Persian Constitution of 1906

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Members of the First Majlis (October 7, 1906 — June 23, 1908). The central photograph is that of Morteza Gholi Khan Hedayat, Sani-ol Douleh, the first Chairman of the First Majlis. He had been for seven months the Finance Minister when he was assassinated on 6 February 1911 by two Georgian nationals in Tehran.[1]
Three National Soldiers of Tehran. A postcard of the period. The text in the heading reads: May the National Consultative Assembly [Majles-e Shoura-ye Melli] be everlasting and long live National Soldiers! The text in the middle of the photograph reads: National Soldiers of Tehran.

The Persia Constitution of 1906[2] was Persia's first constitution that resulted from the Persian Constitutional Revolution and it was written by Ismail Mumtaz.[3] It divides into five chapters with many articles that developed over several years.

Contents

The electoral and fundamental laws of 1906 [edit]

The electoral and fundamental laws of 1906 established the electoral system and the internal frameworks of the Majlis (Parliament) and the Senate.

By the royal proclamation of August 5, 1906, Mozzafar al-Din Shah created this first constitution "for the peace and tranquility of all the people of Persia." Muhammad Ali Shah Qajar is credited with chapters 4 and 5.

The electoral law of September 9, 1906 [edit]

The electoral law of September 9, 1906 defined the regulations for the Elections to the Majlis.

Disfranchised [edit]

Article 3 of this chapter stated that (1) women, (2) foreigners, (3) those under 25, (4) "persons notorious for mischievous opinions," (5) those with a criminal record, (6) active military personnel, and a few other groups are not permitted to vote.

Election qualifications [edit]

Article 4 stated that the elected must be (1) fully literate in Persian, (2) "they must be Iranian subjects of Iranian extraction," (3) "be locally known," (4) "not be in government employment," (5) be between 30 and 70 years old, and (6) "have some insight into affairs of State."

Article 7 asserted, "Each elector has one vote and can only vote in one [social] class."

The fundamental laws of December 30, 1906 [edit]

The fundamental laws of December 30, 1906 defined the role of the Majlis in the system and its framework. It further defined a bicameral legislature. Article 1 established the National Consultative Assembly[4] based "on justice." Article 43 stated, "There shall be constituted another Assembly, entitled the Senate."

The supplementary fundamental laws of October 7, 1907 [edit]

The supplementary fundamental laws of October 7, 1907 established the charter of rights and overall system of governance.

Role of clerics [edit]

Article 1 and 2 of the laws, established Islam as the official religion of Persia/Iran, and specified that all laws of the nation must be approved by a committee of Shi'a clerics. Later, these two articles were mainly ignored by the Pahlavis, which sometimes resulted in anger and uprising of clerics and religious masses: (See: Pahlavis and non-Islamic policies)

“
  • ART. II.
    • At no time must any legal enactment of the Sacred National Consultative Assembly, established by the favor and assistance of His Holiness the Imam of the Age (may God hasten his glad Advent) the favor of His Majesty the Shahanshah of Islam (may God immortalize his reign!), the care of the Proofs of Islam (may God multiply the like of them!), and the whole people of the Iranian nation, be at variance with the sacred principles of Islam or the laws established by His Holiness the Best of Mankind [i.e. Mohammed] (on whom and on whose household be the Blessings of God and His Peace!).
    • It is hereby declared that it is for the learned doctors of theology (may God prolong the blessing of their existence!) to determine whether such laws as may be proposed are or are not conformable to the principles of Islam; and it is therefore officially enacted that there shall at all times exist a Committee composed of not less than five mujtahids or other devout theologians, cognizant also of the requirements of the age, in this manner. The ulema and Proofs of Islam shall present to the National Consultative Assembly the names of twenty of the ulema possessing the attributes mentioned above; and the Members of the National Consultative Assembly shall, either by unanimous acclamation, or by vote, designate five or more of these, according to the exigencies of the time, and recognize these as Members, so that they may carefully discuss and consider all matters proposed in the Assembly, and reject and repudiate, wholly or in part, any such proposal which is at variance with the Sacred Laws of Islam, so that it shall not obtain the title of legality. In such matters the decision of this Ecclesiastical Committee shall be followed and obeyed, and this article shall continue unchanged until the appearance of His Holiness the Proof of the Age (may God hasten his glad Advent!).
 ”

One should notice however that the Law only says that the laws mustn't be against Islam, but not that the laws have to be Islamic, which is a big difference. Laws can indeed be un-Islamic and not be at variance with any specified Islamic law. One mustn't forget that the Constitutional Revolution had for great role to suppress the too great power that the clergy and the religion had. It is important to notice that the Revolution gave rights to minorities such as Zoroastrians, Christians and Jews. [2]

Rights [edit]

Article 7 disallowed suspension of the constitution. Article 8 afforded "equal rights before the Law."

Article 9 accorded "All individuals (including foreigners per Article 6) are...safeguarded in respect to their lives, property, homes, and honor, from every kind of interference...." Articles 15-17 provided further security to land-owners.

With regard to the press, Article 20 promulgated, "All publications, except heretical books and matters hurtful to the perspicuous religion [of Islam] are free."

Tribunals of Justice [edit]

Article 71 entrenched "judicial tribunals...for the redress of public grievances, while judgment in all matters falling within the scope of the Ecclesiastical Law is vested in just mujtahids possessing the necessary qualifications."

See also [edit]

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

References and notes [edit]

  1. ^ W. Morgan Shuster, The Strangling of Persia, 3rd printing (T. Fisher Unwin, London, 1913), pp. 48, 119, 179. According to Shuster (p. 48), "Five days later [measured from February 1st] the Persian Minister of Finance, Saniu'd-Dawleh was shot and killed in the streets of Teheran by two Georgians, who also succeeded in wounding four of the Persian police before they were captured. The Russian consular authorities promptly refused to allow these men to be tried by the Persian Government, and took them out of the country under Russian protection, claiming that they would be suitably punished."
    See also: Mohammad-Reza Nazari, The retreat by the Parliament in overseeing the financial matters is a retreat of democracy, in Persian, Mardom-Salari, No. 1734, 20 Bahman 1386 AH (9 February 2008), [1].
  2. ^ Recognizing the centennial anniversary 109th CONGRESS, 2d Session, H. RES. 942, 25 July 2006
  3. ^ For a modern English translation of the constitution and related laws see, Tilmann J. Röder, The Separation of Powers: Historical and Comparative Perspectives, in: Grote/Röder, Constitutionalism in Islamic Countries (Oxford University Press 2011).
  4. ^ This became known as the Islamic Consultative Assembly after the Islamic Revolution.

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Majlis
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