Islamic Parliament Research center. An Overview of the Islamic Parliament Research Center

Transcription

1 Islamic Parliament Research center An Overview of the Islamic Parliament Research Center

2 In the Name of God An Overview of the Islamic Parliament Research Center

3 An Overview of the Islamic Parliament Research Center Greetings: In a parliamentary system of democratic nature, representatives of the people need objective, factual and timely information with a view to making informed decisions and ensuring executive accountability to the legislature. In other words, legislatures need information to perform their representative, legislative and oversight functions. Therefore, information plays a great role in building effective legislatures. Iran is a country with a century-old history in parliamentary democracy. During this long period of democratic history, parliamentarians did not have access to any concrete expertise mechanism to rely when deliberating on bills and motions. In fact, lawmaking process lacked any research mechanism. After the Islamic Revolution, the legislature came to identify the core value of parliamentary research services and decided to create an independent center as an expertise support for parliamentarians in exercising their representational duties. In response to this crucial need, the Islamic Parliament of Iran passed a legislation calling for the establishment of a research body to act as an advisory arm of the Parliament. Legal ground for creation of such a research service was finalized by the full support of the lawmakers in the Parliament and the Islamic Parliament Research Center was founded on a solid structural management in Thank you. Kazem Jalali Head of the Islamic Parliament Research Center (IPRC) 2

4 Introduction The world today is faced with diverse challenging and multifaceted issues as the result of worldwide information explosion with ever-increasing competition in the world of information and a serious risk of information overload for parliamentarians. This new challenge has led to the rising of wider range of new questions and ideas. This developing process has inevitably made legislative bodies to come up with pressing demands for better lawmaking. To this end, they sought for the establishment of academic and research centers/ institutes in order that legislations can be enacted with reliance on expert opinions and studies in response to the current prevailing needs. Naturally, parliaments blessed with well-versed academic and research mechanisms are distinctively different in both working procedure and outcome of their work from the parliaments whose members are engaged in the exercise of parliamentary duties by merely relying on their own experimental and academic potential. This was raison d être for the Islamic Parliament of Iran to pass the legislation for the establishment of Islamic Parliament Research Center (IPRC). Since the first legislature, the Islamic Parliament of Iran sought expert advices on a casual basis when deliberating a bill or motion as parliamentarians mostly relied on their personal understanding and experiences. However, the Parliament Presiding Board, having identified crucial needs of the parliament to research services, decided to set up an independent center entitled Islamic Parliament Research Center in late 1992, in order to duly provide parliamentarians with constant fruitful grounds to benefit from expert advices. Legal ground for the creation of such a center was finalized in This center was mandated to meet the needs of the members of the Islamic Parliament of Iran in the exercise of their parliamentary functions. 3

5 An Overview of the Islamic Parliament Research Center A ) Objectives, duties and organizational structure Objectives: The purpose for the establishment of Islamic Parliament Research Center as specified in the relevant Act includes: Preparing necessary grounds for an in-depth expert examination of enactments, Extending academic and research supports conducive to the duties and responsibilities of the Islamic Parliament of Iran, Applying efficiently research inputs in the legislative process. Duties and responsibilities: Major duties and responsibilities: 1.To conduct studies, researches and offer expert opinions to the parliament members and Standing Committees in respect of all the bills and motions on a timely manner, 2.To collect and scrutinize the opinions offered by academic researchers, research centers, executive bodies, academic and specialized associations, political parties and people at large on current demands of the society in terms of legislation, 3.To study and scrutinize smooth application of the laws and offer expert opinions on how to cope with barriers and problems, 4.To provide information needed by Standing Committees and Parliament Members and to set up an information system, 5. To conduct case studies needed by the Presiding Board, Standing Committees and MPs, 4

6 6.To deal with the missions assigned in relation to the Parliament Libraries, 7.To convene academic, educational and research seminars to upgrade academic and research knowledge, 8.To create active and constructive contacts with other academic and research institutions inside and outside as required under the applicable rules, 9.To release research products through: Publication of books and related bulletins, Holding regular meetings. The Organs: Board of Trustees Board of Trustees of IPRC is composed of the Majlis Speaker as the Chief of the Board, members of the Presiding Board and Head of the Center. Board of Trustees shall, inter alia, be responsible for: Approval of the general policy of the Center as proposed by its Head, Proposing the annual budget, organizational structure of the Center, Recruitment and Financial Rules to the Committee on Administration and Employment and Parliament Audit Committee for approval, Monitoring functions of the Center and its performance, Introducing the policies related to research and study priorities, Deciding on the research priorities and exigencies demanded by the Parliament and its members, Taking decision on the appointment or dismissal of the Head of the Center, Board Trustees shall regularly convene at least every three months. 5

