“در این تصویر، یک گل سرخ در حال باز شدن را می‌بینید”

“In this image, you can see a red flower in the process of blooming.”
Osman Mozin

As the vast and unlimited powers always lead to corruption, every person in a position of authority must be accountable for their powers and the concentration of powers in the hands of the king without accountability caused dissatisfaction among the people. Therefore, legal scholars attempted to “separate powers” in order to divide the power of the king among several branches and mostly divided the powers of the country into three branches.

Regardless of the existing differences between types of divisions and the fact that some legal scholars believe that the judiciary should not be considered as an independent power and should be included as part of the executive branch, in most societies there are now three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. This is also the case in our country, where the existence of three branches is foreseen in the constitution.

The legislative power, which is the symbol of expression and actions of the will of the general public, through drafting and approving laws in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, approves appropriate laws and the executive power, which is composed of the President and his cabinet, enforces the approved laws. However, the position of the judiciary among the three branches of power is solely to judge and establish justice in society; in a way that in case of committing a crime by individuals, according to the same laws approved by the legislative power, the criminals are punished and in case of disputes among people, the same laws are used to resolve their conflicts and the judiciary judges and arbitrates in their disputes.

Based on this, the judiciary does not have and does not have the authority to legislate, and only in some cases, within the framework of issuing opinions and in the context of unity of action, it has limited power to formulate laws. However, judges have judicial powers in the way of applying and enforcing the law, and that authority can interpret laws according to their own interpretations.

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Article 156 of the Iranian Constitution states the role and responsibilities of the judiciary as follows: “The judiciary is an independent power that supports individual and social rights and is responsible for ensuring justice and fulfilling the following duties:”

1. Handling and issuing rulings regarding complaints, offenses, grievances, settling disputes, resolving conflicts, and taking necessary actions in that section of affairs according to the specified law.

2. Revival of public rights and expansion of justice and legitimate freedoms.

3. Monitoring the proper implementation of laws.

4. Discovery of crime, pursuit of punishment and retribution of criminals, and enforcement of the prescribed limits and regulations of Islamic penal law.

5. Appropriate measures to prevent crime and rehabilitate criminals.

The Constitution, while emphasizing that the head of the judiciary is the highest authority of this branch, outlines the powers of the head of this branch in Article 158 as follows:

1. Establishing the necessary structures in the judiciary in accordance with the responsibilities of Article 156.

2. Preparing legal regulations in accordance with the Islamic Republic.

3. The use of fair and worthy judges, their removal and appointment, changing their place of duty, determining their occupations, and promoting them, and similar matters are according to the law.

The authority and responsibilities of this branch are of special importance, as it must support the individual and social rights of the people and bring justice to society. Achieving justice in society is not an easy task, and the most important condition and prerequisite for it is the “independence of the judiciary” and preventing dependence on other powers or factions in the country. The independence of the judiciary should not only be sought in the absence of dependence on political factions in the country, but it should also be examined in the context of complaints and demands for rights from the government. This is because being independent means being free from the rule and powers of the government, in order to support the individual and social rights of the people.

Justice in society is only meaningful when the fundamental power of freedom of speech and criticism is recognized and, in the event of criticism of the government, the country’s authorities, or officials, it should not be seen as taking sides with the government or the authorities or the official who is being criticized. According to the constitution, this power must support individual and social rights and none of the principles from 156 to 174 of the constitution state that this power must support the government. This is because the government powers are essentially responsible for carrying out legal duties on behalf of the people and do not need support from the judicial power. The emergence of the judicial power in a country as a means of supporting the government and officials is contradictory to the independence of that power.

The involvement of the judiciary in disputes and conflicts between institutions, officials, and political factions will be a major obstacle for that authority and will lead to neglecting its legal duties in protecting individual and social rights. In a society where the right to perform legal duties is defined for institutions and government officials, the people, as the grantors of these rights, have the power to monitor the performance of these duties or file complaints against these institutions and officials. In case of criticism, they must always support the protection of individual and social rights as the main principle of the decisions made by the judiciary.

The support of the judiciary for legal institutions and authorities has no legal validity; because they can support themselves with their own resources and the power to support these institutions has not been delegated to the judiciary.

There is no doubt that this authority must only “judge” and “adjudicate” with fairness and impartiality, and involvement in political affairs or interference in the social politics is not within the boundaries of its powers and jurisdiction. This does not mean that politics is a contaminated or undesirable field; on the contrary, it is important because it is related to the management of society. However, it should not be forgotten that in the realm of politics, the interests of the ruling political group are always given priority, and the involvement of the judicial authority in this realm will lead to favoring one group’s interests over another. Whereas, the judicial authority should treat all political groups equally. Political activities and interference in the country’s political affairs are in clear contradiction with individual and social rights, and will result in neglecting the realization of justice, which is the most important duty of this authority.

The existence of numerous and severe regulations against critics of administrative institutions and government officials indicates the lack of attention from the judiciary in supporting individual and social rights, which undoubtedly the return of that power to its authorities and duties outlined in the constitution should be desired by the people and the officials of that power.