News ID: 168

Date: 24 April 2022 - 21:54

Constitutional Council approves bill to facilitate issuance of business licenses

The spokesman of the Constitutional Council, also known as the Guardian Council, said that the vetting body has approved a bill aimed at facilitating the issuance of business permits in Iran.

“The bill to facilitate issuance of business licenses was reviewed during the Guardian Council’s weekly meeting,” Hadi Tahan-Nazif announced in a post on Sunday published  on his Twitter account.

He added that members of the top supervisory and legislative body did not find the bill in contradiction with the Islamic law and Constitution.

Tahan-Nazif went on to add that the legislation was approved after the parliament addressed the Council’s faults with it.

The Constitutional Council is one of the most important and powerful bodies within the Islamic Republic of Iran’s fabric of governance. The Council’s constitutional mandates include interpretation of the Constitution, supervision of elections (Art. 99 says: The Council has the responsibility of supervising the elections of the Assembly of Experts for Leadership, the President of the Republic, the Islamic Consultative Assembly, and the direct recourse to popular opinion and referenda) and the vetting of legislation passed by the country’s Parliament.

The Council is comprised of twelve members: Six Faqihs and six jurists. The Faqihs (Islamic jurists) are appointed by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, and the jurists are nominated by the head of the Judiciary Branch and confirmed by Parliament. According to Article 91 of the Constitution, the members are elected to serve for a period of six years.

Article 94 of the Constitution urges the Parliament to refer all its legislation to the Constitutional Council. The law watchdog body would have a maximum of ten days from its receipt to ensure its compliance with Islamic tenets as well as the Constitution. If a majority of the Council (both Faqihs and jurists) finds a piece of legislation at variance with the Constitution and the standards of Islamic law, then the Council may strike it down or return it with revisions to the parliament for reconsideration. Otherwise the legislation will be deemed enforceable.

To be specific, Iran’s Parliament and its legislation lack credibility without the constitutional court and its approval, and the Parliament does not hold any legal status if there is no Constitutional Council in existence, except for the purpose of approving the credentials of its members and the election of the jurists on the Council.