7 An Overview of the Islamic Parliament Research Center Meeting of the IPRC s Board of Trustees with Dr. Ali Larijani, the honorable Parliament Speaker in chair 6

8 Head of the Center Head of the Center is appointed by the Board of Trustees for 4 years from among the qualified persons with high academic degrees (PhD) and a minimum 10 years of research and academic experiences. Reappointment of the Head is permissible. Major functions of the Head of the Center include: To put into force the decisions of the Board of Trustees, To introduce policies and propose the annual budget of the Center to the Board of Trustees, To sign contracts concluded by the Center and oversee the administrative and research affairs of the Center at the highest level, To hand over the annual reports of the activities of the Center to the Board of Trustees. Note: The annual budget of the Center shall be included in the Parliament total budget upon confirmation of the Board of Trustees and the Parliament Audit, Plan and Budget Committee. For the past 21 years since its establishment, following individuals have served as the Heads of the Center: Dr. Mohammad Javad Larijani, founder of the Islamic Parliament Research Center, during the 4th and 5th legislatures ( ), Dr. Mohammad Reza Khatami, during the 6th legislature ( ), Dr. Ahmad Tavakoli, during the 7th and 8th legislatures ( ), Dr. Kazem Jalali, the incumbent Head of the Center since the beginning of current legislature. 7

9 An Overview of the Islamic Parliament Research Center Research Council: Research Council is composed of: Head of the Center, who also chair the Council, Chairperson/s of the Parliament Standing Committees, based on the issue under discussion invited by the Head of the Center, Five academicians selected from among the Parliament members by the Board of Trustees for four years appointed by the Parliament Speaker, Five specialist researchers, holding at least the position of Associate Professor with five years work experiences, on the recommendation of the Head of the Center and approval of the Board of Trustees, appointed by the Parliament Speaker for 4 years. Council s duties, inter alia, include: To examine and confirm research plans and projects, To cooperate for drafting the annual programs of the Center, To oversee academic and research publications of the Center, To draw executive plans of the Center in order to create academic linkage with other research and educational centers inside and abroad. 8

10 A Meeting of the Research Council Chaired by Dr. Kazem Jalali, Head of the Center 9

11 An Overview of the Islamic Parliament Research Center B) IPRC Organizational Structure There are five Departments in the management hierarchy of the Center, each run by an individual tasked specifically to assist the Head of the Center as his/her deputy. Division of Research Support and Coordination This Division which directly works under the Head of the Center acts as coordinator between different Departments of the Center in order to facilitate smooth running of the affairs. Duties of this division are as follows: 1. Necessary follow-ups to ensure timely fulfillment of the projects assigned to the relevant departments, 2. Preparation of periodical reports on the activities of the concerned departments for the Head of the Center, 3. To follow up research outputs prepared in the form of reports for the Parliament plenary sittings, the clients, members of parliament and the Standing Committees, 4. Paving necessary grounds for the concerned departments in carrying out their research duties, 5. To cooperate in preparing guidelines related to the productive work process of the Center, 6. To exercise management over such sections as Farabi Library and Document Center and Publication Office also coordinating research activities of the concerned departments with such sections, 7. To assist for the formation of the Committee engaged in recruitment and upgrading the research faculty members of the Center in order to examine and 10

12 adopt decision on the recommendations of the concerned departments demanding recruitment and upgrading the research faculty members of the Center, 8. As the Secretary to the Research Council of the Center to prepare the agenda of the meetings and conveying the opinions of the concerned departments to the Research Council, 9. Necessary preparations to mark the Research Week, to introduce Model Researcher and to plan for holding Seminars in cooperation with other organs, 10. Any other missions assigned by the Head of the Center. The sections working under this division include: 1. Publications 2. Library Publication Office is tasked with publishing all the research reports provided by various research departments of the Center. Library of the Center Works independent from the Parliament Library and is, inter alia, responsible to make available to the experts inside and outside the Center all the research reports and related documents and books. i: Research Departments Studies and researches are mainly defined, planned and conducted as required by the four Research Departments through their related specialized offices. The Research Departments are specifically assisted by several Research Teams. Every Office working under Research Departments has a director, an assistant, researchers, and research directors for each Research Team. Directors of the Research Teams shall have PhD and appointed from among university faculty members. Offices shall define, supervise and, if necessary, direct research projects. Moreover, the Offices shall report the works in progress, achievements and final outcomes of their activities to the related Research Departments. Meanwhile, studies conducted by the specialized offices and their affiliated teams are assessed by the Research 11

