Criminal Law in Iraq Contrary to some international media reports, homosexuality per se is not illegal in Iraq and as far as we can tell never has been illegal. However there have been a number of reliable reports of extra judicial persecution, assault, and murder of gay men in Iraq. The Penal Code 111 of […]
Read MoreUNAMI’s 14th six monthly Human Rights Report for Iraq was issued on 29 April 2009 covering the period from 1 July 2008 to end December 2008. The report notes that during that period: Iraq signed into law the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading treatment or Punishment; The law on the Independent High […]
Read MoreBaghdad: The Al-Bayina newspaper reported on 12 May 2009 that MP Abbas al-Bayati, had announced the formation of a sub-committee within the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) of the Council of Representatives to consider the possibility of further constitutional amendments during the current parliamentary session or whether they should be carried over to the next session. Al-Bayati […]
Read MoreIn this address, given before Global Justice Project: Iraq was established, Professor Chibli Mallat outlined the major fault lines and challenges for Iraqi law: the risk of justice denied in the implementation of the US-Iraq security agreement, a fuzzy federalism, and an incoherent judicial system.
Read MoreOn Sunday 19 April 2009, the Council of Representatives elected Ayad al-Sammaraie as the new speaker. The post of speaker has been vacant since Mahmud Mashhadani, an outspoken Sunni in Iraq’s Shiite-dominated political system, resigned on 23 December 2008. Previous attempts to elect a speaker have resulted in stalemate because no candidate has achieved an […]
Read MoreIraq has had two constitutions – the monarchical constitution of 21 March 1925 introduced by the British (amended on 29 July 1925 and on 27 October 1943) and the present constitution approved by referendum on 15 October 2005. After the fall of the monarchy in 1958, a series of interim or provisional constitutions followed in […]
Read MoreThe American Bar Association (ABA) Rule of Law Initiative has completed a number of studies of the Iraqi justice system including: The Judicial Reform Index (July 2006) for Iraq and for the Kurdistan Region; The Status of Women in Iraq: An Assessment of Iraq’s De Jure and De Facto Compliance with International Legal Standards most […]
Read MoreThe Committee on the Implementation of Article 140 of the Constitution chaired by Raed Fahmi Jahed, Minister of Science and Technology, was established by order of the Prime Minister. The website (in Arabic) contains a wealth of information about the Committee’s activities.
Read MoreThe Kurdistan Region President is elected under Kurdistan Law 1, Article 1 passed by the Kurdistan Parliament (formerly known as the Kurdistan National Assembly) in 2005. During the life of the regional legislature elected in 2005, the President is elected by the legislature. In future the President is to be directly elected by the people […]
Read MorePursuant to Law 2 of 2009 (4th Amendment to the Election Law of the National Council of Kurdistan, Iraq, Law 1 of 1992), passed on 25 March 2009, the Kurdistan National Assembly wishes to be known as the Kurdistan Parliament. The Parliament website (in Kurdish, Arabic and English) is well designed and contains news, legislation, […]
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