Document Type : Original Article
Highlights
Title: Evaluation of the Concept of Public Wealth in Article 45 of the Constitution Based on Intangible Public Wealth
Statement: Coinciding with globalization in recent years, technology, communication tools, and most importantly creativity, human thinking, and the production of new ideas have developed. Therefore, a review of laws, regulations, definitions, terms, and even concepts of any kind, especially legal concepts related to emerging issues, has become an important issue. The reason is that the past definitions can no longer meet the needs of human society in the face of today’s creation of ideas, creations, and innovations. For example, issues such as the environment, air, water, and even the sky (free goods) have not been considered in the past, and the classical and old definitions of wealth. However, all of the above are among the public wealth of a country in the light of growing human needs and the importance of the environment, which has been considered by economic, social, security experts, and national and international lawyers due to cross-border effects. In Iranian law, the two words Anfal and public wealth are placed side by side, so that public law experts derive semantic equality from these two words. Whereas, the items that belong to Anfal, as stated in Imami jurisprudence, are customary property in legal terminology, while the items that belong to public wealth are much more comprehensive than Anfal. Iranian law faces a kind of confusion, even in the highest legislative authority in providing an appropriate definition as a result of the lack of the difference between the meanings of these two words in the field of identification and the field of action in the public interest.
Objective: This paper aimed to evaluate the concept of "public wealth,” its types and examples, to attract the attention of public law thinkers in identifying and managing intangible public wealth.
Necessity and importance of the study: The Covenant of Nations with States is set out in a document entitled the Constitution, and States are required to legislate under this social contract. This task has so far not been organized in the regulation of laws efficiently under the above-mentioned laws, due to the lack of precise explanation of the concepts contained in Article 45, the necessity of which is not hidden from anyone.
Results: The most essential function of governments, whether theological or secular is to survive in the area under the rule as a living organ, and the public wealth of each country provides the resources to meet the needs of this living organ. In today's communities, the administration of justice in the areas of distribution, allocation, and non-discrimination is an undeniable necessity for the survival of governments. More resources will lead to the growth of sustainable development of government and ensure the survival of governance with proper management or consumption. The first step in managing and exploiting public wealth is to identify the types and instances of public wealth. In Iranian public law, only the tangible aspects of public wealth have been considered so far, and the intangible aspects of public wealth have been neglected due to the lack of recognition of this type of wealth, both in the field of identification and management or consumption. Human capital, as intangible public wealth, is the most valuable part of a country's public wealth, and the economic evaluation of this wealth has been considered by governments in macroeconomics since the beginning of the present century.
Conclusion: a new definition of types and instances of public wealth is needed given the rapid advancement of technology and means of communication and even climate change in the present age. Public law thinkers need to do extra work, theoretically and practically, in expanding and promoting the scope of public wealth.
The results indicated that the lack of attention to intangible public wealth in identification and action in the public interest has led to the destruction of the country's interests and further procrastination will plunge the country into various social, economic, and security crises. Inadequate and irresponsible attention to human capital as the most valuable part of public wealth has devastating and irreparable effects on the country and its ruling system. The migration of human capital, including intellectual/financial/professional, and the lack of cooperation of low-income human capital in participating in the affairs of the country collapse the ruling system. Non-reproduction, environmental degradation, lawlessness, the conversion of current capital into currency cryptocurrencies, and the withdrawal of wealth from the economic cycle, etc., are only visible parts of the disadvantages of this neglect. Four decades after the enactment of Article 45, the mixing of jurisprudential expressions on the one hand and modern legal expressions on the other has prevented a single point of view from being reached, even at the highest legislative levels. It seems that the last phrase of the principle in the legal restriction of these powers is in contradiction with the sharia standards considering the text of the Qur'an and authentic sources of narration and jurisprudence, the position of Anfal, and the dominant jurisprudential interpretation in the succession of the Supreme Leader in the present age and his extensive involvement in the practice of public reconciliation. In addition, the provision of Article 45 is limited to the practice of public interest. This rule, as discussed in this article, does not have the possibility and capacity to extend to a large part of public wealth. Therefore, the principle cannot meet the demands of the nation from this perspective.
Recommendations: it is recommended to use the phrase "the government is obliged to provide the public interest with the aim of sustainable development" instead of "it is at the discretion of the Islamic ruler to act under the public interest.” In this case, it seems that the legislation in this principle is out of the formal form and takes on a real and objective aspect.