13 An Overview of the Islamic Parliament Research Center Council. The following four Research Departments with their affiliated Offices and Research Teams examine and scrutinize within their relevant research departments any bills and motions sent to them for analytical survey and products of their expert studies are made available to the Parliament Standing Committees and Parliament Members. The four Research Departments are as follows: I. Department of Economic Researches II. Department of Infrastructural and Production Researches III. Department of Political and Legal Researches IV. Department of Social and Cultural Researches A meeting of the Council of the Heads of Research & Administrative Departments chaired by Dr. Kazem Jalali, Dr. Jahanguirzadeh, Acting Head of the Center is also seen on the left of the chair Department of Economic Researches has two Offices tasked with the 12

14 Department of Economic Researches following overall activities: 1. Economic Studies: to carry out studies on economic issues such as fiscal and monetary policy, banking, insurance, business environment, domestic and international trades and economic development. Research Teams working under this Office include: Macro Economy and Development Trade and Business Financial Markets Modeling and Management of Information and Statistics 2. Public Sector: to conduct studies on public finance and administration, annual budget, taxation, organizational structure and government personnel. Research teams under this office are: Public Sector Administration Budgeting Public Organs and Municipalities Public Positions Department of Infrastructural and Production Research The Specialized Offices under this department and the affiliated research teams are as follows: 1. Energy, Industry and Mine Studies Energy Industry Mine and Mineral Industries 2. Agricultural and Development Studies 13

15 An Overview of the Islamic Parliament Research Center Environment, Water and Natural Resources Development Agriculture Transportation 3. New Technologies Studies Research Teams working under this Office are: Information and Communication Technology New Technologies This Department deals with studies related to the activities of the ministries and other governmental bodies as follows: Ministry of Petroleum Ministry of Power Ministry of Agriculture Ministry of Industries and Mines Ministry of Information and Communication Technology Ministry of Road and Urban Development Environment Organization Atomic Energy Organization Office of Vice-President for Science & Information Technology This Department offers expert advices to the following four related Parliament Standing Committees: 1. Development Committee 2. Agriculture, Water and Natural Resources Committee 3. Energy Committee 4. Industries and Mines Committee * It is to be noted that this Office also offers expert opinions, as the case may be, to other Parliament Standing Committees in respect of the issues falling within the relevant specialist activities. 14

16 Department of Political and Legal Researches This Department has two Specialized Offices engaged in political and legal researches: 1. Political Studies Research teams affiliated to this Office include: Defense and Security Foreign Policy Domestic Policy Parliamentary Studies Group 2. Legal Studies Research teams working under this Office are: Penal Law Public Law Private Law International Law Considering the area of its activities, this Department directly deals with the research needs of the three Parliament Standing Committees as follows: 1. National Security and Foreign Policy 2. Councils and Internal Affairs 3. Legal and Judicial Affairs Furthermore, this Department is indirectly involved with all Parliamentary Committees within legal context of its activities. This Department consists of three main Specialized Offices as follows: Cultural Studies Education, Research and Technology Studies Health, Welfare and Social Affairs Studies Considering the area of its activity, each Office has its own relevant 15

17 An Overview of the Islamic Parliament Research Center Department of Cultural and Social Researches Research Teams as follows: Cultural Studies The research teams affiliated to this Office include: Art and Media Public Culture Sports, Tourism and Cultural Heritage Family and Youth Activities of the Office of Cultural Studies summarized as follows: To prepare necessary grounds for providing better expertise on legislations, To do scientific and research activities conducive to the functions of the Islamic Parliament of Iran, To use the available statistics, information and researches on the issues relating to media, culture, guidance and Islamic propagation, tourism, etc to influence process of decision-making by the Members of Parliament. Education, Research and Technology Studies Activities of this Office are generally categorized within the Research Teams as follows: Technical and Vocational Education Primary and Secondary Education Higher Education, Research and Technology Health, Welfare and Social Affairs Studies Activities of this Office are as follows: To provide expert and advisory opinions to the relevant Parliamentary Committees and Members of Parliament on all bills and motions on a timely basis, To study and scrutinize smooth application of laws and offer expert 16

