestic and comparative law, Islamic jurisprudence, and international human rights laws, within a historical context. The rights of women have gone through an undeniable evolution throughout Iran's long history as one of the world's oldest civilizations. Since the beginning of the 20th century alone, Iran has gone through three dramatic changes in the structure of its government, each with a direct and powerful impact on the legal and social status of women.

Dr. Farzaneh relates the historical struggle of Iranian women against persistent social taboos and legal hurdles to acquire the most fundamental legal rights, beginning with ancient times through the Qājār and the Pahlavī Monarchy. She also analyzes the dramatic setbacks to women's rights after the 1979 Islamic Revolution that resulted in the re-imposition of discrimination against women on the ground of their "sex" throughout the entire Iranian legal system.

Finally, Dr. Farzaneh presents a compelling analysis of the ban on women from judgeships in Iran. She explores how this ban is in violation of Iran's legal obligations under international human rights laws. She argues that the intentional banning of women from judgeships exemplifies the pervasive systematic discrimination against women in Iran, not just in equal participation in decision-making positions, but in all spheres of their lives.