Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court on Tuesday declared unconstitutional a Kurdistan Region law suspending provisions of the Iraqi Penal Code related to state security offenses.

In a statement, the court said Law No. 21 of 2003, which suspended the application of several articles of Iraq’s amended Penal Code No. 111 of 1969 in the Kurdistan Region, violated Articles 110 and 121(Second) of the 2005 Iraqi Constitution.

The ruling, issued during a session chaired by Judge Munthir Ibrahim Hussein, is final and binding on all authorities under Articles 93 and 94 of the Constitution, the court added.

Enacted by the Kurdistan Parliament in 2003, the Regional law suspended provisions covering offenses against Iraq’s sovereignty, external and internal state security, and public authority. These included Article 156, Articles 157–195, 198–219, 223–225, and 227–228 of the Penal Code.

Article 121 of the Iraqi Constitution grants Regional authorities legislative, executive, and judicial powers within the federal constitutional framework, while Article 110 reserves certain powers, including national security policy, exclusively for federal authorities.

The decision follows previous Federal Supreme Court rulings invalidating Kurdistan Region legislation, including its 2007 oil and gas law in 2022 and the law extending the Regional parliament’s term in 2023.