Penalty as a Sanction for Frivolous Lawsuit;‎ A Comparative Study in Iranian and American Law

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Private Law, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of International Trade Law and Intellectual Property Law and Cyberspace, Faculty of ‎Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Penalty [Fine] is one of the sanctions for frivolous lawsuits. Since this sanction is mentioned in the Note of Article 109 of the Civil Procedure Code briefly, there are several questions about it: First, can we imagine this sanction only after enacting the above code in 2000, or does this matter have a long history? Second, is the penalty imposed only on malicious lawsuits (frivolous lawsuits filed in bad faith), or like the American law, this sanction is applied in all bad faith lawsuits? Third, in contrast with American law, is the penalty imposed in the appellate procedure? Fourth, does imposing a penalty require a security for costs order, or is there no such requirement? Fifth, is it necessary to prove bad faith to impose a penalty, or is it sufficient to prove the absence of the plaintiff reasonable inquiry, as in American law? Sixth, unlike the approach of American law, what are the shortcomings of the court's limitation in determining the amount of the penalty? Answering these questions with a descriptive-analytical method and using library sources and judicial proceedings is the main goal of this article. In the end, while using the findings of the American Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the following result is obtained: 1. The penalty that entered the Iranian legal system in 1960 is only related to malicious lawsuits; 2. Its application is possible in the appellate procedure; 3. It is applied regardless of the security for costs order; 4. It is applied after finding the plaintiff bad faith; and 5. Its ineffectiveness is obvious in non-monetary and insolvency lawsuits.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Comparative Law Review
Volume 15, Issue 1
Espring & Summer
July 2024
Pages 45-67

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