The Legislative

The legislature comprises two powerful institutions: Parliament (Majlis) and the Guardian Council of the Constitution. Under the provisions of the constitution all legislation's must first be approved by the Majlis and then be ratified by the Guardian Cou ncil. They are signed into laws by the president. Two more legislative bodies were created in 1988 by Imam Khomeini. These were the Council for Determination of Exigencies and the Council of Policy Making for Reconstruction. The Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution has legislative powers on educational matters.

MAJLIS

Majles-e-Shora-ye Eslami (Islamic Consultative Assembly), known as the Majlis for short, is the Iranian parliament. It has 290 members who are elected by the direct vote of the people for four years. The powers and functions of the Majlis are specified by the constitution (Article 71-90).

The first Majlis after the Islamic revolution was convened in 1980 and the second Majlis began its terms in 1984. The general election for the third Majlis was held in April 1988, and its terms started in May 1988. People went to the polls for the fourth Majlis in April 1992 .

A principal requirement for any members of parliament (MP) is his/her deep belief in Islam. However, the religious minorities recognized by the constitution, the Zoroastrians, the Jews and the Armenian and Assyrian Christians have their own representative s in the Majlis. The first two minorities have one MP each and the Armenians, larger in population, have two MPs for the south and north of Iran. The Assyrians have one MP.

Majlis has a set of internal rules which sets forth the manner of steering its meetings, debating and voting on the bills and motions etc., and the tasks of its committees. According to the rules, the Majlis has a steering board comprising a speaker, two deputy speakers who run the meetings in his absence and a number of secretaries and provisions administrators.

Under the provision of Article 69 of the constitution, the deliberations of the Majlis must be open, the full report of which is broadcast by the radio and then published verbatim by the Official Gazette. The president, or one of the ministers or 10 MPs m ay call for a closed meeting of the Majlis. The constitution, however, emphasizes that the resolutions of the closed meeting will only become law if they are passed by a majority of three-quarters of members of parliament (MPs) with Guardian Council membe rs also attending. But ordinary meetings of the Majlis reach quorum by attendance of two-thirds of the MPs, and their resolutions normally become law by simple majority, unless otherwise required by law.

MPs do not have judicial immunity except under Article 86 of the constitution. In May 1988, a motion effectively amounting to a sort of parliamentary immunity for the members was passed in the first reading. It provided for investigating offence committed by the members before and during membership by the courts concerned in Tehran. MPs should only be summoned or subpoenaed through the Majlis. Details of the bill were to be decided in the second reading.

POWERS OF MAJLIS

Majlis has the following powers:

• a) debating the motions tabled by the government upon the cabinet's approval, as well as bills tabled by at least 15 MPs,

• b) debating and inquiring into all the national affairs,

• c) approving international treaties, protocols, agreements and contracts,

• d) effecting minor changes in the border lines by taking into consideration the national interests, and by a majority of four fifths of MPs,

• e) agreeing to the cabinet's request for proclamation of martial law for no more than 30 days,

• f) Tabling a motion of no confidence in the prime minister or any of the ministers; casting vote of confidence or no confidence in the government or in any of the ministers.

PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES

Majlis has several permanent committees with the task of carrying out the initial discussions about the bills and motions. Moreover, select committees are formed as the need arises. Early 1989 amendments to House rules allowed committees to have between n ine and 15 members, with the exception of the constitutional article 90 committee, which can have 15-31 members. The permanent committees are:

• 1) Education;

• 2) Culture and Higher Education;

• 3) Islamic Guidance and Arts and Mass Media;

• 4) Economy and Finance;

• 5) Plan and Budget;

• 6) Oil;

• 7) Industry and Mine;

• 8) Labour and Social Affairs, and Administrative and Employment Affairs;

• 9) Housing and Urban Development and Roads and Transport;

• 10) Judicial and Legal Affairs;

• 11) Defence and Islamic Revolution Guards Corps;

• 12) Foreign Policy;

• 13) Internal Affairs & Councils;

• 14) Health and Welfare, Relief, Social Security and Red Crescent;

• 15) Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones, and Energy;

• 16) Commerce and Distribution;

• 17) Agriculture and Rural Development;

• 18) Prime Ministry Affiliated Organizations;

• 19) Accounting Court and the House Budget and Finance;

• 20) Revolution Institutions;

• 21) Constitutional Article 90 Petitions Committee which has the task of investigating the complaints of the public against government organizations;

• 22) Questions Review Committee, which has the task of reviewing the questions of MPs to ministries and the latter's replies. This committee decides if the replies have been satisfactory. Should the committee find a minister's reply unsatisfactory thr ee times, MPs will be able to table a motion of no confidence in the minister concerned.

LEGISLATION PROCEDURE

A bill or a motion may be tabled with the Majlis in two ways:

• 1) the government may table it upon the cabinet's approval;

• 2) fifteen MPs may table a motion. The Steering Board of the Chamber is responsible for arranging the debating procedure. The bills are normally debated in turn. Urgent motions are debated under a different procedure as explained later.

Debating procedure begins with the first reading of a bill which has already been passed by the committee concerned and the text of which has been distributed to the MPs. Should the bill's generalities be passed in the first reading, it would then be forw arded to the committee(s) concerned for a review of its details. At this stage, MPs may propose their related amendments. The bill's details and the proposed amendments are discussed, and either adopted or rejected. The committee concerned may also invite experts from outside the parliament to take part in its meetings.

Subsequently the bill comes up for a second reading which concerns its details. At this stage, MPs whose proposed amendments have not been adopted by the committee concerned, may put their proposal to the full House and call for votes. If the bill is pass ed in the second reading, it would be forwarded to the Guardian Council for ratification.

This is the normal procedure of legislation. Urgent, one-star, bills however are discussed only once by the committee concerned. Very urgent, two-star bills do not even go to the committees and are debated by two successive meetings of the Chamber. The fi rst meeting deals with the generalities of the bill and the second with its details. Top urgent, three star, bills and motions are placed on the agenda immediately. The degree of urgency of the bills has to be approved by a majority of the MPs. Some of th e bills cannot be tabled under urgency provisions, for instance the budget.

Majlis Seats by Provinces

Iranian Parliament Website