Public Law Studies Quarterly

The Concept of Equality in the Thought of the Jurists of ‎the Constitutional-Revolution Era

Document Type : Article

Authors

Mahdi Shamsaei Lashkariani 1
Hossein Rahmatollahi 2
Mahnaz Bayat Komitaki 3

1 ‎.‎‏ ‏Ph.D. Candidate in Public Law,‎‏ ‏Faculty of Law, Tehran University, college of Farabi, Qom, ‎Iran ‎

2 Associate Prof of Public Law, Faculty of Law, Tehran‏ ‏University, college of Farabi, Qom, ‎Iran

3 Assistant Prof of Public Law, Faculty of Law,‎‏ ‏Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran‎

https://doi.org/10.22059/jplsq.2021.300061.2371
Abstract
The Constitutional Revolution introduced new concepts to the Iranian society that created a conflict between tradition and modernity. One of the most important confrontations involved the concept of equality. Due to its historical nature, the analysis of this conflict depends on the use of documentary sources from that era. These sources suggest that one of the most challenging issues in period of the Constitutional Revolution was the subject of Article VIII of the Supplement to the Constitution, which provided for "the equal rights of the Iranian people". The adoption of this article caused a controversy that became known as the “jurists’ dispute”. In the traditional Iranian legal system, equality in its new meaning with the distinction between "equality before the law" and "equality in the law", did not exist. As a result of this semantic evolution, legal scholars faced a new concept. Some tried to reduce the new concept of equality to the old meaning of equality, i.e. equality before the law, and called it a result of Islamic rules. On the other hand, traditionalist jurists, referring to the inequality of the rights of Muslims and non-Muslims, considered equality inconsistent with the rules of Islam. In the end, both groups were unable to find the right answer to the question. 
 

Keywords

equality in the law
equality ‎before the law
social ‎equality
human equality
‎Article VIII of the ‎Suplement to the ‎Constitution.‎

  1. Rnglish

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Public Law Studies Quarterly
Volume 53, Issue 1
Spring 2023
Spring 2023
Pages 183-203

  • Receive Date 28 March 2020
  • Revise Date 19 September 2020
  • Accept Date 19 April 2021

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