Digital transformation and artificial intelligence integration in the iranian judicial system

This article examines the legal infrastructure and systemic prerequisites for AI integration within Iran’s judicial system. Using doctrinal and documentary analysis of binding instruments, it assesses institutional readiness across enabling capacities and governance safeguards. The analysis indicates that Iran has built a substantial enabling layer, and that registry-backed, rule-based automation is already operational in three legally consequential domains: heirs certification, financial enforcement under the Sayyad check system, and traffic bodily-injury compensation. In these domains, determinations that were historically produced through discretionary judicial steps are increasingly generated through interoperable registries and standardized workflows, grounded in pragmatic doctrinal accommodation and explicit statutory authorization. By contrast, the protective layer has not developed at the same pace, particularly regarding transparency, data-subject rights, and effective contestability. To address this asymmetry, the article proposes a Qualified Human-in-the-Loop (Q-HITL) framework under which system outputs function only as advisory proposals and can acquire legal effect solely through mandatory validation (or reasoned rejection) by a legally accountable judge.