Amoli Larijani: It Makes No Sense for the President to Be Responsible for Implementation Everywhere

Sadegh Amoli Larijani, the head of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, said on Wednesday in a speech that he sees "ambiguity" in Article 113 of the Iranian Constitution, stating that "it makes no sense for implementation to be the responsibility of the President everywhere." According to the Mehr News Agency, Mr. Amoli Larijani spoke on Wednesday, February 3, during the inauguration of the new building of the Administrative Justice Court, saying: "It is sometimes said that the executive branch, meaning the President, is responsible for implementing the Constitution in all matters. However, there is ambiguity in this constitutional article which states that the President is the highest official of the system after the Leader and is responsible for implementing the Constitution." The criticism from the head of the judiciary comes as Article 113 of the Iranian Constitution explicitly states that the President, after the Leader, is the highest official of the country and is responsible for implementing the Constitution and presiding over the executive branch, except in matters directly related to the Leader. This article was previously worded as follows before the constitutional revision in 1989: "After the Leader, the President is the highest official of the country and is responsible for implementing the Constitution and regulating the relations of the three branches and presiding over the executive branch, except in matters directly related to the Leader." Amoli Larijani also stated: "In principle and apparently, we must accept that this article refers to all clauses of the law and principles of the Constitution, but attention to the independence of the judiciary in the Constitution and the supervisory role of the Guardian Council and the independence of the Expediency Discernment Council shows that it does not mean that the implementation of the Constitution is entirely with the government." He further remarked that "it makes no sense for implementation to be the responsibility of the President everywhere" and added: "The implementation of the principle of the independence of the judiciary cannot be the responsibility of the President, and this ambiguity in this statement must be resolved. The issue of the independence of the judiciary is certain, and Article 57 of the Constitution assigns oversight to the Leader, not to the President or anyone else." According to the Iranian Constitution, the interpretation of the principles of this law is the responsibility of the Guardian Council. Hassan Rouhani, the President, and Sadegh Amoli Larijani, the head of the judiciary, have previously engaged in several verbal disputes. For instance, on November 7, Mr. Rouhani said: "The judiciary must be a refuge for society, and if the salt is healthy, any problem can be prevented, but if the salt becomes corrupt, it becomes very difficult." Mr. Amoli Larijani reacted to these remarks by describing them as "slander and insult to the judiciary" and stated: "If the executive branch becomes corrupt, if the government becomes corrupt, and if the President becomes corrupt, it becomes difficult."