Journal of Legal Research

Journal of Legal Research

From Legal Policy to Legal Policy-Making: Applying the Policy Cycle Model to Iran’s Legal Policy-Making Process

Document Type : Original Article

Author
PhD in Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
The objective of this study is to apply the policy-cycle model to the legal policy-making process in Iran and to elucidate its practical implications. Given that legal scholarship in Iran primarily focuses on the outputs of legal policy-making—namely laws and regulations—this study seeks to provide a systematic understanding of how legal policies are formulated. By articulating the policy cycle model and applying it to selected legal policies adopted in Iran, the research aims to offer a structured framework for analyzing the legal policy-making process and to extract practical implications for improving the quality of legal policy-making. This research adopts a qualitative methodology with a descriptive-analytical approach, relying on library-based sources, including official documents, laws, regulations, policy papers, and legislative appendices. The study employs process mapping as an exploratory framework to conceptualize the policy-making process. Within this article, the policy-cycle model is introduced, followed by a detailed explanation of the legal policy-making process in Iran. Furthermore, two case studies—one in the field of criminal justice policy and the other in civil procedure—are mapped and analyzed through the lens of the policy-cycle, offering preliminary process-based insights. These findings aim to lay the groundwork for future policy-oriented research. The results indicate that the discipline of public policy can play a significant role in enhancing legal policy-making by providing methodological tools for process analysis and thus contribute to the qualitative development of legal policies.
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