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The Guardian Council of the Constitution (Persian: شورای نگهبان قانون اساسی) is a high chamber within the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It has legislative, judicial, and electoral powers. The council has 12 members, six appointed by the supreme leader and six by the head of the judicial system.

Legislative functions

The Guardian Council does not start its own version of bills. Bills are started in the Majlis; however, all bills must be reviewed and approved by the Guardian Council . The Majlis has no legal status without the Guardian Council.

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 final decision.

The Guardian Council has similarity to an upper house in that it is the "house of review." But it differs widely from an upper house like the United States Senate. It does not have committees, no authority to "check and balance" the powers of other elements of the Government, the members are not elected, etc.

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. Its deliberations are chiefly confidential.

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" (Template:Lang-fa) 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" (Template:Lang-fa) which does not imply the mentioned approval right.

Vicious Circle

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A kind of vicious circle can be understood from Iranian constitution with respect to authorities of the Supreme Leader, the Assembly of Experts and the Guardian Council.

  • First according to article No. 111 of the constitution Whenever the Leader becomes incapable, recognized by Assembly of Experts, of fulfilling his constitutional duties he will be dismissed by them.
  • Second according to article No. 91 of the constitution the six cleric members of the Guardian Council are selected by the Supreme Leader and six jurists nominated by the Head of the Judicial Power and approved by Majlis.
  • Third According to article No. 110 of the constitution, one of duties and authorities of the Supreme Leader is appointment, dismissal, and resignation of the Head of the Judicial Power.
  • Fourth according to article No. 99 of the constitution the Guardian Council has the responsibility of supervising the elections of the Assembly of Experts, which based on this authority it issues a permission for the candidates to run for election or rejects them.

Therefore rejection by Guardian Council of the candidates from rival parties is possible in the campaign for the Assembly of Experts. This will cause the chairs for the Supreme Leader, the Guardian Council and the Assemply of Experts remain in the hands of specified party/parties. It is in violatation with principles of Political Equality between all citizens of a democratic country.

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 .

The current chairman of the council is Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, deputized by the lawyer Abbasali Kadkhodai. Other cleric members are Sadegh Larijani, Mohammad Reza Modarresi-Yazdi, Mohammad Momen, Gholamreza Rezvani, and Mohammad Yazdi. The other lawyer members are Mohammad Reza Alizadeh, Ebrahim Azizi, Gholamhossein Elham (spokesman), Mohsen Esmaili, and Abbas Ka'bi.

Here are the photographs of the 12 member of the Guardian Council as of September 2006:

Template:Tricameral legislature of Islamic Republic of Iran

References and notes

  1. http://www.irisn.com/
  2. Article 94 http://mellat.majlis.ir/archive/CONSTITUTION/ENGLISH.HTM
  3. Article 93 http://mellat.majlis.ir/archive/CONSTITUTION/ENGLISH.HTM
  4. Article 4 http://mellat.majlis.ir/archive/CONSTITUTION/ENGLISH.HTM
  5. Article 112 http://mellat.majlis.ir/archive/CONSTITUTION/ENGLISH.HTM
  6. Article 98 http://mellat.majlis.ir/archive/CONSTITUTION/ENGLISH.HTM
  7. Article 110 Clause 9 http://mellat.majlis.ir/archive/CONSTITUTION/ENGLISH.HTM
  8. Article 99 http://mellat.majlis.ir/archive/CONSTITUTION/ENGLISH.HTM
  9. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/iran_power/html/guardian_council.stm
  10. Article No.111 http://mellat.majlis.ir/archive/CONSTITUTION/ENGLISH.HTM
  11. Article No.91 http://mellat.majlis.ir/archive/CONSTITUTION/ENGLISH.HTM
  12. Article No.110 http://mellat.majlis.ir/archive/CONSTITUTION/ENGLISH.HTM
  13. Article No.99 http://mellat.majlis.ir/archive/CONSTITUTION/ENGLISH.HTM
  14. http://portal.irisn.com/aza/aza.htm
  15. Article 91 http://mellat.majlis.ir/archive/CONSTITUTION/ENGLISH.HTM
  16. http://www.iranjudiciary.org/home-en.html
  17. Article 91 http://mellat.majlis.ir/archive/CONSTITUTION/ENGLISH.HTM
  18. Article 110 http://mellat.majlis.ir/archive/CONSTITUTION/ENGLISH.HTM

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