Iraqi court responds to PM Barzani's complaint
Specifically, the court ruled that the first paragraph of Article 11 and the seventh paragraph of Article 13 are unconstitutional.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Federal Supreme Court of Iraq, in response to Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, on Monday ruled that some of the contents in two articles of Iraqi law are unconstitutional.
Specifically, the court ruled that the first paragraph of Article 11 and the seventh paragraph of Article 13 are unconstitutional.
Previously on July 15, PM Barzani lodged a complaint against the wording of a few paragraphs located in Articles 11, 12, and 13.
The first paragraph of Article 11 of the budget law states that if Baghdad and Erbil do not reach an agreement on budget issues, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al Sudani shall form a special committee to resolve the outstanding issues.
Additionally, the seventh paragraph of Article 13 of the Budget Law states that if Erbil and Baghdad do not reach an agreement on the remittance of the Kurdistan Region's financial entitlements, the Iraqi parliament will make the necessary decision.
On July 12, the Federal Supreme Court ordered the "temporary" suspension of six articles of the Iraqi budget law for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025 until a complaint by the Iraqi Premier against a number of articles is settled.
Iraqi lawmakers approved the country's biggest budget on June 11.
Hailed as one of the country’s biggest budgets, the state expenditures were set at 198.91 trillion Iraqi dinars ($153 billion) with a deficit of more than 64 trillion dinars (over $48 billion).
The management of oil and gas has been among the contentious issues between Erbil and Baghdad for over a decade, leading to the suspension of the Region’s share in previous federal budgets.
