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 24, 2024IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: THIRTEEN MEN EXECUTED IN NASIRIYAH PRISON
Thirteen men were executed in Nasiriyah prison on December 25, 2023, the first mass execution since 21 men were executed on November 16, 2020.
- SEPTEMBER 13, 2023IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ DEBATES LAW ON DEATH PENALTY FOR SAME-SEX RELATIONSHIPS
On August 15, 2023 a draft bill was introduced in Iraq that would see the death penalty introduced for homosexuality.
SEPTEMBER 5, 2023IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: 3 HANGED FOR IS-CLAIMED BLAST THAT KILLED HUNDREDS
Iraq has hanged three people convicted for a 2016 bombing that killed more than 320 people in a Baghdad shopping district.
AUGUST 13, 2023IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: COURT ANNULS DEATH SENTENCE IN ACADEMIC'S MURDER
An Iraqi court on July 31, 2023 overturned the death sentence handed down over the 2020 killing of prominent academic Hisham al-Hashemi and sent the case back to investigators.
AUGUST 1, 2023IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: SUSPECTED DRUG DEALER SENTENCED TO DEATH
An Iraqi court on July 25, 2023 issued the death sentence for a suspected drug dealer, reported state media.
- MAY 8, 2023IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: COURT ORDERS THE DEATH PENALTY FOR A POLICEMAN WHO KILLED A GOVERNMENT ADVISOR
An Iraqi court on May 7, 2023 issued a death sentence for a policeman after he was found guilty of leading a group that shot dead the well-known analyst and government advisor Hisham al-Hashimi three years ago in Baghdad.
APRIL 20, 2023IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: 8 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ISIS ACTIVITY IN JAIL
A court in Baghdad on 18 April 2023 sentenced eight people to death for attempting to organize the Islamic State (ISIS) in prison.
MARCH 23, 2023IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER ACTIVIST’S ABDUCTION
An Iraqi court has sentenced two men to death in absentia for the 2020 kidnapping and disappearance of an anti-government activist, the judiciary on March 22, 2023 said.
- JANUARY 29, 2023IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: 14 SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER CAMP SPEICHER MASSACRE
Iraq's judiciary has sentenced 14 people to death over the 2014 Camp Speicher massacre.
OCTOBER 26, 2022IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ANTI-REGIME ACTIVIST'S KILLING
An Iraqi court has sentenced a man to death over the 2019 killing of an activist who had taken part in anti-government protests that year, the judiciary said on 25 October 2022.
- OCTOBER 9, 2022IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: SUSPECT IN KILLING YAZIDI MAN, DAUGHTER SENTENCED TO DEATH IN DUHOK
A court in Duhok on 5 October 2022 sentenced the suspect in the killing of a Yazidi man and his six-year-old daughter to death following a relatively swift hearing session during which the defendant admitted to the murders.
MAY 31, 2022IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: COURT SENTENCES ISIS PLOTTER OF 2021 BAGHDAD MARKET BOMBING TO DEATH
An Iraqi court on 30 May 2022 sentenced to death an ISIS group member convicted of plotting a 2021 bomb attack that killed 32 people in a crowded Baghdad market.