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Judicial Independence in Iraq

part of the Rule of Law, Strengthening the Rule of Law in Iraq

Project Chairs

  Jason Gluck

 

ROL played an important role in helping create the Iraqi Committee on Judicial Independence, a consortium of representatives from the Ministries of Human Rights and Justice, the judiciary, the legal community, civil society organizations, academia and the media from across Iraq.

The ICJI has provided a forum for the development of consensus recommendations regarding the country's judicial system, and continues to consult with the Constitutional Review Committee and the Council of Representatives more generally to gain assurances for the independence of the judiciary.

Following the judicial federalism conference in March 2009, ROL hosted a two-day conference on judicial independence – a particularly timely and much needed conference given that only in 2009 was the Kurdish judiciary separated from the KRG Ministry of Justice.  The conference expanded on previous work by USIP to assist judicial authorities and civil society organizations in securing safeguards for the independence of the judiciary. One outcome is the consideration of opening a Kurdistan branch of ICJI.  Other results from the conference and next steps will feed into a weeklong training of judges in coordination with the CEELI Institute this summer.

ROL has encouraged building the capacity of the judiciary, which has been enacted through a number of Iraqi-owned developments.  ICJI began hosting educational seminars for members of the Council of Representatives and has provided recommendations to parliament on constitutional amendments and draft laws impacting the independence of the judiciary. A staff member from ICJI spearheaded the first law journal in Iraq (see the first issue below), and ICJI recently successfully completed its third annual ICJI conference (report forthcoming).

See ROL’s other projects in Iraq on constitutional development, property law, and transitional justice.

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