Rule of Law or Rule by Law? Iran’s Bar Association as a Pawn in Islamic–Republican Contestations

doi:10.1017/9781108630603.005

5 - Rule of Law or Rule by Law? Iran’s Bar Association as a Pawn in Islamic–Republican Contestations

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 April 2025

Mirjam Künkler

Edited by

Hadi Enayat and

Mirjam Künkler

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Hadi Enayat: Affiliation:
Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations, Aga Khan University
Mirjam Künkler: Affiliation:
Institute for Advanced Legal Study

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Summary

The independence of the legal profession suffered immeasurably when the bar associations were dissolved after the 1979 Revolution. They only gradually recuperated and reorganized in the 1990s, being allowed to hold internal elections again in 1997 and regain a degree of political independence. Since the early 2000s, however, hardliners have ensured that regimist lawyers dominate the bars’ boards, with the effect that the human rights work of the bar associations came to a halt. What has undermined the work of the bar associations most, however, is the parallel training and examination mechanisms set up in the judiciary for a different kind of lawyer, so-called Article 187 legal advisors. These do not take a bar exam and also otherwise are not organized by the Bar. They are required to seek renewal of their accreditation from the judiciary every year, thus making them highly dependent on the judiciary’s goodwill.

Keywords

legal profession lawyers bar associations judiciary legal advisors Article 187 Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi Sadegh Larijani

Type: Chapter
Information: The Rule of Law in the Islamic Republic of Iran
Power, Institutions, and the Limits of Reform
, pp. 135 - 158

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108630603.005 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2025

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