Effective Judicial Guarantee and Protection of Citizens' Political Rights (in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Iranian Legal System)

Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Department of Public and International Law, Faculty of Islamic Studies and Law, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Ph.D. Candidate in Public Law, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Citizens' political rights have been recognized in the legal system of the Islamic Republic of Iran requiring proper mechanisms within the legal system for their realization. The Iranian Constitution has a great deal of symmetry with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in terms of recognizing political rights. At the same time, Iran has ratified this Covenant without any reservation. Therefore, it is neither favorable nor fruitful for Iran to withdraw from the Covenant.
In the International Covenants, the issue of guarantees is addressed in three stages: respect, protection, and enforcement. In the interpretations regarding the guarantees issue, rendered by the UN Human Rights Council, the emphasis has been put on the judicial protection. for whose political rights have been violated to lodge a complaint with the competent authorities.
In the current judicial structure of the Islamic Republic of Iran, it seems that the judicial guarantee of citizens' political rights requires the creation of two structures. First, the establishment of a "National Human and Citizenship Rights Institution" that should preferably be suggested in the form of a judicial bill by the judiciary to the parliament (because safeguarding the public rights vested with the judiciary also includes citizenship rights). Second, the creation of specialized judicial bodies or branches in the judiciary to deal with complaints of violations of citizens' political rights. Such bodies may be established and operate either at the highest possible level or in the form of specialized civil rights prosecution office under the General Prosecutor's Office.

Keywords

Journal of Islamic Law Research
Volume 21, Issue 2 - Serial Number 52
September 2020
Pages 345-370

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‌ Timeline

  • Received: 17 August 2020
  • Revise: 27 September 2020
  • Accepted: 21 October 2020

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