In 1979 the secular, westernizing Pahlavi Dynasty was overthrown and replaced by an Islamic Republic under the rule of Ayatollah Khomeini.[8] While the revolution did not dismantle the Pahlavi judiciary in its entirety, it replaced secular-trained jurists "with seminary-educated ones, and codified more features of the sharia into state laws—especially the Law of Retribution."[2] Women judges were also removed[9] (although they could still be lawyers, or after 1997, secondary judges in civil cases).