On 5 March 2022, Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs declared that sanctions against his country in response to the Ukraine invasion has created an obstacle in the Iran nuclear deal and warned that Russia's national interests must be taken into account in this case. In response, the US State Department stated that the new sanctions against Russia are not related to the JCPOA. Lavrov noted that Moscow is looking for a “very clear answer” that the sanctions would have no effect on Russia's trade-economic relations and investment in Iran, as stated in the JCPOA. The Russian Foreign Minister stressed that according to the JCPOA, Russia and China may assist Iran in its civilian nuclear program and in the framework of non-proliferation laws, and that sanctions (against Russia) will not interfere with these projects.
Lavrov emphasized that Russia needs to be reassured that the current process initiated by the United States does not interfere with their rights to conduct free economic trade and investment and technical-military cooperation with the Islamic Republic [Iran]”. The statements of the Russian Foreign Minister were made at a time when the negotiations of reviving JCPOA have reached the so-called “final” stages.
According to Iranian media, Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, has told the reporters that Tehran had agreed to submit the documents required by the International Atomic Energy Agency “by the end of June at the latest” in order to resolve disputes with the IAEA. Mr. Eslami expressed the hope that the process of Iran's cooperation with the IAEA would be “natural and far from politics”.
Recently, the First Deputy of the Judiciary announced the “Instructions for Organizing and Accelerating the Process of Issuing the Certificate of Exclusive Inheritance and Writing the Will” for the implementation of the plan and document of judicial development and strengthen electronic judicial services to the people.
Based on this Instruction, the Dispute Resolution Development Center, the Legal and Judicial Affairs Department of the Judiciary, the Statistics and Information Technology Center and the State Property and Deeds Registration Organization are obliged to make maximum use of electronic proceedings, eliminate unnecessary steps and modify the process of issuing a certificate of exclusive inheritance and writing a will.
Accordingly, the information registered in the Civil Registration Organization is used to establish the inheritance relationship. In case of information deficiency or lack of access and if obtaining a witness certificate is necessary to establish a hereditary relationship, setting up an electronic testimony is sufficient and valid; unless the judicial authority deems it necessary to hear the testimony.
The Instruction emphasizes that the Center for Statistics and Information Technology is required to provide a platform for the electronic authentication of judicial documents for all persons. Also, the necessary infrastructure for electronic inquiries of the deceased official will, shall be provided by the State Property and Deeds Registration Organization.
The Judiciary Statistics and Information Technology Center is tasked with minimizing the possibility of human error in judicial decisions by smartening, automating, and electronizing judicial processes, and by using artificial intelligence capabilities to modify related systems.
Iran unanimously became a member of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law. The General Assembly has elected 34 members to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). At the 61st plenary meeting of its 76th session on 15 March 2022, the General Assembly elected Afghanistan, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Czechia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Kuwait, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Panama, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United States and Venezuela as members of UNCITRAL for a six-year term beginning on 27 June 2022.
The UNCITRAL’s aim is to remove or reduce legal obstacles to the flow of international trade and progressively modernize and harmonize trade laws. It also seeks to coordinate the work of organizations active in this type of work and promote wider acceptance and use of the rules and legal texts it develops.
UNCITRAL membership is structured so as to be representative of different legal traditions and levels of economic development, and its procedures and working methods ensure that UNCITRAL texts are widely accepted as offering solutions appropriate to many countries at different stages of economic development.
Also, Iran had been a member in UNCITRAL in 2015. As a member state, it has been able to enact the Law on International Commercial Arbitration and the E-Commerce Law, based on the UNCITRAL Model Law. Obviously, Iran's membership can be useful in changing the country's trade laws and updating them, given the expansion of trade at the international level.
