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
- JANUARY 8, 2007IraqDEATH PENALTY
SADDAM LAWYERS CLAIM HIS BODY WAS ABUSED, APPEAL TO UN
a member of Saddam Hussein's legal team said that she intends on suing the Iraqi government at the International Court of Justice over the taunting of the former leader by executioners on the gallows.
- JANUARY 7, 2007IraqDEATH PENALTY
NEW U.N. CHIEF AGAIN URGES STAY OF IRAQI EXECUTIONS
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, dogged by charges he was softening UN opposition to capital punishment, weighed in again on the issue on January 6, urging a stay of executions in Iraq.
- JANUARY 5, 2007IraqDEATH PENALTY
EUROPEAN RIGHTS PANEL URGES END TO ALL EXECUTIONS IN IRAQ
the Council of Europe appealed to Iraq to immediately stop all executions, describing the death penalty as a human rights violation.
- JANUARY 5, 2007IraqDEATH PENALTY
GERMANY UNDERLINES EU OPPOSITION TO DEATH PENALTY BEFORE IRAQ EXECUTIONS
the European Union's current leader, Germany, stressed the EU's opposition to the death penalty before Iraq's planned execution of two of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants.
- JANUARY 3, 2007IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ URGED TO REPRIEVE SADDAM AIDES
Louise Arbour, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, appealed to Iraq not to execute two senior aides to Saddam Hussein.
- JANUARY 3, 2007IraqDEATH PENALTY
UN CHIEF BACKS CALL AGAINST SADDAM AIDES' EXECUTIONS
UN chief Ban Ki-moon backs the top UN human rights official's call for Iraq to refrain from executing two aides of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein
- JANUARY 2, 2007IraqDEATH PENALTY
VATICAN DAILY DENOUNCES IMAGES OF SADDAM'S HANGING AS `SPECTACLE'
the Vatican's official newspaper decried media images of Saddam Hussein's hanging as a “spectacle” violating human rights and harming efforts to promote reconciliation in Iraq. The Vatican, which opposes the death penalty...
- JANUARY 2, 2007IraqDEATH PENALTY
NEW UN CHIEF KEEPS DISTANCE FROM DEATH PENALTY BAN
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon departed from the traditional UN opposition to the death penalty...
- JANUARY 1, 2007IraqDEATH PENALTY
On April 9, 2003 Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime was overthrown by a US-led military coalition.
On April 9, 2003 Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime was overthrown by a US-led military coalition.