
Available in Russian
Author: Sergey Vyltsan
DOI: 10.21128/1812-7126-2016-1-106-120
Keywords: Islamic Republic of Iran; constitutionalism; separation of powers; religious norms; rights and freedoms of citizens
The image of the modern Islamic Republic of Iran in public consciousness is full of contrasts. On the one hand, there are photographs of cheerful and rather carefree-looking city women during the Shah’s rule, and on the other, massive crowds protesting against the monarchy. There are regularly held elections for president and members of parliament with results that are far from always being predictable, while there also is a theologian who has been head of state for more than 35 years. In this diverse range of contrasts, Iran is often perceived as a fundamentalist Muslim state where the word “republic” is only present in its name. However, eschewing emotional images, the author attempts to answer the seemingly obvious question of whether it is possible to speak of constitutionalism in relation to modern Iran. The answer will be significant for advancing a discussion about the possibility of “non-Western” constitutionalism and its characteristics. The author does not aim to create a detailed model of Iranian constitutionalism, if it indeed exists, but attempts to apply terminology inherent in the Western tradition of constitutionalism to the current state mechanism and legal system of the modern Islamic Republic of Iran to answer the question of whether Iranian constitutionalism is imitation or reality. The formation and functioning of the supreme bodies of state power in Iran are analyzed from the point of view of the principle of separation of powers. The institute of rights and freedoms of citizens in Iran is considered and the specifics of the influence of religious norms on this legal institution are shown. Using examples of the activities of state bodies and officials, it is shown that the state has an effective system of checks and balances. The author pays special attention to a state authority that has no analogues in world practice — the Expediency Discernment Council. Created to counteract the virtually unlimited religious control of the Guardian Council, the Expediency Discernment Council has for more than 30 years made decisions that allowed protection of the rights and freedoms of certain groups of Iranian citizens from restrictions dictated by blind adherence to religious norms. Based on this, the author considers the activities of the Expediency Discernment Council to be the embodiment of the specifics of the Iranian version of Muslim constitutionalism.
About the author: Sergey Vyltsan – Candidate of Sciences in Law, Research Fellow, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, State Academic University for the Humanities, Moscow, Russia .
Citation: Vyltsan S. (2024) Konstitutsionalizm v Islamskoy Respublike Iran: imitatsiya ili real'nost'? [Сonstitutionalism in the Islamic Republic of Iran: imitation or reality?]. Sravnitel'noe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie, vol.33, no.4, pp.145–166. (In Russian).
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