Urban Governance and Administrative Justice: Citizens' Rights from the Municipality to the Administrative Court of Justice

Every country designates specific supervisory bodies to enable citizens to seek redress for administrative misconduct or statutory violations by public entities. In Iran, particular oversight mechanisms have been established for this purpose. Municipalities, as key public institutions, are explicitly assigned most of their duties by the legislator; nevertheless, the complexity of certain issues prevents the mayor from deciding alone. To safeguard citizens' rights, the legislator created the Administrative Court of Justice (ACJ) for those aggrieved by council or commission decisions. This study investigates the causes behind the rising number of complaints filed against municipalities in the ACJ. Data were collected through library research and secondary sources, including official statistical reports and interviews with judicial and executive officials. The statistical population comprises all cases lodged with the ACJ from ۲۰۲۱ to ۲۰۲۵, with a focus on municipal disputes. After data collection, qualitative content analysis was employed to systematically extract and categorize the main drivers of the increase in complaints and to identify remedial measures. The findings reveal that the surge in citizens' litigation against municipalities is a multi-causal phenomenon rooted in institutional, legal, functional, and social problems.

کلیدواژه ها:

urban justice ، municipalities ، Administrative Court of Justice ، citizens' rights