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Guardian Council
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The Guardian Council of the Constitution , or Guardian Council and also Council of Guardians is an appointed and constitutionally-mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Iranian constitution calls for the council to be composed of six Islamic jurists, "conscious of the present needs and the issues of the day to be selected" by the Supreme Leader of Iran, and six jurists, "specializing in different areas of law, to be elected by the Majlis from among the Muslim jurists nominated by the Head of the Judicial Power," (who, in turn, is also appointed by the supreme leader).
It is charged with interpreting the Constitution of Iran, supervising elections of, and approving of candidates to, the Assembly of Experts, the President and the Majlis (Parliament), and "ensuring ...
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Encyclopedia
The Guardian Council of the Constitution , or Guardian Council and also Council of Guardians is an appointed and constitutionally-mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Iranian constitution calls for the council to be composed of six Islamic jurists, "conscious of the present needs and the issues of the day to be selected" by the Supreme Leader of Iran, and six jurists, "specializing in different areas of law, to be elected by the Majlis from among the Muslim jurists nominated by the Head of the Judicial Power," (who, in turn, is also appointed by the supreme leader).
It is charged with interpreting the Constitution of Iran, supervising elections of, and approving of candidates to, the Assembly of Experts, the President and the Majlis (Parliament), and "ensuring ... the compatibility of the legislation passed by the Islamic Consultative Assembly [i.e. Majlis] ... with the criteria of Islam and the Constitution", i.e. deciding whether to veto laws passed by the parliament.
The Council has played a central role in keeping only one interpretation of Islamic values from influencing Iranian law, as it consistently disqualifies reform-minded candidates—including the most well-known candidates—from running for office and scraps laws passed by the popularly elected Majlis (parliament). When the 2009 Presidential election was announced, the popular former president, Mohammad Khatami, would not discuss his plans to run against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the Council may disqualify the Muslim cleric as it has other reformist candidates on the grounds that they were not dedicated enough to Islamic values. It has also increased the influence the Islamic Revolutionary Guard (an ideological fighting force separate from the Iranian army) has on the economic and cultural life of the country.
Legislative functions
The Guardian Council does not introduce bills. Bills are introduced in the Majlis; but any bill passed by the Majlis must be reviewed and approved by the Guardian Council, The Majlis has no legal status without the Guardian Council.
According to Article 96 of the constitution, the Guardian Council holds veto power over all legislation approved by the Majlis. It can nullify a law based on two accounts: being against Islamic laws, or being against the constitution. While all the members vote on the laws being compatible with the constitution, only the six clerics vote on them being compatible with Islam.
If any law is rejected, it will be passed back to the Majlis for correction. If the Majlis and the Council of Guardians cannot decide on a case, it is passed up to the Expediency Council for a decision.
The Guardian Council is uniquely involved in the legislative process. Chapter 6 of the Constitution explains its interworkings with the Islamic Consultative Assembly. Articles 91-97 all fall in the legislative Chapter 6.
Judicial authority
The Council of Guardians also functions similar to a constitutional court. The authority to interpret the constitution is vested in the Council; interpretative decisions require a three-quarters majority of the Council. However, it does not conduct a court hearing where opposing sides are argued.
Electoral authority
All candidates of parliamentary or presidential elections, as well as candidates for the Assembly of Experts, have to be qualified by the Guardian Council in order to run in the election. The Council is accorded "supervision of elections".
The guardian council interprets the term supervision in Article 99 as "approbation supervision" which implies the right for acceptance or rejection of elections legality and candidates competency. This interpretation is in contrast with the idea of "notification supervision" which does not imply the mentioned approval right. The "evidentiary supervision" , which requires evidences for acceptance or rejection of elections legality and candidates competency, is another interpretation of mentioned article.
Criticism of the Guardian Council
Increases the role of the army in everyday life
The Council had been instrumental in ensuring that the ideological Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (separate from the Iranian army), holds a commanding influence over the political, economic, and cultural life of Iran as it favors military candidates at the expense of reform candidates.
Arbitrarily disqualifies candidates from elections
Hadi Khamenei, the brother of Supreme Leader Ali Khameni and an important adviser in the administration of reformist former President Mohammad Khatami, said that the Guardian Council's vetting of candidates threatens Iranian democracy. He believes that some reformist candidates are wrongly kept from running. In 1998, the Guardian Council rejected Hadi Khamenei's candidacy for a seat in the Assembly of Experts for "insufficient theological qualifications."
After conservative candidates fared poorly in the 2000 parliamentary elections, the Council disqualified more than 3,600 reformist and independent candidates in the 2004 elections. In the 2008 parliamentary election, the Iranian Ministry of the Interior gave nebulous, arbitrary reasons for disqualifying the majority of the candidates, including narcotics addiction or involvement in drug-smuggling, connections to the shah's pre-revolutionary government, lack of belief in or insufficient practice of Islam, being "against" the Islamic Republic, or having connections to foreign intelligence services.
In the run-up to the December 2006 elections, all women candidates for the Assembly of Experts were disqualified.
Rule by unelected leaders
The Council is unelected, yet frequently vetoes bills by the popularly-elected legislature. In the 2008 parliamentary elections, one-third of the disqualified candidates were members of the outgoing parliament who had their credentials revoked, despite having been approved once by the Council. It repeatedly vetoes bills in favor of women’s rights, electoral reform, the prohibition of torture and ratification of international human rights treaties.
Members
Its members are composed of Islamic clerics and lawyers. Six members of the Council are clerics selected by the Supreme Leader, who serves as Iran's Head of State. The other six members are lawyers proposed by head of the judicial system of Iran (selected in turn by the Supreme Leader), and voted in by the Majlis. Members are selected for six years on a phased basis, so that half the membership changes every three years.
The Supreme Leader has the power to dismiss the religious members of the Guardian Council.
Chairman of the council:
Other cleric members are:
Other lawyer members are:
See also
- Criticism of the current electoral system
- History of political Islam in Iran
External links
- from Encyclopaedia Iranica
- 12 January 2004
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