Council Leadership in the Evaluation of Constitutional Experts and the Council for Review of the Constitution

In examining the desirability of a government headed by a group over the one which is run by one person, two main views can be obtained from Islamic thinkers. The first point of view (taken from al-Farabi) recommends the rule of a group of people who are collectively qualified, assuming that a fully competent (qualified) person is not easily accessible. The opposite point of view (taken from Āmiri) recommends the rule of a lower individual in the absence of a qualified person and warns against any rule by a group.The examination of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, before and after its revision in 1368, as well as the detailed review of the negotiations of the legislators, shows that the Constitutioal Council of the Assembly Experts, with an explanation close to al-Farābi's view, has prescribed a council leadership in the event of emergency and on the assumption that there would be no access to a qualified person, and the Council for Review of the Constitution has not considered the possibility of council leadership by demonstrating preference for arguments in favor of Āmeri's view. In this way, the lack of consideration of council leadership in the constitutional amendment process is not a theoretical change (development), but rather an accompaniment to the judgment that Islamic thinkers have made about a rule by a group from the past until now. The only difference was in the preference of one of the two famous views in 1358 and the preference of the other view in 1368; the two viewpoints that none of which recommends a rule by a group per se and jointly seek the rule of a “qualified person”.