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Draft:Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran

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The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: قانون اساسی جمهوری اسلامی ایران) is the set of laws and regulations of the Islamic Republic of Iran that determines the official structures, goals, ideals, and principles governing this system. The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran is a religious law blended with the teachings of Shi'ism and derived from the vote of the people. The blending of this law with Shi'ism has been considered its most important characteristic and difference from other constitutions.

The draft of the constitution was prepared by the Assembly of Experts for Constitution on Aban 24, 1358 SH (November 15, 1979) in fourteen chapters and 175 articles and was approved through a referendum by a majority vote on Azar 11 and 12 (December 2 and 3) of the same year. This constitution was revised in 1368 SH (1989) by the Council for the Revision of the Constitution and was approved by the people through a referendum on Mordad 6 (July 28) of the same year.

The Constitution of Iran consists of fourteen chapters and 177 articles, and in the first chapter, its foundations and general principles are mentioned. The Islamic Republic nature of the government, the system being based on Islamic and Shi'a beliefs, and the determination of the Wali al-Faqih as the leader of the society are among the principles and foundations of this constitution.

The text of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been translated into multiple languages, and books have also been written to explain and expound upon it.

Status

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been considered a religious law blended with the teachings of Shi'ism as well as a democratic law derived from the vote of the people.[1] The blending of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran with Shi'ism has been introduced as its most important difference from other constitutions.[2] This constitution is considered the most authoritative and main source of constitutional law and the most important source for understanding the Islamic Republic of Iran.[3] The Constitution of Iran contains the goals, ideals, principles, and values governing the Iranian system. It is said that the constitution is the foundation of the system and the national covenant of the people.[4] All the official structures of the Islamic Republic of Iran system are outlined in the constitution.[5] It is also said that the constitution is the criterion for other laws, and no law can be incompatible with it.[6]

In the preamble to the constitution, its mission is stated to be realizing the ideological grounds of the Islamic Revolution of Iran and creating the context and conditions for nurturing human beings with noble and universal values.[7] Furthermore, the constitution must provide the ground for the continuation of the revolution inside and outside of Iran and guarantee the rejection of any intellectual and social despotism and economic monopoly.[8]

In defining a constitution, it has been said to be a set of general rules and regulations that determine the form of government and the supreme organization of the three branches of the country, their relationship with one another, and the rights and freedoms of individuals vis-a-vis the state.[9] Other definitions of a constitution have also been offered.[10]

Background

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran was approved through a referendum with a majority vote on Azar 11 and 12, 1358 SH (December 2 and 3, 1979).[11] After the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, with the establishment of the Assembly of Experts for Constitution on Mordad 12, 1358 SH (August 3, 1979), its members finalized the drafting and final approval of the constitution in twelve chapters and 175 articles on Aban 24 (November 15) of the same year and delivered it to the Leader of the Revolution on Azar 4 (November 25). This constitution was put to a referendum on Azar 11 and 12, 1358 SH (December 2 and 3, 1979) by the order of Imam Khomeini[12] and was approved with the votes of 95% of the participants (75% of eligible voters).[13]

Three drafts of the constitution had been prepared. The first draft was prepared by the order of Imam Khomeini before the Islamic Revolution and during his residence in Neauphle-le-Château, by Hasan Habibi and his colleagues; but it was not welcomed by jurists.[14] The second draft was prepared by the Irshad Circle, which consisted of jurists such as Nasir Minachi, Nasir Katouzian, Hasan Habibi, and Muhammad Khamenei.[15] This draft, at the request of Imam Khomeini, was sent to Maraji' and scholars such as Sayyid Muhammad Rida Gulpaygani, and they raised objections and made corrections to it, and it was supposed to be put to a referendum after correction; but it faced opposition from some members of the Interim Government, such as Engineer Bazargan. Ultimately, with the formation of the Assembly of Experts for Constitution, its members prepared a draft and put it to a referendum, and that same one was approved.[16]

