IBA warns of compromising the constitutional independence of the Federal Supreme Court

Shafaq News/ The Iraqi Bar Association warned on Saturday of the consequences of involving non-judges in the decision-making procedure of the Federal Supreme Court, deeming it a "violation of the independence of the judicial authority and the Iraqi constitution".

The association said in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency that it submitted earlier an amendment bill to the Federal Supreme Court to redress the lack of quorum ahead of the due elections. However, the bar's initiative went unheeded by the legislative authority.

"During its last session, the Council of Representatives discussed a draft of the Federal Court law based on Article 92 of the enforceable constitution, and under this bill, the Federal Supreme Court consists of a president, a deputy president, and seven judges, to whom four experts in the Islamic jurisprudence and two members of the legal scholars were added. All of them are entitled to exercise the role of judges in voting on the decisions taken by the court."

"The legal principle distinguishes between the judge and the expert, whereby the expert undertakes to clarify the scientific and technical matters without addressing the legal aspects and issues that are limited to and interfere with the duties of the judges," it indicated, "the expert's opinion is unbinding to the court."

"This calls for emphasizing that judges in the Federal Court alone and not others possess the legal authority to issue rulings and judicial decisions. The Federal Court can seek, when necessary, the opinion of experts in Islamic jurisprudence and legal scholars and adhere to the constitutional legal obligations related to the impermissibility of enacting a law that contradicts with the constants of the provisions of Islam and the principles of democracy, in accordance with the provisions of Article (2) of the Iraqi Constitution of 2005."

The statement warned of "involving nonjudges in issuing rulings and judicial decisions under the titles of experts and jurists or any other name, is a departure from the concept of the judge and constitutes a violation of the authority of an independent judge who has no authority but the law, and an interference in the affairs of justice prohibited in Article (88) of the Constitution. It also has serious social, economic, and cultural consequences that are difficult to prevent and contain."

The union called, "In our statement, we address the president and members of the Council of Representatives and all of our Iraqi people, realizing the importance of the Federal Supreme Court and its great national role in building the state and society, and protecting the unity, independence, and sovereignty of Iraq."