The Imperative of Sectoral Regulation Legislation: An Analysis of the Legislative and Oversight Role of the Islamic Consultative Assembly in the Oil, Gas, and Petrochemical Industries in Light of the General Board of the Administrative Justice Court’

The exercise of the Islamic Consultative Assembly’s general legislative jurisdiction under Article 71 of the Constitution constitutes a cornerstone for establishing an efficient legal regime in network-bound and monopolistic industries. However, the absence of a coherent statutory framework in Iran’s oil, gas, and petrochemical sectors has obscured the boundaries between policymaking, regulation, and commercial operations. This legislative void has precipitated jurisdictional friction, institutional capture, and acute conflicts of interest among executive ministries, state-owned enterprises, and market incumbents.



Focusing on Judgment No. 140231390000920475 of the General Board of the Administrative Justice Court, this study examines the legislative and oversight role of the Parliament in structuring sectoral regulation. It investigates which institutional model can safeguard parliamentary legislative supremacy while ensuring the professional, technical autonomy of the energy regulatory authority. Employing a descriptive–analytical method and a legal–institutional approach, the research scrutinizes relevant constitutional principles, primary legislation—specifically Article 59 of the Law on the Implementation of General Policies of Article 44 of the Constitution—and administrative case law.



The findings demonstrate that structural inadequacies in the prevailing statutory framework have generated severe legal uncertainty, fostered the unlawful delegation of sovereign regulatory prerogatives to commercial entities with direct economic stakes, and compromised parliamentary accountability. Crucially, the judicial analysis indicates that while ex-post administrative review provides vital legality control, its negative and case-specific character cannot substitute for affirmative, ex-ante statutory market architecture.



Consequently, enacting a comprehensive Energy Sectoral Regulation Act is essential. This statutory regime must delineate strategic legislation from specialized rulemaking, enforce the structural separation of sovereign governance from operational commercial management, prohibit the transfer of regulatory powers to market participants, guarantee regulatory independence, and institutionalize specialized parliamentary oversight. Such legislative reform is imperative for eliminating institutional conflicts of interest, bolstering regulatory stability, and securing investment confidence across the energy value chain.