The Journal of Critical Analysis of Judicial Decisions

The Journal of Critical Analysis of Judicial Decisions

Analysis of the nature of non-interest in Iranian legal practice with a comparative study in French law

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Samira Harati Ghavi
Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Faculty of Humanities, Islamic Azad University, Malard Branch, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/analysis.2026.2080025.1162
Abstract
The concept of loss of profit (loss of expected gains) in Iranian and French lawparticularly within the realm of civil liabilityremains one of the subjects that, despite its extensive application in litigation, continues to face theoretical ambiguities and inconsistencies in judicial practice. In Iranian law, the understanding of loss of profit fluctuates between two contrasting approaches: one that rejects compensation due to the absence of actual materialization of the benefit, and another that, by recognizing the possibility of realizing the benefit, considers it compensable when the benefit is capable of being obtained and the causal link to the harmful act is established. Analysis of the scholarly articles indicates that courts have predominantly emphasized the criterion of certainty of the benefit, thereby drawing a sharp distinction between possible and probable profits. Moreover, the traditional jurisprudential (fiqhbased) perception of lost benefits has significantly influenced judicial reasoning, leading courts to adopt a cautious stance toward awarding such damages. In French law, the distinction between loss of profit and loss of chance forms the central axis of identifying the type of damage. French courts, relying on an assessment of the probability of realizing the benefit, hold that such damage is compensable only when the lost benefit possessed a reasonable and strong likelihood of being realized. In this system, the criteria for evaluating the causal link play a critical role in distinguishing between actual and hypothetical losses, thereby creating a more coherent framework for damage assessment. A comparative study shows that although both systems accept the principle of full compensation, differences in conceptual boundaries, the level of strictness in proof, and the role of judicial precedent in developing evaluative criteria have led the Iranian systemowing to its greater reliance on fiqhbased foundations and judicial cautionto adopt a more restrictive approach toward recognizing loss of profit. By analyzing a specific judicial decision in Iranian law, this article elucidates these differences and offers a structured framework for more accurate evaluation of loss of profit claims.
Keywords
Lack of benefit
Iranian judicial practice
French judicial practice
compensation
possible benefits
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