Iraqi High Court Authority: A State-Practice Review of the Source of High Court Authority and an Assessment of 2005 Iraq Constitution

Abstract:     
In 2005, the Iraqi Constitutional Committee drafted the Iraqi constitution, replacing the Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period (TAL), the first governing law in Iraq since the Coalition Provisional Authority took control in 2003. Recognizing the 2005 constitution as a temporary document, the first parliament formed the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) in September of 2006 to determine whether and how to amend the constitution.

In light of the CRC's efforts, this article reviews state practice for the sourcing of high court authority, synthesizes the results to identify patterns where possible, and assesses the Iraqi constitution's consistency with state practice. Specifically, this article examines whether states use constitutional provisions or domestic legislation to provide for their high court's powers and functions, independence, authority, structure and administration, and identifies for the CRC those provisions that may be inconsistent.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 16

Keywords: Iraq, High Court, Supreme Court, state practice, TAL, constitution, legislation, survey, Constitutional Review Committee

Accepted Paper Series