RAHBORD
Year:2009 | Volume:18 | Issue:50 (SPECIAL ISSUE FOR JURISPRUDENTIAL AND LEGAL STUDIES)|Papers Count:18

This article is based on a speech delivered by Dr. Rohani in the opening ceremony of a conference entitled "Religion and International Relations" held in the Center for Strategic Research on January 2009.Generally, what is discussed in studying the relationship between religion and international relations is the role of religious beliefs in forming political opinions and in creating incentives for political action by citizens, organizations, states, and leaders at the international level.In his speech, Dr. Rohani addressed various topics including religion and international relations after Renaissance, philosophical explanation of secularism, religion and theories of international relations, political and social consequences of modernization, Iranian example, effects of religion on international relations, imperatives of a religious state in the international system and religion in the process of globalization.He concludes that at the present time, religions have challenged the mainstream paradigms of international relations and have become a factor contributing to resistance against domination.

The unspecified government's role in economy is a serious shortage in our Public Law system leading to economic disturbance, especially in terms of monopolies. The author tries to present a summary of human's experiences on the role of government in economy, its main obligations and its implementation tools especially public enterprises and monopolies. Then based on this model, he evaluates economic monopolies and privatization policies adopted for economic reorganization according to general policies stipulated in Article 44 of Islamic Republic of Iran's Constitution. He concludes that these policies are considered a positive step but are not sufficient to create ideal situation needed for economic competition.

The common and normative logic among scholars of constitutional law is that the constitution should not recognize or be interpreted as recognizing the so-called the second generation of welfare rights such as right to have a shelter or to have minimum earnings. Their main argument is that rights based on the constitution should be justiciable. This article analyzes the concept of welfare rights. Then, it is argued that the main issue is related to the methods of judicial control. Each of them has their own advantages and disadvantages. Although, the weak form of judicial control seems more interesting, Tushnet believes that it may lead to instability and ensues inverse outcomes.

In an organized legal system, the relations between the legal norms are regulated based on a hierarchical pyramid structure. Recognition of the structure of this hierarchy and the relation between the existing legal norms are necessary for survival and quantitative and qualitative improvement of any legal system. Similar to the other legal systems, such a hierarchy of norms exists in the legal system of Islamic Republic of Iran.However, it has some differences with the general hierarchical system that makes these legal norms distinguishable. It is obvious that to clarify the legal system of our country identifying these differences is unavoidable.Coexistence of the Islamic order as well as the legal order and the need to analysis of the relation between these two, the problem of determining the exact boundary of different levels of the legal order pyramid, and the importance of accurate definition of elements of these levels are among the specifications of this hierarchy. Furthermore, the hierarchy of legal norms has some problems whose appropriate solutions should be considered. Thus, it could be stated that evaluation of the legal norm of Islamic Republic of Iran requires recognition of the theoretical bases of its hierarchy norms.

Contemporary histories shows that states are not willing at all to accept commitments in the framework of international law which are contrary to their agreement. However, some events such as climate change and depletion of ozone layer occur outside the control of states. International organizations are usually active in this field. They influence state's will in this regard.States have been forced to create some mechanisms for rapid legal responses to unspecified or emergency actions. Soft law is an appropriate framework for fostering evolving concepts in international law.The international declaration of human rights is one of the most important documents constituting soft law inspiring many other binding domestic and international laws regarding the protection of human virtues.It seems that given the process of globalization, more participation in the scene of international relations creates more prestige for states than the development of traditional power instruments.

The effective role of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the development and implementation of international law related to nuclear science and technology is undeniable. However, this role has been channeled to certain fields, as a result, there is a kind of imbalance and disequilibrium in realizing the agency's goals. This International organization was established to develop the peaceful uses of atom throughout the world and to prevent their diversion towards military purposes. But, in practice, its activities have been limited to the second goal. This article argues that observing the balance in realizing agency's goals will ensure its effectiveness in the future.

Decisions made at the international level by states, international organizations or even multinational companies, influencing international community and eventually citizens, are of an undemocratic nature. Because, these institutions are not representative of people. One of the solutions for redressing this democratic deficit, is the participation of citizens and civil society institutions, especially NGOs in the process of international decision-making which is not surely possible without factors such as awareness, information and knowledge. Participation and awareness are mutually influential, constituting the key concept of environmental democracy. Also, the participation of all interested groups on international decision-making enhances the efficiency of the decisions. Given the unconcentrated structure of international law, the legitimacy of international regulations is vital for their effective implementation. Among the ways of the participation of NGOs in international decision-making, we can mention: holding conferences for having access to public views, using the potentials of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), establishing a set of regional consultative processes or roundtables and etc.

Constitutional Justice is an idea for the protection of the privacy of the constitution. There are different mechanisms for keeping the privacy of the constitution. Almost all countries have the constitution, but equipping the legal and political system with the constitution is not synonymous with its full implementation.Therefore, a developed legal system requires some mechanism for sanctioning the constitutional laws.In the monarchial system of Belgium, an institution called constitutional court has been predicted for guaranteeing the privacy of the constitution. A comparative study involving the examination of similar institution in Iran and Belgium could be useful for better understanding the involved mechanism.

One of the important developments during the recent decades has been the emergence of Internet. Its impact has been very vast covering numerous fields including international commerce. The economic dimensions and legal aspects of this innovation created new disciplines in the field of economic sciences, computer and law. Electronic commerce law is among them. The volume of electronic commerce in the world is growing in an unprecedented way.This article tries to make the reader familiar with the nature and domain of electronic commerce law.