نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
نویسندگان
1 دانش آموخته کارشناسی ارشد حقوق اقتصادی، دانشکده حقوق، دانشگاه شهید بهشتی، تهران، ایران
2 استادیار، گروه حقوق بین الملل، دانشکده حقوق، دانشگاه تربیت مدرس، تهران، ایران
کلیدواژهها
عنوان مقاله English
نویسندگان English
1. Introduction
China’s re-emergence as a global power, together with the far-reaching transformations of recent decades, has significantly enhanced its importance in international affairs. Its permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council, expanding presence in West Asia, and increasingly consequential relations with Iran make China a subject requiring systematic attention across a range of fields. China, one of the world’s oldest civilizations, is the second most populous country and accounts for nearly one-fifth of the global population. It is also the fourth-largest country in the world by land area. For more than eighteen of the past twenty centuries, China has occupied a prominent position in global gross domestic product (GDP) relative to other nations.
It is also noteworthy that various predictions made at the turn of the second and third millennia anticipated a decline in China’s legal and political system within a fifteen-year period. These predictions, however, did not materialize. Instead, China’s relatively sustained economic growth has led some scholars to argue that the country is on a trajectory toward becoming the world’s leading economic power. Today, China accounts for nearly one-fifth of global GDP and is the primary trading partner of numerous countries around the world, including almost all states in the Middle East. Taken together, these factors underscore the need for all countries, including Iran, to pay close attention to China and to develop and manage their relations with it with clarity and strategic foresight.
Against this background, the legal study of China is significant for at least two reasons. First, China has exerted considerable influence on the development and evolution of international law and, consequently, affects all international legal actors, including Iran. Second, understanding the Chinese conception of law is essential for structuring bilateral and multilateral relations within appropriate legal frameworks and in a manner consistent with national interests. Moreover, China has increasingly transitioned from a rule-taking actor to a rule-making one in international law. This shift is reflected in, inter alia, its increased exercise of veto power, its role in establishing new international institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and its promotion of approaches to dispute settlement informed by Eastern legal traditions—in contrast to conventional methods that predominate in various areas of international law.
In this respect, the present study sough to address the following questions: What legal traditions underlie the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China? How do these traditions shape the interpretive frameworks of the two constitutional texts, particularly with respect to the distribution of power, legislative logic, and institutional accountability? And what implications do these differences have for understanding institutional behavior and designing legal interactions between Iran and China?
2. Literature Review
Existing literature on the constitutional systems of Iran and China has generally examined the two legal orders independently. Scholarship on Iran typically analyzes the Constitution within the framework of Islamic legal traditions and theories of religious governance, whereas studies of China tend to focus on the role of the Communist Party, East Asian intellectual traditions, and the Chinese conception of the rule of law.
However, a review of the existing literature reveals a lack of comprehensive, systematic, and direct comparative research examining the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China side by side. In particular, the constitutional texts and structures of the two systems, the logic underlying the distribution of political power, and the mechanisms and models of institutional accountability have not been systematically compared.
Moreover, previous studies have not examined the legal traditions that have shaped both constitutional orders within a unified analytical framework. Consequently, the existing literature lacks both a comprehensive comparative constitutional analysis of Iran and China and a tradition-based approach that interprets both constitutions in light of their respective legal and intellectual heritages. The present study sought to address this gap by developing a comparative analysis grounded in these foundational legal traditions.
3. Materials and Methods
This study used a comparative legal research methodology to examine and compare the constitutional systems of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the People’s Republic of China. The comparative approach focused on the analysis of similarities and differences in legal–political systems in relation to the constitutional texts and traditions.
4. Results and Discussion
China’s Constitution is shaped by both Neo-Confucian and Romano–Germanic legal traditions, whereas Iran’s Constitution is influenced by Islamic and Romano–Germanic legal traditions. The similarities between the two constitutional systems primarily stem from their shared roots in the Romano–Germanic legal tradition, while their differences can largely be attributed to the distinct Neo-Confucian and Islamic legal traditions that inform each system.
The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran reflects elements of the Romano–Germanic legal tradition while being more fundamentally grounded in the principles of Islamic law and adherence to Islamic norms. In a similar fashion, the Chinese Constitution incorporates elements of the Romano–Germanic legal tradition—particularly in its treatment of individual liberties and its integration of socialist doctrines—while also being significantly
shaped by the Neo-Confucian legal tradition and its core principles, including harmony and service. This influence is particularly evident in the role of the National People’s Congress (NPC), which functions as the central coordinating authority within the state structure, with other state organs positioned beneath it and accountable to it. Members of the Congress are likewise expected to serve society and act as exemplary figures.
5. Conclusion
It may thus be concluded that treating the constitution as the foundational text of the legal–political order makes it possible to identify the overarching rules governing the distribution of authority, the logic of legislation, and models of accountability, thereby rendering institutional behavior more intelligible. From this perspective, a comparison of the Chinese and Iranian constitutions revealed two distinct layers: (1) a shared layer influenced by the Romano–Germanic legal tradition, particularly with respect to certain individual liberties and legislative mechanisms; and (2) a distinctive layer rooted in the respective Neo-Confucian and Islamic legal traditions.
This distinction is reflected in differing approaches to governance, including an emphasis on harmony and vertical accountability as opposed to horizontal separation and independence of powers; in models of economic regulation, particularly the coexistence of state and market mechanisms oriented toward collective benefit; and in approaches to dispute resolution, where dialogue and mediation are generally preferred to adversarial procedures.
On this basis, several practical implications can be identified for Iran, including enhancing the precision and effectiveness of cross-border legal decision-making, improving the assessment of institutional risks, strengthening the design of legal instruments and dispute-resolution mechanisms, and avoiding hasty analogies or unwarranted transfers of concepts between the two legal systems.
کلیدواژهها English
