The Legal System Governing Civil Liability and the Settlement of Disputes Arising out of Nuclear Damages in the Light of International Conventions

How energy is supplied according to consumption and demand is a crucial issue in the contemporary world. Fossil fuels have limited resources globally and are gradually running out, so countries are looking for an alternative energy. Despite the benefits of nuclear activities, we may often experience internal and international damages resulted from such activities. Injury to the victims of the accidents raises the issue of identifying the legal system governing civil liability and the settlement of disputes over claims of nuclear damages, which is the subject of the present study. The findings of the study suggest that the two main civil liability conventions of Paris and Vienna hold the operator of the nuclear facility liable for damages, and in terms of jurisdiction, in the first place, these two conventions hold the jurisdiction for the court at the place where the incident took place, and sometimes hold the jurisdiction for the court at the place of nuclear facilities, and also in terms of legal jurisdiction, according to the provisions of the convention, the laws of the competent court hold the jurisdiction for the national law of the place of the nuclear facilities. In a review of domestic law, it should be noted that Iran has no substantive law in the field of nuclear civil liability and has not acceded to any of the international conventions on civil liability. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the provisions of international conventions in an analytical and descriptive manner in order to enact law in the field of civil liability for compensation of nuclear damage or to accede to international conventions, taking into account the existing judicial policy in this field.