One of the most important and fundamental criteria for ensuring equal enjoyment of social rights and opportunities and eliminating discrimination is special and increased support for individuals who are deprived of certain physical and mental abilities. This disability makes it difficult, and in some cases impossible, for these individuals to have equal access to social rights and privileges. These individuals, whom we commonly refer to as disabled, are given special attention in international and domestic legal texts and efforts are constantly made to eliminate the inequalities imposed on this part of society as much as possible through the establishment of protective rules.

Some of the most important international documents in this field include the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (adopted on December 9, 1975 – General Assembly) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (adopted on December 13, 2006). The Iranian legislature has also ratified the aforementioned Convention through the Law on the Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (adopted on September 3, 2008) and has enacted independent protective laws, including the Law on the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (adopted on December 10, 2017). Specific executive bodies and administrative organizations have also been established to enforce laws and regulations in the field of disability rights and are responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. One of the most important of these organizations is the Welfare Organization, which was established on April 24, 1980, in accordance with the provisions of Articles 3, 21

Since any social and economic support for people with disabilities requires a suitable and proportional budget to achieve the goals of support set by the legislator, it has been stipulated in Article 30 of the Law on Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: “In order to clarify the financial resources allocated for the implementation of this law and support for persons with disabilities, the Organization for Planning and Budget of the country is obliged to create a separate budget line under the social welfare chapter proportional to the titles of the chapters of this law in the annual budget bills.” The provision in this article indicates that the legislator has sought to create a strong and non-removable budget guarantee for achieving the support goals set forth in this law by creating a separate and fixed budget line for people with disabilities. Since the adoption of this law, this budget line has been included in the annual budget bill submitted by the government to the parliament by the Organization for Planning and Budget of the country and has been implemented in accordance with this

Regardless of the negative economic effects of this action and the creation of numerous ambiguities in the exact allocation of the budget for the continuous fulfillment of legal obligations outlined in the Law on Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the removal of this budget line – which was predicted and included in the budget bill as a legal obligation of the Planning and Budget Organization – can be pursued and addressed by supervisory institutions, including the State Audit Organization, as a violation of the legislator’s ruling and refusal to enforce the law. Unfortunately, in the budget reconciliation committee of the parliament and later in the parliament’s session when reviewing the government’s budget bill, this significant flaw and error in the 1402 budget bill for the entire country was not corrected and the 1402 budget law was approved in its incomplete form and implemented. There is no doubt that if appropriate legal action is not taken against this deviation and violation of the law, and if this continues to happen in the next budget and becomes a wrong and

It is essential to mention that adherence to the allocated budget for the Welfare Organization of the country cannot serve as a valid document for neglecting the explicit legal obligation stated in Article 30 of the Law on Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This is because the legislator’s purpose of enacting Article 30 was to determine a separate and dedicated budget for persons with disabilities, independent from other individuals covered and supported by the Welfare Organization (including women, children, and the elderly in need of society’s support).