The concept and position of the right to participate in cultural life from the perspective of international human rights and Iranian law (with emphasis on administrative law)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Seyf Bakraee ¹
• mohammad habibi majandeh ²

¹ RIGHTS/MOFID UNIVERSITY/ IRAN

² Associate Professor of the Law Department of Mofid University of Qom

Abstract

Highlights

The right to participate in cultural life has been recognized as one of the important examples of cultural rights in many global and regional documents, including the United Nations Charter in general in its article 1, paragraph 3, "the need to achieve cooperation between "International" has paid attention to solving cultural issues. Paragraph 1 of Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes the right of everyone to participate freely in the cultural life of society. But the most important document and the main source of this right is the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which explicitly and bindingly reflects the right to participate in cultural life: They are recognized in cultural life. This right includes participation in various cultural and artistic activities such as benefiting from art, literature, visual arts, handicrafts, theater, cinema, music, dance, exhibition of cultural products and mass media productions, as well as the possibility of expressing Cultural and artistic creations.

At the level of domestic law, although other examples of cultural rights such as the right to education or the right to equality of ethnic minorities are clearly mentioned in the constitution. But there is no clarification about this right. On the other hand, the right to participate in cultural life has been explicitly recognized in some high-level documents, such as Article 99, Clause I, of the Citizenship Law approved by the Presidency of the Republic of Iran in 2014. It seems that according to the ethnic and cultural diversity in Iran, the full realization of the right to participate in cultural life and its recognition can provide a kind of interaction with social peace and comfort and not paying attention to this right. It provides the formation of conflict, division and discrimination.

Regarding the second generation of human rights, the government is committed to creating the necessary conditions to facilitate the achievement of things such as social security, public welfare, correct and timely provision of social services to citizens, creating favorable employment conditions for job seekers and benefiting from The result is providing health and well-being as well as education and education of citizens.

A part of the manifestation of the right to cultural participation is manifested in the administrative system in such a way that today it is talked about administrative human rights. The expansion of the interactions between the administrators and the governed in today's modern societies has led to the government's excessive interference in society's affairs, limiting the scope of private rights and expanding the scope of public rights and increasing the performance of governments. This expansion of performance requires greater protection of citizens' rights against administration and administrative authorities and public power in general.

In our legal system, there are cultural judicial institutions in the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, among which the following can be mentioned: the board for handling cultural affairs, the center for the development of culture and art in virtual space, the authority for issuing licenses for works of art, The authority for issuing licenses for musical works, etc. One of the weaknesses in the cultural administrative law system in Iran is the lack of clarity and lack of transparency in the process of handling licenses for artistic and cultural works. One of the other weaknesses of the legal system regarding quasi-judicial authorities or dedicated administrative courts is the lack of transparent and clear procedures.

Observance of human rights requires familiarity with abstract concepts as well as guarantee mechanisms, so the way to learn and teach these concepts and related fundamental documents is of particular importance. Education is a right guaranteed by the government. Therefore, schools should be the first place for education, of course, human rights education is not limited to schools and government institutions, and education includes non-government institutions as well. Human rights education is possible through formal and informal institutions. The education of human rights and public freedoms in public and non-governmental government institutions is of double importance, because it leads to the establishment and expansion of the culture of the entitled and demanding human being and the servant and responsive government, and as a result, the deepening of the rule-based government. Based on this, according to the diversity and nature of the work of some administrative agencies, he prepared and compiled a code of conduct (codes of conduct) and distributed it among the employees of that agency.

Today, it is one of the main axes of development, cultural participation includes the voluntary, voluntary and conscious participation of individuals, groups and organizations of a society in the cultural dimensions of society in order to expand sustainable development. People's participation and involvement in the production of culture and its promotion among groups, strengthening folk art, facilitating cultural interaction in multicultural societies, and increasing social harmony in multi-ethnic societies are important areas of cultural participation.

Keywords

• Cultural life
• right to participate in cultural life
• international human rights system
• administrative system
• administrative law

Main Subjects

• Other topics