A Comparative Study Over the Legal System Governing the Prohibition of foreign interference in the Elections (Iranian Model Study)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Law, University of Bojnord, Bojnord, Iran

2 Assistant Professor of Public Law & Int. Law, University of Tehran, Farabi Campus, Qom, Iran

Abstract

Foreign interference in elections as a means of political influence in other countries. Some countries have laws that explicitly prohibit foreign interference in their elections. The ban covers financial and non-financial interference. In some countries, a general ban on political interference has been emphasized by lawmakers. In the Iranian legal system, the prohibition of foreign interference in elections is not explicitly enshrined in any of the principles of the constitution. Only “the Law on Transparency and Supervision of the Financing of Electoral Activities in the Elections of the Islamic Consultative Assembly”, explicitly prohibits the financial interference of foreigners in the parliamentary elections and does not pay attention to non-financial interference. However, in the sixth paragraph of “the General Policies of the System in the Elections”, the prohibition of the use of the support and facilities of foreigners, including financial and propaganda, by the candidates and parties is mentioned. Although the scope of these prohibitions in those policies, including financial and propaganda, the lack of instructions and regulations for carrying out these policies, remains an important obstacle in front of their implementation. The comprehensive election bill, which has not yet been approved, lacks the necessary comprehensiveness and only includes the ban on cash and non-cash resources aids. Therefore, it is suggested that in the Comprehensive Electoral Law, special attention be paid to the field of electoral intervention, both financial and non-financial, as it includes new methods of intervention.

Keywords


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