Internal Statute of the Guardian Council

Internal Statute of the Guardian Council

Legislation approved by the Guardian Council in 1379 (2000)

Section 1: General Laws
Article 1
The obligations and authorities outlined in Articles 91 through 99, other articles of the Constitution, and other laws that have been assigned for the Guardian Council will be implemented according to this statute.
Article 2
All statutes and directives relating to the obligations and authorities of the Council have received the Guardian Council's approval.
Article 3
The Guardian Council possesses an Administrative Institute. The Chairman made a proposal stipulating its obligations, authorities, and organizational blueprint, and the Guardian Council approved his proposal. In implementing future reforms and changes to the Institute, the Council will use this same procedure.
Section 2: Members of the Guardian Council
Article 4
Each Guardian Council session lasts six years, beginning on 26 Tir 1359 [17 July 1980], and Guardian Council members have six-year terms, beginning on 26 Tir 1359 [17 July 1980] or on 26 Tir 1362 [17 July 1983], according to Article 92 of the Constitution.
Article 5
Any time that a member passes away, resigns, and/or is removed during the course of a term, the replacement member will remain in office for only the remainder of the term.
Article 6
Forty days before the end of the term of members whose memberships are about to expire, the Chairman will write an official letter to the Supreme Leader in the case of clerical Council members, or to the Chief of Judiciary in the case of Council members who are attorneys, announcing the expiration.
Article 7
The resignation of members of the Council must be declared in writing to the Chairman of the Council. The Chairman will read the resignation letter at the first possible Council meeting. If the member does not withdraw their resignation within one week of its reading, the resignation letter of jurisprudential members will be declared to the Supreme Leader and the resignation letter of members who are attorneys will be declared to the Chief of Judiciary and Speaker of Majles.
Article 8
At the end of each term, a report of the activities of each of the members and the quality of their participation, regarding absences, tardiness, and days off during main meetings of the Guardian Council and the Majles, and the Commissions of each, is presented in the presence of the Supreme Leader and Chief of Judiciary. The members themselves are informed of the contents of the report beforehand.
Once every six months, the report of the activities of the members and their absences, delayed entrances, and times they have exited Council meetings prematurely is brought to the Guardian Council.
Section 3: Meetings and Obligations of the Guardian Council
Article 9
The Guardian Council will have both regular and extraordinary meetings.
Article 10
Regular meetings of the Council will occur two days of the week (Wednesday morning and afternoon and Thursday morning).
Article 11
The Chair of the Guardian Council, with the approval of the members, will specify a number of meetings in addition to Wednesday and Thursday meetings for the addressing of election results, budget laws, and similar issues.
Article 12
Extraordinary meetings will occur as necessary, based on the specifications and decision-making of the Chairman and/or a request by three members of the Council.
Article 13
Meetings of the Guardian Council require seven members present to be official, but taking a vote requires the presence of at least nine members, except for subjects that require a vote and/or establishing a quorum.
Article 14
Meetings of the jurisprudents of the Guardian Council require the presence of four people to be official, but taking a vote requires the presence of at least five members, except for subjects that require a vote and/or establishing a quorum.
Article 15
Meetings of the Guardian Council that call for re-interpreting the Constitution require the presence of at least nine members to be official, but taking a vote requires the presence of all members, except in the case of establishing a quorum.
Article 16
Meetings will begin with the recitation of Ayahs from the Qur’an, and afterwards members can spend at most 10 minutes giving their opinions on important issues from the previous day's agenda.
Article 17
Regarding urgent draft laws and bills, members can leave the Council with the approval of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and after consultation announce their opinion within 24 hours.
Note: On urgent agenda items, meetings will continue until the Council has reached a verdict worthy of announcing, and members cannot leave the Council.
Article 18
The Guardian Council will re-interpret of the articles of the Constitution in the case of a referral by the Supreme Leader and/or a request by the President, Speaker of Majles, the Chief of Judiciary, and/or one of the members of the Council.
Article 19
Only a majority of the Jurisprudents on the Council can declare a contradiction between the laws (and regulations and articles based on them) and Shariah' in any appropriate period, taking into account article four of the Constitution. The function of these sessions will not be defined according to article ninety-four of the Constitution.
In this regard, jurisprudence-related questions by the Justice Administration or the judges regarding possible conflicts between laws or regulations and Shariah' will be transmitted by the Head of the Justice Administration or the Chief of Judiciary to the Guardian Council.
Article 20
Opinions of reinterpretation [of the Constitution] will be sent to the source of the reinterpretation request as well as the President, and the text will be sent to official newspapers and universal media.
Article 21
In cases where the laws conflict with the Constitution as defined in Article 19, the viewpoint of the majority of the jurisprudents on the Guardian Council will be announced to the President of Iran so that he brings the necessary actions into effect.
Article 22
Only a majority of the Council can determine whether the subject of a question is one that requires reinterpretation [of the Constitution].
Section 4: The Chairman, Deputy Chairman, and Speaker of the Guardian Council and their Obligations
Article 23
The Guardian Council will have a Chairman and a Deputy Chairman from amongst the members of the Guardian Council and a Speaker (either from amongst the Council members or outside of the membership), and they will be elected for one-year terms.
