A Critique of the Reasons and Interpretive Justifications of the Guardian Council Regarding the Exceptions to the Right of Inquiry and Investigation of the Islamic Consultative Assembly

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
fardin moradkhani 1
ebrahim sabighi valashani 2
maedeh saruni 2
1 Associate Prof in public law, Department of law, Faculty of humanities,Bu - Ali Sina university, Hamadan, Iran
2 MA. In Public Law. Department of law, Faculty of humanities,Bu - Ali Sina university, Hamadan, Iran
10.48315/qgl.2026.528904.1242
Abstract
The Islamic Consultative Assembly has two important functions: legislation and supervision. In the legislative dimension, the constitutional legislator in Article 71 has qualified the general legislative authority of the Islamic Consultative Assembly by inserting the phrase "within the limits prescribed in the Constitution." The supervisory dimension of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, one of the examples of which is the right of inquiry and investigation and is mentioned in Article 76 of the Constitution, has no restrictions and limitations and, according to the Internal Regulations of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, can be proposed merely upon the request of representatives. The Guardian Council, in its capacity as an interpreter of the Constitution and the compliance of the resolutions of the Islamic Consultative Assembly with the Constitution, since 1367 by issuing two interpretive opinions and two opinions on the non-conformity of the Assembly's resolutions with the Constitution, based on criticizable justifications, has excluded some cases such as the position of the Supreme Leader and the institutions under his supervision, the Assembly of Experts of the Supreme Leader, the Guardian Council, the Expediency Discernment Council, and ongoing cases of judicial authorities and matters of a judicial nature from the scope of this general supervisory authority of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. This research, using a descriptive-analytical method, seeks to examine the conceivable reasons and justifications of the Guardian Council that negate the feasibility of the Assembly's right of inquiry and investigation regarding the aforementioned cases. The finding of the present study is that the aforementioned interpretations and opinions, in addition to being inconsistent with other principles of the Constitution, also conflict with the explicit text (manṭūq) of Article 76 of the Constitution.
Keywords
Islamic Consultative Assembly
investigation
supervision
Guardian Council