18 opinions on how to cope with barriers and obstacles. To fulfill the assigned duties, this Office has the following three Specialist Teams: Health and Treatment Social and the Veterans Affairs Welfare and Social Security In order to provide information and expert opinions needed by Parliament Standing Committee on Health, Treatment and the Committee on Social Affairs, the activities of this Office center on issues such as protective affairs, health, treatment, relief aid, welfare, social security, social insurances and the Red Crescent. There is also a separate Office entitled Office of Governmental Studies, dealing with analysis of the issues, which fall within the governmental features. This Office which works directly under the auspices of the Head of the Center, conducts researches on wide range of issues of substantive nature. Office of Governmental Studies This Office with three study groups conducts conceptual studies for the specialized offices of the Center and the Parliament Standing Committees. Group for Governmental Studies: In order to survive, every government should inevitably resort to conceptual reforms in such areas as legitimacy, effectiveness and security enhancement in various layers of the government and governance. Accordingly, it is essential for every government to be in constant need of Conceptualization in the following three areas: Government Structural Reform conducive to local, national, geographical features and global governance, Concept and nature of government legitimacy in a variety of governmental, national and international levels, Concept of effectiveness and means of making government to function 17

19 An Overview of the Islamic Parliament Research Center effectively in national and international arenas, Conducting comparative government-oriented studies and indigenizing ideas, government policies and identification of the government-oriented research centers across the world and creating concrete relations with them in the area of acquiring law-oriented experience, research oriented law and basic law- making. Policy Research Group: In order to foster policies based on scientific theories within public policymaking sphere, this Group tries to conduct research policy in the following areas: Policy Research in public policymaking sphere based on policy acquisition for the purpose of policy building, Policy building in order to base policies on scientific theories in public sphere, Conducting research within the field of policies related to lawmaking and overseeing its proper enforcement, Comparative policy research in regional and international areas. Futures Studies Group: Futures Studies is a feature of systematic and targeted idea concerning prospective lawmaking in Iran with an eye on the world. This part focuses on certain areas of studies as follows: Possible foresight in law research to facilitate lawmaking and upholding the high status of law based on future studies, Possible foresight in lawmaking, monitoring and screening challenges, demands and possible future problems, creating major images of future status within great international, national and regional scenarios in order to better understand future and its impact on lawmaking and create integration among the scenarios introduced across the country and the laws related to such scenarios in the world, Effective and fruitful foresight in lawmaking and proper enforcement of the law with a desirable future based on Iran s future vision in a bid to adapt a promising future with the laws to be passed in future. 18

20 In addition to the activities mentioned above, the Research Departments also deal with the following general tasks: a) Examination of bills and motions: Bills and motions are examined and scrutinized within the domain of Research Departments and the products of expert studies are made available to the Parliament Standing Committees and Parliament Members. b) Research demands of the Parliament Members and Standing Committees (and how such demands are dealt with): Such demands are prioritized in three categories as follows: Urgent demands Short term demands Long term demands c) Occasional studies: Specialized Offices prioritize their research works subject to the plans and exigencies of the Parliament, important emerging issues and priorities identified by the Center. Such researches may be regularly done on a specific issue e.g. functional assessment of various government bodies (conducted once a year) or released in the form of books and compact discs. d) Special Studies (Research projects): Major research projects on economic, political and cultural issues, etc are assigned to the related Research Departments upon approval by the Research Council and confirmation of the Head of the Center, taking due consideration of the effectiveness and necessity of such studies to be provided in compliance with scientific research methods. 19

21 An Overview of the Islamic Parliament Research Center Research Offices Studies and researches are generally planned and conducted by the related Research Offices. The Research Offices work under the direction of their respective Research Departments. Each Department has its own Specialist Teams. Each Office has a director, a deputy director, and research assistants for the Research Teams as well as researchers. Offices shall define, supervise and, if necessary, direct research projects. Moreover, the Offices shall report to the Research Departments the works in progress, achievements and final outcomes of their activities. Duties of the Research Off ices: A diverse spectrum of activities is done by the Specialized Offices conducive to the responsibility and demands of the Parliament Standing Committees. The activities, inter alia, include as follows: 1. Expert studies of bills and motions, 2. Necessary studies aimed at drafting legislations in the form of legal motions to be submitted to the Parliament by the representatives, 3. Preparation of the reports on legal gaps or weaknesses hindering execution of law, 4. Annual evaluation of the performance of ministries and government bodies for submission to the Parliament, 5. Participation in Parliament Standing Committee meetings and specialized sub-committees to render consultation and to meet the Committees demands, 20

