Iraq's Federal Court: Legal expert questions legitimacy and political bias

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Sunday, Kurdistan24 interviewed a writer and legal expert Karo Kawa, who published a book entitled "The Kurdistan Region between the Constitution and the Federal Court".

During his interview with Kurdistan 24, Karo Kawa highlighted that, "The Federal Court was established on an unconstitutional basis, and its decisions should not be implemented.”

“The reality is that the Federal Supreme Court was established during the premiership of Ayad Allawi in 2005 and prior to the first session of the Iraqi parliament and ratification of the constitution. This is clear evidence of the unconstitutionality of the Federal court as a legal body,” he clarified.

As Kawa remarked, the Iraqi Prime Minister of the time, Ayad Allawi, decreed the creation of the Federal Supreme Court on the basis of the Law of Administration for the State of Iraq in 2005; this document is later nullified by the Iraqi constitution.

The Federal Supreme Court has been established on the basis of Article 44 of the Law of Administration for the State of Iraq in 2005.

He explained his argument further and stated that only the Iraqi parliament can curtail the Federal Court, "as it was established on an unconstitutional basis," he said.

Even based on the hypothesis of the constitutionality of the Federal Court, there are blatant systemic deficiencies in the rule of law.

“Imagining if all is true about the establishment of the Federal Court, the constitution predicates the establishment of this legal body on the basis that it should consist of three different classes of members: judges, legal experts, and religious experts; however, currently there is only a class of judges in the court, which is against the law,” he underlined.

Kawa added that, “If there is political consensus, the Iraqi parliament can dissolve the Federal Supreme Court and establish a new court based on the constitution, and include members of Kurds, Sunnis, and Shiites."

"Most of the decisions issued by the Federal Court are politically motivated and are against the constitutional structure of the Kurdistan Region and its people," he said.