Journal of Legal Research

Journal of Legal Research

The Right to Family Life in Iranian Prisons and Penal Institutions: An International Human Rights Law Perspective

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Saman Shafiei
Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Faculty of Humanities, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
10.48300/jlr.2024.476048.2740
Abstract
The right to family life, as a fundamental human right, has been enshrined in numerous international human rights instruments and treaties, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Within the prison environment, where certain rights are inevitably affected by the restrictions and exigencies arising from deprivation of liberty, the principle that prisoners retain all human rights except those necessarily limited by the fact of incarceration itself requires that the right to family life be respected and safeguarded to the greatest extent reconcilable with the nature and conditions of detention. This study, drawing on library resources, seeks to examine the human rights standards governing the right to family life through an analysis of international human rights instruments and the jurisprudence developed in numerous decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. The study further addresses the question of the extent to which Iranian domestic laws and regulations align and comply with international human rights standards in this regard. An examination of the judicial structure, applicable laws and regulations, and prevailing practices within the Iranian penal system indicates that the principal requirements and considerations embodied in international human rights instruments concerning the right to family life have, to a considerable extent, been taken into account. Nevertheless, certain measures require substantive reconsideration, particularly the use of deprivation of family visitation as a disciplinary sanction under Article 524 of the Iranian Code of Criminal Procedure and, subsequently, under the Executive Regulations of the Prisons Organization.
Keywords
Right to Family Life
Prison Visitation
Conjugal Visit
Child Residing with Incarcerated Parent
Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners
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Journal of Legal Research
Volume 25, Issue 65
Spring 2026
Pages 99-129