Allameh Tabataba’i University Strategic Recommendations for  Administrative Bodies

Allameh Tabataba’i University Strategic Recommendations for Administrative Bodies

Concepts of Human Rights and Citizenship Rights and the Significance of These Terms in Iranian Law and the Citizens' Rights Charter

Author
Department of Public and International Law, Allameh Tabataba'i University
Abstract
The conceptual distinction between "human rights" and "citizenship rights" is a fundamental debate in public law and legal policymaking, and its precise understanding can directly influence the interpretation and implementation of legal documents in Iran. Human rights are grounded in inherent human dignity and the entitlement of all individuals regardless of nationality, whereas citizenship rights, in a more precise sense, refer to the bond of nationality and the specific rights and privileges recognized by the state for its nationals. In Iran's legal system, concepts such as "the rights of the nation," "people's rights," and "citizenship rights" are widely utilized in official texts, yet in many instances their denotation is closer to human rights and is not restricted to nationality. From this perspective, the principle dictates that all individuals residing within the territory of sovereignty enjoy fundamental rights and public freedoms, and any limitation must be exceptional, legal, and explicit—such as restrictions applied to certain political offices or specific nationality rights. On this basis, the effective implementation of documents governing citizenship rights necessitates an expansive and non-nationality-centric interpretation of fundamental rights, the prevention of discrimination against non-nationals in enjoying public rights, and the design of supervisory and executive mechanisms to guarantee the observance of these rights within administrative and judicial institutions.
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