Federal Court rejects Baghdad lawsuit against Erbil for exporting Kurdistan Region's oil
and Ministry of Natural Resources in Kurdistan Regional Government on the export of oil from abroad without the approval of Baghdad.
In a statement of KRG , received by “Shafaq News", “ after Kurdistan Region's first shipment of oil through the Turkish port of Ceyhan, Iraq's federal oil minister has filed an official complaint to the Federal Supreme Court in Baghdad, asking to rule against the Ministry of Natural Resources of KRG and to prevent the export of oil from the region.
He explained that the Federal Court held on 23 of June, a special session to consider the request and the reasons behind it, noting that it had decided unanimously to reject the request because it is "inconsistent with the legal procedures in place in Iraq."
The statement added that Baghdad was based on its own interpretation of constitutional provisions by claiming that the oil and gas affairs fall within the exclusive powers of the federal government and rely on the central laws that had been enacted before 2003, indicating that it has "ignored" the fact of the constitutional provisions existing in Article 110, which specifies the exclusive powers of the federal government that does not include oil and gas issues.
The statement added that with the issuance of this court's decision, KRG has a significant for their acquired rights as contained in the Constitution.
The statement noted that the Federal Court decision was unanimous from all its members, stressing that it has explicitly rejected the request made by the Federal Minister of Oil.
It pointed out that such a decision by the highest court in the country is binding on the Council of Ministers and cannot be appealed in any way.
The statement called on the federal government to respect the judicial decision by the Federal Supreme Court, stressing that the Federal Ministry of Oil "SOMO" must abandon illegal and unconstitutional interventions to prevent the export of oil from Kurdistan Region.
The statement called on Baghdad to stop sending threatening letters or submit false claims for traders and potential buyers of exported oil from KRG.
Kurdistan began last month to sell the first shipment of oil that has been pumped through a new pipeline that runs from the fields in the region to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean.
The move has raised the wrath of the federal government, which says it is the sole owner of the right in the management of oil wealth and has filed an international arbitration in Paris against Turkey and affiliated oil transportation company. Baghdad also threatened to sue any buys oil from the region and considered it as "smuggled."