Article 24
The election of the Chairman, Deputy Chairman, and Speaker will occur by majority vote in a secret ballot. If no candidate receives a majority vote in the first round, a second round will be held between the two individuals who together acquired the most votes, and in this round only a relative majority is required to win. In the case of an equal vote between the two leading candidates in the first round, the two individuals will compete in the second round, and if they draw an equal vote in the second round, the election will be declared a draw.
Note: Any time that both the Chairman and his Deputy Chair are not elected from amongst the jurisprudents of the council, one of the jurisprudents will be elected in the manner above to a one-year term to preside over meetings of the Council's jurisprudents.
Article 25
The Guardian Council will have one person from outside the membership proposed by the Chairman for producing meeting notes and documenting and recording the negotiations in each session. If possible, this individual will also be responsible for the office administrative responsibilities of the Guardian Council.
Article 26
The Speaker will reflect the positions and views of the Council members in public. In the case that the Council does not consider it expedient to publish a statement on a particular issue, the Speaker will not announce anything on that issue.
Article 27
In the case of the resignation or passing away of any one of the Chairman, Deputy Chairman, or Speaker, there will be an election of a replacement individual for the remainder of the term in the next Guardian Council meeting.
Note 1: The election of an individual who has previously resigned, given he seeks re-election, is permitted.
Note 2: In the case that the Chairman, Deputy Chairman, or Speaker are ill or unable to carry out their duties for 2 months, according to the determination of the entire Council, there will be a new election.
Article 28
The Guardian council will have a body consisting of the Chairman, the Speaker, and one of the Council's members operating as information media advisors.
Article 29
The Speaker has responsibility for all publicizing all affairs relating to the obligations and authorities of the Guardian Council. In addition, taking into consideration the views of the Council and while consulting the political media advisors, he will determine the politics and policy of the Council's public relations unit, and will hold regular meetings to consult with these advisors on current affairs.
Article 30
The public relations of the Guardian Council is the duty of the media staff, under the supervision of the Speaker.
Article 31
The Chairman and the Speaker will announce approved legislation of and decisions by the Guardian Council to the relevant authorities.
Article 32
Council members will receive copies of all Majles legislation, along with relevant questions that the Guardian Council is qualified to answer, at the first opportunity after their arrival to the Guardian Council Office and by the order of the Chairman.
Article 33
All legislation and the texts of all debates will be distributed and provided to all Council members by the Guardian Council Office.
Note: The text of debates relating to the qualifications of candidates running in elections, taking consideration of the dignity of individuals, has been deemed confidential, and publishing those details only occurs by order of the Chairman.
Article 34
The responsibilities of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman are to organize and administer meetings of the Council, preserve order during debates, and implement the Code of the Guardian Council (this document).
Article 35
The agenda of Guardian Council meetings, except for on urgent matters, must be announced to the members at least 24 hours before the Chairman organizes the meeting.
Article 36
Motions for closure of debate require proposal by a member of the Council and require taking a vote.
Article 37
All debates of official meetings of the Guardian Council recorded onto audio cassettes and written into the register.
Article 38
The secretary of meetings will record an account of all legislation proposed and all votes taken for approval, with the names of those who vote "yea" and those who vote "nay," and ask all meeting participants to sign it. All discussions must be recorded on a cassette tape and thereafter be in possession of the Council members within at most five days.
Article 39
The results of the debates and the affirmative and negative opinions and arguments will be extracted from the text of the debates and will be edited, codified, and published under the supervision of the Research Council as scientific and technical research.
Section 5: Holidays and Vacations
Article 40
Members of the Guardian Council are entitled to one month of vacation time per year and, with the permission of the Chairman, individual members are permitted to schedule their vacations consecutively or with distance [between the dates of vacation], but more than two members should not be simultaneously given vacations without the approval of the entire council.
Note: In the case that a member has an urgent need for vacationing longer than the aforementioned period, the entire council must approve it.
This law is effective as of 1 Tir 1379 [24 June 2000] and the previous statute will be nullified.
The Internal Statute of the Guardian Council, containing forty articles and six Notes, has been approved in a meeting attended by all Council members dated 22 Tir 1379 [12 July 2000].
His Eminence Ayatollah Reza Ostadi
His Eminence Ayatollah Gholamreza Rezvani
His Eminence Ayatollah Mohammad Mo'men
The Esteemed Dr. Ali Arad
The Esteemed Mr. Seyyed Reza Zavarei
The Esteemed Mr. Ahmad Alizadeh
His Eminence Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati
His Eminence Ayatollah Seyyed Hassan Taheri-Khorramabadi
His Eminence Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi
The Esteemed Dr. Hassan Ebrahim-Habibi
Hojjatoleslam Mr. Mohammad Reza Abbasifard
The Esteemed Mr. Mohammad Reza Alizadeh

Speaker or Agency: Guardian Council
Title: Internal Statute of the Guardian Council
Language: English
Western Date: 24 June 2000
Persian Date: 1 Tir 1379
Physical/Electronic Location:
Citation or official document code:
Translator: IranDataPortal
Date Translated: 2 March 2010
Tags: Guardian Council, vetting, Guardians
Date Last Updated: 2 March 2010

Source:

Accessed: 19/12/12