Article 12 of the draft constitution, which stated the official religion of the country as Shi'ism, faced opposition from a group of Sunnis in various forms, such as holding conferences and demonstrations.[17] It is said that these oppositions began before the official publication of the draft and continued after its approval.[18] In response to these oppositions, numerous letters and statements were sent by scholars and the people to the Imam and the officials drafting the constitution, demanding the official recognition of the Twelver Shi'a school of thought and the requirement that the president and prime minister be Shi'a.[19]

Revision of the Constitution

A decade after the approval of the constitution, for reasons such as the lack of clarity regarding the scope of the executive branch's authorities and the necessity of resolving disputes between the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Guardian Council,[20] Imam Khomeini, on Ordibehesht 4, 1368 SH (April 24, 1989), determined the members of the Council for the Revision of the Constitution and the scope of issues to be revised. On Mordad 6 (July 28) of the same year, the considered changes were put to a referendum concurrently with the presidential election and were approved by the people with a majority vote.[21]

Some of the items changed in this revision are as follows:

  • Removal of the condition of Marja'iyya for the position of Leadership
  • Increase in the authorities of the Leadership
  • Change of Wilayat al-Amr to Absolute Wilayat al-Amr (Wilayat al-Mutlaqa)
  • Increase in the authorities of the Guardian Council
  • Formation of the Expediency Discernment Council
  • Abolition of the position of Prime Minister
  • Change of the National Consultative Assembly to the Islamic Consultative Assembly.[22]


Persian Constitutional Revolution

Main article: Persian Constitution of 1906

The history of the constitution in Iran dates back to the Persian Constitutional Revolution. In 1285 SH (1324 AH / 1906 CE), the first parliament in the history of Iran was formed and began the work of drafting the constitution.[23] The members of the special commission for drafting the constitution were Mushir al-Dawla, Sani' al-Dawla, Mukhbir al-Saltana, and Mukhbir al-Mulk.[24] It is said that since these individuals were influenced by Western thoughts, they translated the major part of the constitution from the constitutions of European countries like France and Belgium and gave it an Islamic color.[25] The draft of the Constitutional Revolution's constitution was sent to the parliament; but it was not accepted. Therefore, the parliament members themselves set out to draft the constitution. The proposed draft of the Constitutional Revolution's constitution was raised in the parliament on Dhu l-Qa'da 11, 1324 AH and after some ups and downs, it was signed by the king of the time (Muzaffar al-Din Shah) on Dhu l-Qa'da 14, 1324 AH (Day 8, 1285 SH / December 30, 1906).[26]

The Constitutional Revolution's constitution consisted of five chapters and 51 articles;[27] but due to some of its shortcomings, a supplement to the constitution was prepared and signed by the king on Sha'ban 29, 1325 AH (Mehr 15, 1286 SH / October 8, 1907). The principle of supervision by first-rate Mujtahids was among the principles of the supplement to the constitution.[28]

Content and Structure

The Constitution of Iran consists of a preamble, fourteen chapters, and 177 articles[29] and its discussions are as follows:

  1. Stating the mutual rights and duties of the people and those in charge of affairs (the ruling body and the government);
  2. The type of government that is effective in securing these rights;
  3. The branches and forces that possess sovereignty;
  4. Controlling power and supervising the country's branches to prevent deviation.[30]

The titles of the fourteen chapters of the constitution are as follows: Template:Col

  1. General Principles
  2. The Official Language, Script, Calendar, and Flag of the Country
  3. The Rights of the Nation
  4. Economy and Financial Affairs
  5. The Right of National Sovereignty and the Powers Derived Therefrom
  6. The Legislative Power
  7. Councils
  8. The Leader or Leadership Council
  9. The Executive Power
  10. Foreign Policy
  11. The Judiciary Power
  12. Radio and Television
  13. Supreme National Security Council
  14. Revision of the Constitution.[31]

Principles and Foundations

It is said that the principles and foundations of the constitution are mentioned in its first to fifth chapters.[32] The general principles of the constitution are stated in fourteen articles in the first chapter of the constitution, some of the most important of which are as follows:

