It was reported on 14 May 2009 on the front page of Al-Sabaah, the government newspaper, that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had suspended in part the operation of Article 136(b) of the Criminal Procedure Code 23 of 1971 as part of his anti-corruption drive. Article 136(b) has had a varied life. All of Article 136 of […]
Read MoreCriminal 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 MoreThe implementation of the Civil Code 40 of 1951 is achieved by means of the Civil Procedure Code 83 of 1969 (this version as enacted – unamended) and the Civil Evidence Law 107 of Year 1979.
Read MoreThe Iraqi Civil Code was principally drafted by Abd al-Razzaq Al-Sanhūrī, a French-educated Egyptian jurist who was also the principal drafter of the Egyptian Civil Code of 1949. It replaced the 1877 Ottoman Majalla, the archetype for all codified Middle Eastern civil law. In 1943, Al-Sanhūrī was invited to Iraq by the Iraqi government and […]
Read MoreThe Criminal Procedure Code No. 23 of 1971 replaced the Baghdad Procedure Code of 1919. It was modelled on the Egyptian Criminal Procedure Code No. 150 of 1950, which itself was based upon the Napoleonic Codes adopted in Egypt in the late 19th Century. It has been amended on a number of occasions. For example, […]
Read MoreThe Penal Code 111 of 1969 provides in Article 86 that “The death penalty is the hanging of the condemned person by the neck until he is dead.” It can only be imposed if the perpetrator is 21 or over. Prior to 2003, the Penal Code provided that the death penalty was the sentence or […]
Read MoreThe Penal Code 111 of 1969 replaced the Baghdadi Penal Code of 1919 with effect from 15 December 1969. It has been amended on a number of occasions. With effect from 10 June 2003, CPA Order 7 Section 2(1) provided that “the Third Edition of the 1969 Iraqi Penal Code with amendments, registered in Baghdad […]
Read MoreLaw 188 of 1959 promulgated a Personal Status Code (published in the Official Gazette on 30 December 1959). Although the law was passed following the revolution of 14 July 1958, debate had previously raged for 12 years over the adoption of a Personal Status Code. The law covers matters of marriage, divorce, child custody and […]
Read MoreKurdistan Region Chief Justice Ahmed travelled to Baghdad on 8 April 2009 for the first time in 20 years to meet with Iraqi Chief Justice Medhat and new Iraqi Minister of Justice Dara Nur-al Din. Following up upon their successful meeting at the Judicial Federalism conference in Erbil on 28 and 29 March 2009 and […]
Read MoreThe Official Gazette of Iraq الوقائع العراقية (Alwaqai Aliraqiya) has been published since August 1922 as a means of introducing legal measures into force via publication. The Law on Publication in the Official Gazette No. 78 of 1977 states in Article 1(Second) “Everything published in the Official Gazette is considered as the credible official text […]
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