Iraq
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- federal parliamentary democracy
- CONSTITUTION
- ratified on October 15, 2005 (currently under review by the Constitutional Committee and likely to be subject to a referendum in the future)
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on European civil law and Islamic law
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- Council of Representatives
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- according to the constitution, the federal judiciary includes the High Judicial Council, the Federal Supreme Court, the Federal Court of Cassation, the Public Prosecutor's Department, the Judicial Oversight Commission, and other federal courts
RELIGIONS
97% Muslims; Christian and Hindu minorities
From the country
JULY 4, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: NINE SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER 2014 SPEICHER MASSACRE
The Iraqi Central Criminal Court on 27 June 2021 issued death sentences against nine convicts involved in the Camp Speicher massacre in Saladin, in 2014.
JUNE 25, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: MAN WHO MURDERED KURDISH FAMILY IN BAGHDAD SENTENCED TO DEATH
A man who killed a Kurdish family of three in Baghdad was sentenced to death on 8 June 2021, a lawyer told Rudaw.
JUNE 24, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: 13 PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TERRORISM BY BAGHDAD COURT
Thirteen people have been sentenced to death in Iraq after confessing to their association with the Islamic State (ISIS), according to a statement from the Supreme Judicial Council.
JUNE 16, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: AL-QAEDA MEMBER SENTENCED TO DEATH
An Iraqi criminal court handed down two death sentences to a senior al-Qaeda religious leader member, the Supreme Judicial Council announced on 14 June 2021.
- APRIL 20, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE FOR SULAIMANI MAN WHO KILLED WIFE AND CHILDREN
Erbil’s Court of Appeals has upheld a death sentence for a man who burned his wife and three children to death in December 2018 in Sulaimani province, the victims’ lawyer told Rudaw on 19 April 2021.
APRIL 12, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: ISIS LEADER HANDED DEATH SENTENCE FOR 2014 ANBAR MASSACRE
An Iraqi court sentenced an Islamic State(ISIS) leader to death on 12 April 2021 for committing a massacre against a Sunni tribe in Anbar province in 2014.
- MARCH 4, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ EXECUTES 3 'TERRORISM' CONVICTS
Iraq on 3 March 2021 hanged three men convicted on "terrorism" charges in a notorious southern prison, local officials said, despite repeated international condemnations of the country's execution record.
FEBRUARY 25, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: WOMAN TO BE HANGED FOR KILLING HER 2 CHILDREN
An Iraqi court on 19 February 2021 sentenced a woman to death by hanging after convicting her of throwing her two children into a river in a case that triggered shockwaves in the country.
FEBRUARY 10, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: FIVE ‘TERRORISM’ CONVICTS HANGED
Iraq on 9 February 2021 hanged five people convicted on “terrorism” charges in a notorious southern prison, security sources said, despite an international outcry in recent months over the country’s execution record.
JANUARY 27, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: THREE CONVICTED OF ‘TERRORISM’ HANGED
Three Iraqis convicted of “terrorism” were hanged on 25 January 2021, a security source said, days after a deadly double suicide attack in a crowded Baghdad marketplace.
- JANUARY 25, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: 340 DEATH SENTENCES RATIFIED FOLLOWING ISIS SUICIDE BOMBINGS
Iraq’s president ratified more than 340 death sentences for people with terrorism and other criminal charges, state media reported on 24 January 2021.
- NOVEMBER 17, 2020IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ EXECUTES 21 CONVICTED OF ‘TERRORISM’ AT NOTORIOUS NASIRIYAH PRISON
Iraq executed 21 men convicted of “terrorism” on 16 November 2020 at the notorious Nasiriyah prison in the country’s south, medical and police sources said.