  1. The form of government of Iran is an Islamic Republic.
  2. The Islamic Republic is a system based on faith in monotheism, divine revelation, resurrection, divine justice, Imamate, and human dignity.
  3. All civil, penal, financial, economic, administrative, cultural, military, political, and other laws and regulations must be based on Islamic criteria.
  4. During the occultation of the Imam of the Time (a), the wilaya and leadership of the Ummah devolve upon the Wali al-Faqih.
  5. Enjoining the good and forbidding the evil is a universal and reciprocal duty that must be fulfilled by the people with respect to one another, by the government with respect to the people, and by the people with respect to the government.
  6. All laws, regulations, and programs must tend to facilitate the formation of a family, and to safeguard its sanctity and the stability of family relations.
  7. All Muslims form a single nation, and the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has the duty of formulating its general policies with a view to cultivating the friendship and unity of all Muslim peoples.
  8. The official religion of Iran is Islam and the Twelver Ja'fari Shi'a school, and this principle will remain eternally immutable. Other Islamic schools are to be accorded full respect and are free to perform their religious rites in accordance with their own jurisprudence.
  9. Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian Iranians are the only recognized religious minorities, who are free to perform their religious rites and ceremonies.
  10. The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and all Muslims are duty-bound to treat non-Muslims in conformity with ethical norms and the principles of Islamic justice and equity, and to respect their human rights.[33]

According to the constitution, the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic system is based on the Wilayat al-Faqih and the votes of the people[34] and the ruling branches of this system are: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The representatives of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the president are elected directly by the vote of the people, and the head of the judiciary branch is appointed by the Leadership.[35]

Bibliography

The text of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been translated and published in 30 living languages of the world by Al-Hoda International Publications.[36] Numerous books have also been written to explain and expound upon it, some of which are:

  • Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī-yi Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī-yi Īrān, Mahdī Naẓarpūr, Tehran, Payame Noor University, 1st ed., 1391 SH. A textbook of Payame Noor University produced and compiled by the University of Islamic Teachings.
  • Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī-yi Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī-yi Īrān, Muḥammad Riḍā Majīdī, Qom, Daftar-i Nashr-i Maʿārif, 1st ed., 1389 SH.
  • Mukhtaṣar-i ḥuqūq-i asāsī wa āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī-yi Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī-yi Īrān, Muḥsin Malak-Afḍalī Urdakānī, Qom, Daftar-i Nashr-i Maʿārif, 1st ed., 1391 SH.
  • Sharḥ-i qānūn-i asāsī, Muhammad Yazdi, Intishārāt-i Imām ʿAṣr (a), 1st ed., 1382 SH.
  • Nigāhī bi mabānī-yi taḥlīlī-yi niẓām-i Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī-yi Īrān: taʾammulātī dar fiqh-i siyāsī wa mabānī-yi fiqhī-yi qānūn-i asāsī-yi Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī-yi Īrān, Muḥammad Jawād Arasṭā, prepared by Baqir al-Olum University, Qom, Būstān-i Kitāb, 1st ed., 1389 SH.

