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
APRIL 27, 2022IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: ‘TERRORIST’ SENTENCED TO DEATH IN DHI QAR
The Dhi Qar criminal court on 25 April 2022 issued a death sentence against a ‘terrorist’, a security source reported.
FEBRUARY 15, 2022IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: POLICE OFFICER, INFORMANT SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER DEADLY OPERATION
An Iraqi court sentenced to death on 13 February 2022 a police officer and an informant over a deadly operation in December that left 20 people from the same family dead.
DECEMBER 29, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: THREE PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TERROR CHARGES
An Iraqi criminal court on 23 December 2021 handed death sentences to three people accused of having a hand in a terrorist bomb attack that targeted southeastern Iraq earlier this month, the country’s Supreme Judicial Council announced.
DECEMBER 14, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: THREE HANGED ON ‘TERRORISM’ CHARGES
Iraq on 14 December 2021 hanged three men convicted of “terrorism” offenses in a prison in the city of Nasiriyah in the mainly Shiite Muslim south, two security sources told AFP.
NOVEMBER 29, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: DEFENDANT SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TERRORISM IN NAJAF
Najaf Criminal Court sentenced a defendant to the capital penalty for charges related to terrorism on 28 November 2021.
NOVEMBER 4, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: TWO MILITANTS GET DEATH SENTENCES FOR KILLING TWO JOURNALISTS
Iraq’s Basra Criminal Court sentenced two men to death on 1 and 2 November 2021 for involvement in a death squad that killed multiple Iraqi journalists and activists.
- NOVEMBER 3, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING PROTESTOR
Two men accused of killing an Iraqi protestor during nationwide demonstrations that broke out in late 2019 were handed a death sentence by a court in Basra province, state media reported on 2 November 2021.
- OCTOBER 11, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: DAESH'S 'SHARIA JUDGE' SENTENCED TO DEATH
An Iraqi court on 21 June 2021 handed a death sentence to Daesh's "Sharia judge" after convicting him of killing 5 security forces in the country.
- SEPTEMBER 28, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: THREE MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER IN IRAQI KURDISTAN
A court in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, on 2 August 2021 sentenced three people to death for the murder of a leader of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (DPIK).
- SEPTEMBER 7, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQI: DEATH PENALTY HANDED TO CONVICTED KILLER OF LOCAL KARBALA OFFICIAL
An Iraqi court on 21 August 2021 sentenced the recently convicted killer of the Mayor of the central city of Karbala to the death penalty.
SEPTEMBER 7, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: 7,900 PRISON INMATES SENTENCED TO DEATH, MP REVEALS
The head of the Parliamentary Strategic Planning and Government Program Monitoring Committee, Hazem Majid Al-Khalidi, called on the Presidency of the Republic to abide by the constitution to implement death sentences against terrorists whose sentences wer
SEPTEMBER 4, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: SIX IRAQIS ON DEATH ROW EXECUTED, THREE FOR 'TERRORISM'
Six Iraqis sentenced to death, three for "terrorism", were hanged on 30 August 2021 in a prison in southern Iraq, a medical source told AFP.