The Balance Between Individual and Public Rights in Light of Global Changes

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Associate Professor of Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

10.22091/cpl.2025.13119.1057

Abstract

The evolution of contemporary legal discourses, especially with the prominence of identity and cultural challenges and structural inequalities, has made the classical concepts of public law insufficient to respond to new demands. In the meantime, "collective rights" as a coextensive concept requires re-explanation in relation to the existing legal order and coextensive concepts. This article, focusing on the conceptual and philosophical analysis of collective rights, seeks to recognize the position of this concept in the system of public law, especially in distinction from individual, group and public rights. The type of research is theoretical-analytical and, by utilizing international sources, human rights documents and the opinions of contemporary scholars, reconstructs and formulates concepts such as "socialized individuality", "right to collective cohesion" and "identity-building rights". The study shows that collective rights have an independent identity based on shared belonging, historical memory, and the need for restorative justice and are not redistributable to individual or public rights. While public rights are concerned with the interests of the whole of society and the maintenance of public order, collective rights are concerned with the protection of groups with distinct identities and demand the redistribution of status and resources. The results of this analysis provide a conceptual framework for rethinking the design of institutions, multicultural policymaking, and legislation in plural societies, including the Iranian legal system, which faces diverse identity and cultural challenges.

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