The Guardian Council is one of the most important decision-making and supervisory bodies in Iran’s Islamic Establishment which has the veto power over legislation passed by the parliament (Majlis) in order to make sure that the bills in the parliament do not violate Islamic laws and the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Therefore, the Guardian Council, which is currently in its seventh edition, was created in order to guarantee that the legislations are Islamic, and to make sure that the Constitution and the sovereignty of the Vali Faqih are protected.
How members of the Council appointed
According to the Iranian constitution, the council is composed of six Islamic faqihs who are appointed by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, and six jurists nominated by the head of the Judiciary but are appointed by the Parliament. Also, the dismissal and acceptance of the resignation of the faqihs of the Guardian Council is with the Leader, and the acceptance of the resignation of the jurists is with the head of the judiciary and the speaker of the parliament.
Membership is for phased six-year terms: half the membership changes every three years.
Jurisprudence, justice, and “conscious of the present needs and the issues of the day” are the conditions that the Faqihs have to meet in the Guardian Council. The condition for choosing six jurists is to be a lawyer and a Muslim.
Council Structure
The Guardian Council has a secretariat and specialized administrative organizations and has a secretary, a deputy and a speaker who are elected for a year. The secretary and deputy must be members, but the speaker can be selected from outside the members of the council.
Guardian Council meetings are held two days a week. In some cases, extraordinary meetings are held if needed. The meetings of the Guardian Council are formalized with the participation of seven members, but in urgent cases or voting, nine members must be present. The meetings of the jurists of the council are recognized with the participation of four of them in the session.
Guardian Council Functions and Authorities
According to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Guardian Council has several functions and authorities, some of which are the responsibility of all members but some fall in authority of only the jurists. The functions of this council are:
1. Legislation Authority to determine the conformity of legislation with Sharia: All civil, criminal, financial, economic, cultural, military, political, etc. laws and regulations must be based on Islamic Sharia and it is the responsibility of the Guardian Council that controls the interpretation of Islamic values in Iranian law. Any bill passed by the Majlis must be reviewed and approved by the Guardian Council’s majority of jurists. In line with this responsibility of the Council, the “Jurisprudential Consultative Assembly” was established in 2001 to provide advisory opinions to the Guardian Council and help in examining jurisprudential issues.
2. Conformity of laws with the Constitution: it is the responsibility of the members of the Guardian Council to determine that legislation and bills passed by the Parliament do not contradict the Constitution. If the Council finds any bills of parliament are contrary to the Constitution, the bill will be returned to the parliament for revision and amendment, and if the Parliament disagrees with the bill, it will be sent to the Expediency Council. Anyway, it falls on the realm of the responsibility of the Guardian Council to decide whether the laws and regulations conform with the Sharia. Even monitoring the conformity of parliament’s legislations with Sharia is decided by the council.
3. Judicial Authority to Interpret the Constitution: The interpretation of the Constitution falls within the jurisdiction of the Guardian Council, and the interpretation of the Guardian Council is considered as valid as the original Constitution.
4. Electoral authority to supervise the Assembly of Experts, the Presidential, the parliamentary and the referendum: This supervision includes all stages of the election – from the stage of registration of candidates and verification of qualifications to its last stage.
5. Attending some ceremonies and councils
According to the constitution, members of the Guardian Council are required to attend some ceremonies and are also members of some councils. These are as follows:
5.1. Attending the presidential inauguration:
According to Article 121 of the Constitution, the presence of members of the Guardian Council at the inauguration ceremony of the President is required.
5.2. Attending the Parliament’s sessions:
According to Article 97 of the Constitution, in order to speed up the process of passing laws, members of the Guardian Council can join the parliament’s session when discussing a bill or a judicial motion. However, during the immediate approval of motions and bills, the members of the Guardian Council must appear in the parliament and give their viewpoints.
5.3. Attending the meeting of Constitution Revision Council
According to Article 177 of the Constitution, all members of the Guardian Council are members of the Constitutional Review Council.
5.4. Attending the meeting of the temporary leadership council
According to Article 111 of the Constitution, if the leader of Iran is temporarily unable to perform his duties due to illness etc., and also at the time of his death, resignation or dismissal of the Leader by the Assembly of Experts, until the introduction of the new Leader, a council consisting of the president, the head of the judiciary and one of the faqihs of the Guardian Council, selected by the Expediency Council, will perform all the functions of the Leader temporarily.
MNA
