Today, the timely, non-discriminatory, quality, and continuous access of citizens to public services is considered a hallmark of good governance. As the prominent French jurist Léon Duguit emphasized, the exercise of authority and power by statesmen is valid and legitimate only if it serves the provision of public services. Beyond that, the state has no legitimate standing or purpose. Services such as water, electricity, energy, telecommunications, and infrastructure are among the most prominent examples of public services that governments strive to provide.

Currently, the importance of citizens’ access to public services is so significant that one might argue it is a fundamental prerequisite for enjoying human rights. For instance, the right to life—considered the most basic and essential human right—requires access to primary public services such as municipal water and electricity. Accordingly, key human rights documents emphasize the state’s duties to protect the right to life by ensuring access to these services.

Article 25(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:
“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, medical care, and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age, or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”

Similarly, Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognizes the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living, including sufficient food, clothing, and housing, as well as continuous improvement in living conditions. It emphasizes international cooperation to achieve these objectives, such as:

• Improving production, conservation, and distribution of food by leveraging scientific and technical knowledge, promoting nutritional education, and developing or reforming agricultural systems for the effective use of natural resources.
• Ensuring equitable distribution of global food supplies according to needs, with attention to the challenges faced by food-exporting and food-importing countries.

In Iran’s legal system, at the highest level of the legal hierarchy, the constitution obligates the government to provide public services. Article 3, Clause 12 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran lists “the creation of welfare, poverty alleviation, and the elimination of all forms of deprivation in areas such as food, housing, employment, health, and insurance expansion” as state responsibilities. Additionally, Article 43 mandates the government to ensure the provision of basic needs—housing, food, clothing, health care, education, and family formation opportunities—for all citizens.

As evident, access to public services is a prerequisite for citizens to enjoy their human rights. Consequently, disruptions in or the undermining of access to public services pose a major and fundamental obstacle to realizing these rights. Furthermore, there is an inherent interdependence among public services, such that access to one service often relies on the availability of others. For example, interruptions in electricity supply can disrupt internet access, healthcare services, public education, and more.

This interconnected chain of public services means that if the state fails to deliver one service, other services will inevitably be affected. Since November 9, 2023 (19 Aban 1402 SH), when the government officially announced planned electricity outages and restrictions on this vital public service, citizens have faced significant disruptions in other areas. These include loss of access to fixed internet services, inoperable banking systems (such as POS devices), and the shutdown of production, educational, commercial, service, and healthcare centers tasked with delivering public services.

The government’s imposition of electricity restrictions on citizens represents a failure to fulfill its legal obligations. Excuses such as avoiding the use of mazut fuel or the imbalance between electricity production and consumption are feeble justifications, highlighting the inefficiency of the current governance system and the urgent need for fundamental reforms in national administration.