Parliamentary oversight mechanisms over the actions of the executive authority in Iraqi and Iranian law

Abstract

The relationship between the executive and legislative authorities is based on cooperation and mutual oversight between them, as each of them has mechanisms towards the other that lead to the non-dominance of one over the other, and the legislative authority represented by the parliament has mechanisms that ensure that the government does not deviate through the exercise of parliamentary oversight over the actions of the executive authority, and this oversight is primarily a political function related to reviewing the actions of the government, advising it and informing it of every desire related to the interests of the group of voters represented by the legislative authority. The manifestations of the legislative authority’s oversight of the executive authority are evident in Iraqi and Iranian law in the numerous oversight mechanisms and procedures that members of parliament have towards the government, as the importance of these mechanisms lies in holding the executive authority accountable for all its actions, monitoring all its actions, discussing the general policy it has drawn up for itself, and knowing the way the government apparatus operates and how it performs its various tasks.  Since parliamentary oversight mechanisms represent rights established for members of the legislative authority in the face of the government, these mechanisms vary in different political systems according to their legal source and purpose and take various forms stipulated by the constitutions of countries and their environment, the internal regulations of parliamentary councils, including questioning and interrogation, as parliament has the right to direct questions to members of the government or to interrogate the government about its activities in accordance with the legal procedures stipulated in the constitutions and parliamentary legislation.