22 6. Contacting pundits to create a network of experienced academic advisors in order to respond to the demands of the Parliament, the Standing Committees and representatives, 7. Holding specialist sessions and academic seminars, 8. Holding joint expert meetings with branches of the Executive to narrow attitudes in various levels and dilute divergences at decision-making levels, 9. Creating constant linkage with civil and non-governmental bodies to seek opinions of stakeholders in drafting bills and motions as well as their contribution to the legislative and oversight processes. IPRC s International Activities Islamic Parliament Research Center has made widespread efforts to establish contacts with various parliamentary research services across the world in order to share its research experiences with regional and international parliamentary research centers. The International Directorate mandated to deal with such activities works directly under the Head of Research Center. This Directorate is inter alia, responsible for holding research seminars and conferences at domestic and international levels. It also deals with the requests of visiting foreign officials who are interested to meet Head of the Center. 21

23 An Overview of the Islamic Parliament Research Center The 2nd National Seminar on the Role of Research in Lawmaking, Tehran- Jan

24 Elma Broke, Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs meets Dr. Jalali, Head of the IPRC Former IAEA Director General meets Head of the IPRC 23

25 An Overview of the Islamic Parliament Research Center Senegalese MPs meet Dr.Jalali, Head of the IPRC South Korean Ambassador to Tehran meets Dr. Jalali, Head of the IPRC 24

26 Joint Seminar on Research Cooperation between the Islamic Parliament Research Center (IPRC) & National Assembly Research Service of the Republic of Korea (NARS),Tehran- 22 June

27 An Overview of the Islamic Parliament Research Center Dr. Jalali, Head of the IPRC & Dr. KOH Hyun Wook, Chief of the NARS at the Joint Seminar Signing Ceremony of MOU between the IPRC & NARS at the Joint Seminar 26

28 ii: Administrative Department The Administration is tasked with supporting the activities of Research Departments and their related Offices. It consists of three divisions entitled Finance, Administrative Affairs and the Support Office for internet and intranet network facilities. This Department deals with smooth running of the affairs, proper functioning of different divisions, supervising financial and administrative affairs, creating a suitable working environment, responding to the logistical needs, evaluating functional abilities of the staff and assigning them training programs, maintaining computerized systems and administrative automation and rendering internet and intranet services. C) Achievements 1. Research Papers: Research reports prepared and finalized by the Islamic Parliament Research Center on a wide spectrum of political, economic, legal and cultural issues, including expert opinions on bills and motions are made available to the parliament members. Since its establishment, the Center has released over 10,000 expert reports. These reports have been sent for the Parliament Presiding Board, Standing Committees and the representatives. Certain government institutes as well as research and academic centers have also received such papers. 2. Academic/Research Quarterly The quarterly entitled Majlis and Strategy is published released by the Research Center. It is the responsibility of the Division for Publication of Quarterly to publish the Center s research papers in the form of books and bulletins. The main purpose of this division is to create direct contact with parliament members, state officials, decision-making experts, senior directors of the executive departments as well as the concerned academic researchers. Titles of the books and bulletins shall be specified with due respect to the policies dictated by the Research Departments based on the researches and studies conducted by their related offices. 27

29 An An Overview of of the the Islamic Parliament Research Center 28

30 Collection of the Laws Islamic Parliament Research Center has released a compact disc entitled Loh Hagh containing a large collection of the legislations passed by the parliament since the first legislature after the Constitutional Revolution (over100 years ago). This collection covers all the resolutions passed by the High Council of Cultural Revolution, State Supreme Tribunal and the Administrative Court of Justice. It also includes resolutions passed by the Expediency Council and Council of Ministers. The collection is updated regularly. 29

31 An Overview of the Islamic Parliament Research Center Dr. Jalali meets his counterpart (Dr. KOH Hyun Wook ) on the sideline of the 4th International Seminar for Parliamentary Research Services 30 Dr. Kazem Jalali as Moderator at the 4th International Seminar on Parliamentary Research Services, Seoul 1 November 2013

32 Performance-based Budgeting Modeling Paradigms Budgeting has undergone numerous revisions in the recent years, being exposed to various models for improvement. One such model is known as Performance-based Budgeting. This model is based on a very intricate scale. Tracking Results in Agriculture and Rural Development in Less-than-ideal Conditions Tracking results is of vital importance in realization of the goals pursued by various human communities. Its main function is to collect useful data for the betterment of decision-making process. This book attempts to study various angles of monitoring and evaluation of projects, focusing on agricultural and rural development projects in a bid to introduce practical strategies. The 2nd Conference on the Role of Research in Legislative Process A collection of papers Knowledge accompanied with insight serves as a necessary prelude to assess the tools needed for better lawmaking. In this context, the role and function of research in lawmaking process becomes more important. It is through research that lawmaking develops, helping to strengthen decision-making process and national power. 31

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34 Islamic Parliament Research Center (IPRC) Islamic Republic of Iran