Transformations of Transactions Intended to Evade Debt in Iranian Law, Islamic Jurisprudence, and Egyptian Law

Abstract

Despite significant developments in the context of transactions motivated by debt evasion in law and civil codes (specifically Article 218 of the former Civil Code amended in 1991), challenges regarding the legal status of such transactions remain unresolved. Not only has the volume of such transactions not decreased, but ambiguities surrounding these transactions have also increased. Furthermore, theoretical perspectives from Islamic jurists have largely neglected these transactions, except in a few cases such as conditions and rulings of transactions. This study aims to examine the transformations of transactions intended to evade debt in Iranian law, Islamic jurisprudence, and Egyptian law. Employing a descriptive-analytical methodology and utilizing documentary library resources, the study interprets and analyzes these transformations in Iran and compares them with Egyptian law, focusing on the enforcement mechanisms for such transactions. The findings indicate that, despite repeated amendments to Article 218 of the former Civil Code (1991), the mechanisms proposed to resolve the current challenges of debt-evasion transactions have so far been ineffective. Therefore, adopting provisions from Egypt’s modern civil laws and integrating them with Iranian transactional laws could yield significant advancements in the legal status of transactions. Additionally, the comparative analysis reveals that Egypt's Civil Code is considered more advanced and progressive than Iran's civil laws. Moreover, the introduction of Article 21 of the Law on the Execution of Financial Judgments (enacted in 2015) with its novel and distinct enforcement guarantees (non-referable) reflects clear and historically Western foundations. Paying attention to these elements could contribute effectively to achieving the research objectives and strategies.