In the Iranian legal and jurisprudential system, the family is an institution that, while possessing a private nature, also bears a public aspect due to its extensive social and moral implications. This dual character has justified state intervention in certain circumstances to safeguard public interests and protect vulnerable family members. The present study aims to identify the foundations, sources, and manifestations of state intervention in the family institution and to analyze the effectiveness of the Family Protection Act enacted in 2012. On a review of library resources and legal documents.

The findings indicate that state intervention under the Family Protection Act is manifested in three main areas: (1) procedural and registration requirements such as the registration of marriage and divorce and the presentation of medical certificates; (2) referral of family disputes to mechanisms of counseling, arbitration, and conciliation; and (3) provision of civil and criminal sanctions for cases such as failure to pay maintenance (non-maintenance) and non-registration of marriage or divorce. The study further reveals that, although these interventions are grounded in legal principles reflecting governmental will and considerations of public order and the prevention of rights violations, certain provisions (notably Articles 22, 25, and 27) suffer from ambiguities that may lead to an excessive expansion of governmental authority in family affairs.

In conclusion, while state intervention in the family is essential and unavoidable for the protection of social welfare and vulnerable parties, maintaining a proper balance between the private sphere and public interest requires the establishment of clearer and more transparent criteria delineating the scope of such intervention in future legislation.