Dr. Jalil Ghavanati: Developing Legal Theories While Preserving Jurisprudential Foundations

Zahra Fayzii from the Vice-Presidency for Research and Technology News Desk of the University of Tehran:

Dr. Jalil Ghavanati, Full Professor at the Faculty of Law, Farabi Campus of the University of Tehran, and a distinguished researcher of the university, considers private law and civil law among the fundamental fields of legal studies. He believes that many essential legal concepts, including ownership, contracts, obligations, liability, and guarantee, have developed within the framework of private law. In his view, an accurate understanding of these concepts plays an important role in strengthening legal analysis, reasoning, and legal inference.

He emphasizes the deep connection between Iranian private law and Imami jurisprudence, noting that a significant part of Iranian civil law regulations is rooted in jurisprudential discussions of transactions. In his view, the Iranian Civil Code is the result of interaction among the jurisprudential heritage, modern legal knowledge, and legislative experience. Therefore, the development of legal scholarship should preserve its jurisprudential foundations while benefiting from the achievements of comparative law. The experience of developed countries also demonstrates that fundamental research and theorizing in civil law and contracts have played a decisive role in the advancement of legal science.

Dr. Ghavanati identifies three main areas of his research activities: the theory of contract law, the theory of transfer of ownership, and the general theory of security interests. In the field of contract law, his objective is to develop a comprehensive theory compatible with the foundations of Iranian law and Imami jurisprudence. In the theory of transfer of ownership, the foundations of ownership transfer in Iranian law and Romano-Germanic legal systems are examined. In the general theory of security interests, the effort is to analyze various security and guarantee institutions within a coherent framework. He regards these three areas as interconnected components of a unified theoretical system in private law.

Among his major scholarly achievements are the two-volume book “Contract Law” and the book “General Theory of Security Interests.” The collaborative work “Contract Law” has been selected in several major academic events, including the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Book of the Year, Book of the Season, and the Seminary Book of the Year. The collaborative work “General Theory of Security Interests” was also recognized as commendable in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Book of the Year. These works reflect his efforts to expand theoretical foundations and organize the concepts of private law.

Another issue emphasized by Dr. Ghavanati is the necessity of connecting university research with practical social problems. He believes that legal scholarship should not be confined to theoretical discussions and the academic environment; rather, it should play an effective role in resolving legal disputes, analyzing judicial cases, drafting and interpreting laws, and improving judicial practice. In this regard, he has conducted specialized workshops for judges, lawyers, and legal experts, delivered academic lectures, and published applied research on judicial decisions.

In education, he also emphasizes that the responsibility of a university professor is not merely to transfer information and explain laws. Developing students’ critical thinking, analytical ability, academic independence, and reasoning skills is more important. For this purpose, he has used methods such as academic discussion, examination of real cases, analysis of judicial decisions, and comparison of jurisprudential and legal perspectives in his teaching. He also considers supervising university theses and dissertations an opportunity to train independent and capable researchers.

Alongside his teaching and research activities, Dr. Ghavanati has paid attention to expanding international academic connections. Through publishing Arabic-language articles in journals in different countries, including Iraq and Morocco, he has sought to develop scholarly interactions. He also identifies the study of the impacts of artificial intelligence on legal knowledge and the legal profession as a new area of his research, maintaining that developments in this technology in adjudication, liability, and legal decision-making require specialized examination.

Overall, Dr. Jalil Ghavanati considers the main objective of more than two decades of academic activity to be the systematic connection between Imami jurisprudence, Iranian law, and comparative studies. This approach seeks to preserve the authenticity of jurisprudential and legal foundations while creating opportunities for the development of new theories and responses to society’s real needs. From his perspective:

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