KRG files complaint at Iraq's top court against budget provisions related to Kurdistan

"Any provision of the law that is unconstitutional would be either corrected or removed," Ghazi said.

A picture shows the Supreme Judicial Council building in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Dec. 27, 2021. (Photo: Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP)
A picture shows the Supreme Judicial Council building in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Dec. 27, 2021. (Photo: Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has filed a complaint to the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court against a number of provisions in the recently passed budget law related to the Kurdish region, citing the articles are "unconstitutional", a lawmaker told Kurdistan 24 on Saturday. 

The complaint comes as the top court has recently decided to suspend the implementation of certain provisions of the budget law following an official complaint submitted by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al-Sudani. 

Articles 2, 11, 12, and 13, which are related to the Kurdistan Region, are against the Iraqi constitution, Khalil Ghazi, a member of the Iraqi parliament's finance committee, told Kurdistan 24 on Saturday. 

"Any provision of the law that is unconstitutional would be either corrected or removed," Ghazi said, adding the Kurdish region waits for the issuance of instructions on implementing Iraq's three-year budget. 

Despite having objectives on certain provisions of the law, which Kurdish leaders cited as undermining the Region's status as a federal entity, Kurdish lawmakers voted to pass the bill in early June following several delays. 

Hailed as one of the country’s biggest budgets, the state expenditures set at 198.91 trillion Iraqi dinars ($153 billion) with a deficit of more than 64 trillion dinars (over $48 billion).

The Kurdistan Region’s share in the federal budget is set at 12.67 percent, amounting to more than $12 billion annually.

The management of oil and gas has been among the thorny issues between Erbil and Baghdad for over a decade, leading to the suspension of the Region’s share in previous federal budgets.