The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) was created in 2004 as the successor to the Coalition Provisional Authority Inspector General (CPA-IG). It was created by the US Congress to provide oversight of the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund (IRRF) and all obligations, expenditures, and revenues associated with reconstruction and rehabilitation activities in Iraq. […]
Read MoreThe Constitutional Review Committee sub-committee’s report suggesting amendments to the Constitution is available from the the Council of Representatives website. This document includes the amendments along with U of U annotations. This copy is a marked up version of the original constitution. Blue text is said to represent amendments and red text additions. There are also […]
Read MoreAll CPA Regulations, Orders, Memoranda and Notices can be found on the CPA Official Archive site.* The CPA legislated by edicts signed by Paul Bremer, the ‘Administrator’. Regulation Number 1 signed 16 May 2003, states that it is made “Pursuant to my authority as Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) relevant UN Security Council resolutions, […]
Read MoreIn 2009 Baghdad and Erbil are subject to a veritable barrage of law reform proposals. The Council of Representatives is sitting on proposals for constitutional review and bills such as those to give a sure footing to the judiciary; to give a proper structure to the various anti-corruption bodies; for a constitutionally compliant process to […]
Read MoreThe Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) have published a fascinating short article by Abduladhim Karim about a little discussed minority in Basra. Discrimination is contrary to Article 14 of the Constitution which states: Iraqis are equal before the law without discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, origin, color, religion, sect, belief or […]
Read MoreIn al-Sabaah, the government newspaper, it was reported on 17 August 2009 that Baha al-A’araji had confirmed that the next session will witness questioning of ministers and officials. He also revealed a request to lift parliamentary immunity for Adnan al-Dulaimi. The article is translated below. Baha al-A’araji, Chair of the Legal Committee in the Council […]
Read MoreThe structure of the Kurdistan Regional court and judicial system closely follows that of the Federal judiciary. Decree No. 11 of August 1992 and the Judicial Authority Law No. 44 of December 1992 set out the basis for the judiciary in the region as an autonomous independent establishment of the Kurdistan Regional Government. The Courts […]
Read MoreThe Al-Sabah government newspaper on 11 August 2009 reported that “on September 8th, when the Council of Representatives will [supposedly] conclude its current summer break, it will face a big challenge. This challenge is the necessity to discuss and ratify about 150 draft laws. The new challenge for Parliament, especially its Presidency, is the short […]
Read MoreThe Federal Judiciary is administered by the Higher Judicial Council which compiles regular statistical reports on the state of the judiciary and its caseload, outside the 3 Kurdish governorates administered from Erbil, published on its excellent website. The most recent report, issued in April 2009, relates to the number of judges and reveals that there […]
Read MoreUnited Nations Instruments Iraq voted in favour of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. Iraq is a signatory to the following International Human Rights Treaties: Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, acceded 1959 International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, signed […]
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