Notes

  1. ↑ Naẓarpūr, Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī-yi Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī-yi Īrān, 1391 SH, pp. 9-10; Malak-Afḍalī Urdakānī, Mukhtaṣar-i ḥuqūq-i asāsī wa āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī, 1391 SH, pp. 27-28.
  2. ↑ Naẓarpūr, Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī-yi Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī-yi Īrān, 1391 SH, pp. 9-10.
  3. ↑ Naẓarpūr, Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī-yi Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī-yi Īrān, 1391 SH, introduction, p. 19.
  4. ↑ Naẓarpūr, Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī-yi Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī-yi Īrān, 1391 SH, introduction, p. 19.
  5. ↑ Naẓarpūr, Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī-yi Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī-yi Īrān, 1391 SH, introduction, p. 19.
  6. ↑ Naẓarpūr, Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī-yi Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī-yi Īrān, 1391 SH, introduction, pp. 19-20.
  7. ↑ Matn-i qānūn-i asāsī, 1388 SH, introduction, p. 18.
  8. ↑ Matn-i qānūn-i asāsī, 1388 SH, introduction, p. 18.
  9. ↑ Madanī, Ḥuqūq-i asāsī wa nahād-hā-yi siyāsī-yi Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī-yi Īrān, p. 27, quoted in Naẓarpūr, Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī-yi Īrān, 1391 SH, p. 5.
  10. ↑ For examples, see Naẓarpūr, Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī-yi Īrān, 1391 SH, pp. 5-6; Malak-Afḍalī Urdakānī, Mukhtaṣar-i ḥuqūq-i asāsī wa āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī, p. 23; Majīdī, Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī, 1389 SH, p. 17.
  11. ↑ Majīdī, Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī, 1389 SH, p. 38; Malak-Afḍalī Urdakānī, Mukhtaṣar-i ḥuqūq-i asāsī wa āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī, 1391 SH, p. 32.
  12. ↑ Malak-Afḍalī Urdakānī, Mukhtaṣar-i ḥuqūq-i asāsī wa āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī, 1391 SH, pp. 31-32.
  13. ↑ "Hama-pursī-yi qānūn-i asāsī-yi Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī", Imam Khomeini Portal.
  14. ↑ "Hama-pursī-yi qānūn-i asāsī-yi Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī", Imam Khomeini Portal.
  15. ↑ "Hama-pursī-yi qānūn-i asāsī-yi Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī", Imam Khomeini Portal.
  16. ↑ "Hama-pursī-yi qānūn-i asāsī-yi Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī", Imam Khomeini Portal.
  17. ↑ See Waraʿī, "Rasmiyyat-i madhhab-i Shīʿa dar qānūn-i asāsī-yi Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī-yi Īrān", pp. 42-44.
  18. ↑ Waraʿī, "Rasmiyyat-i madhhab-i Shīʿa dar qānūn-i asāsī-yi Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī-yi Īrān", p. 44.
  19. ↑ See Waraʿī, "Rasmiyyat-i madhhab-i Shīʿa dar qānūn-i asāsī-yi Jumhūrī-yi Islāmī-yi Īrān", pp. 45-48.
  20. ↑ Majīdī, Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī, 1389 SH, p. 40.
  21. ↑ "Ṣudūr-i ḥukm-i bāznigarī-yi qānūn-i asāsī az sū-yi Imām Khumaynī", Imam Khomeini Portal.
  22. ↑ "Ṣudūr-i ḥukm-i bāznigarī-yi qānūn-i asāsī az sū-yi Imām Khumaynī", Imam Khomeini Portal.
  23. ↑ Majīdī, Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī, 1389 SH, pp. 26-27.
  24. ↑ Majīdī, Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī, 1389 SH, p. 27.
  25. ↑ Majīdī, Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī, 1389 SH, p. 27.
  26. ↑ Majīdī, Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī, 1389 SH, pp. 27-28.
  27. ↑ Majīdī, Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī, 1389 SH, p. 28.
  28. ↑ Majīdī, Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī, 1389 SH, p. 28.
  29. ↑ Majīdī, Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī, 1389 SH, p. 42; Matn-i kāmil-i qānūn-i asāsī, 1388 SH, publisher's introduction, p. 10.
  30. ↑ Majīdī, Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī, 1389 SH, p. 18.
  31. ↑ Matn-i kāmil-i qānūn-i asāsī, 1388 SH, pp. 5-6.
  32. ↑ Naẓarpūr, Āshnāyī bā qānūn-i asāsī, 1391 SH, p. 25.
  33. ↑ Matn-i kāmil-i qānūn-i asāsī, 1388 SH, pp. 24-29.
  34. ↑ Matn-i kāmil-i qānūn-i asāsī, 1388 SH, publisher's introduction, p. 10.
  35. ↑ Matn-i kāmil-i qānūn-i asāsī, 1388 SH, publisher's introduction, p. 11.
  36. ↑ Matn-i kāmil-i qānūn-i asāsī, 1388 SH, publisher's introduction, p. 11.

References

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