International Human Rights law

The intensification of armed conflict in Palestine during the years 2023 and 2024 by the Zionist regime have brought the solutions for the long-standing tension in the Palestinian territories into the focus of international attention. Therefore, in this regard, solutions such as the two-state solution and similar proposals have been presented by various governments and organizations. For nearly two decades, Iran has also proposed the "Palestinian Referendum Proposal" in pursuit of a legal-political resolution to the Palestinian issue. This article investigates the strengths and weaknesses of the “Referendum Proposal” from the perspective of international law, as well as the essential requirements that need to be observed to enhance its effectiveness. Therefore, strengths such as "the centrality of human rights and international law in this plan", "compliance with democratic principles and historical facts" and its “universal acceptability”, as well as weaknesses such as "lack of a comprehensive legal perspective, particularly in the field of humanitarian law", detrimental brevity and ignoring for political realities affecting the law, have been examined. Findings indicate that the actions of various countries against Israel in international courts and international legal organizations have turned Palestine into a target for legal convergence.

Protection of the children is one of the most important concerns in international human rights law. Child marriage is recognized as one of the forms of child abuse. The first step for elimination of child marriage is legal definition of the child. Lots of treaties have tried to determine the minimum age of a person before which he or she cannot marry. This article examines the criteria for recognizing an individual as a child and consequently child marriage in the international human rights system and domestic laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Treaties relating rights of the child do not clarify a specified minimum age for marriage except the Convention on the Rights of the Child in which a child is defined as a person below the age of 18. This criterion is based on an age-oriented approach and is aimed at homogenization of girls and boys. In contrast, in the law of Iran it is based on an interest-oriented one and it is relied on a multiple-criteria approach comprised of legal (physical or sexual) maturity, mental growth, religious maturity and guardian consent which has resulted in a more rational and defensible approach.

The return of Palestinian refugees to their ancestral lands remains a pressing human, political and legal issue in the third millennium. The present study aims at exploring the legal status of Palestinian refugees as well as investigating their right of return to their lands in an international law framework. In so doing, the role of nationality and the principle of genuine link between claimants of the right of return and the country of origin are examined. It is concluded that considering the historical context of the Palestinian territories, part of which is now called Israel and the other part is under the control of the Palestinian state, Palestinian refugees can pursue and demand their right of return. Obviously, neither the passage of time nor the refusal of the Israeli side undermines the existence and validity of their claim for the right of return. Library data and field studies are used in delineating concepts, analyzing theories and confirming research hypothesis in the study.