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The Judge Medhat Al Mahmoud met the Head and members of the Parliamentary Legal Committee in the Constitutional Justice Hall.

The Head of the Federal Supreme Court, Judge Medhat Al-Mahmoud, and the judges met the Head, his deputy, and members of the Legal Committee of the House of Representatives.

Mahmoud said in the meeting held in the Constitutional Justice Hall in the Federal Supreme Court, "There is a common opinion with the House of Representatives on the need to legislate the law of the Federal Supreme Court."

Mahmoud added, "The valid law for the court was legislated under the law of the administration of the Iraqi state, and by returning to the advanced international experiences."

He pointed out that "the valid Constitution obliged the issuance of a new law of the Federal Supreme Court, and accordingly we submitted in 2006 a draft law to the Presidency Council," making clear that "another draft was drafted at the time, and he and the two projects remained in the presidency."

Al-Mahmoud said that "another project that has been put forward recently we do not know its source, but it seems that its texts were a mix between the visions of the draft submitted by the Federal Supreme Court and the other side."

He pointed out that "another draft was voted in the Council of Ministers in the previous election cycle, and was referred to the House of Representatives and then another draft sent from the Council of Ministers to the House of Representatives, which is currently under discussion."

"The court is keen to approve the law as soon as possible, but in accordance with the constitution, He continued, "The members of the Court reviewed the draft currently under discussion, and found that a number of its provisions do not conform to the Constitution and the constitutional process."

He stressed, "Our remarks came on the articles and clauses of it, where we put a table divided into three fields: the first contains the text sent by the Council of Ministers, the second field is the vision of the Federal Supreme Court of this text, and the third is reasons for the court to put the alternative text."

"The first observation concerns the number of members of the court, where the legislator made them 13 members, which is an exaggerated number from our point of view in addition to the predominance of non-judicial, although the Constitution provides that the Federal Supreme Court is a judicial body," Mahmoud said.

He continued, "Our vision that the number of members of the court seven judges, including the president, and his deputy, and four non-judges are experts of Islamic jurisprudence and jurists give their opinion and experience in the field of the principles of Islam and the principles of law."

The Head of the Court continues, "The second observation relates to the nomination mechanism, The abolition Law of the State Administration gave that authority to the Judicial Council at that time, where three sessions of the Judicial Council were held, which resulted in the nomination of 27 judges from applicants, which is three times the required number, The names of the candidates were sent to the Presidency Council, which had contacts with the concerned bodies and a presidential decree was issued appointing a Head and eight members of the court to make up its current staff.

Al-Mahmoud said, "The valid Constitution lifted that power from the higher Judicial Council, and limited his task in the nomination of three judicial titles, namely, the Head and members of the Federal Court of Cassation and the Chief Prosecutor and the Head of the judicial supervision  are appointed by the House of Representatives, except for the principle of separation of powers stipulated in Article (47) of the Constitution, as well as the House of Representatives, which the Constitution gave it the authority to appoint those judicial addresses only three members of the federal judiciary exclusively. "

He explained, "Our proposal in the nomination accompanied the developed countries, to meet the General Assembly of the Federal Supreme Court, which is 9 members, who will nominate instead of four members who will retire at the issuance of the law, three times the required number and the presidency of the Republic appointed the replacement of the four of them after consultation with the concerned bodies".

Mahmoud said, "A second change takes place after three years includes the remaining members and the Head of the court and the same mechanism by nominating three times the required number."

He stressed that "a comprehensive change of the members of the Federal Supreme Court will occur within three years and gradually to preserve the constitutional experience and case law."

Al-Mahmoud added that "the General Assembly of the Court when nominating members will consult with the Higher Judicial Council and the Council of the Judiciary in the Kurdistan Region, the Bar Association, the Union of Jurists and other civil society organizations concerned with constitutional justice."

He goes on to say that the names of the candidates are transferred to the Presidential Office to issue decrees of the Republic of those chosen for membership of the Federal Supreme Court.

"The third point relates to the duration of the judicial experience, which came under the project by 15 years, which is insufficient and does not conform to the judicial contexts," Mahmoud said.

He added, "Our vision is to make the judicial experience 20 years; because we assume that the graduate of the Judicial Institute at the age of 30 years, and add the duration of judicial experience of 20 years will become 50 years and the duration of his membership in the Federal Supreme Court 12 years, so he will be after the constitutional service 62 years. "

Al-Mahmoud denied "the existence of a constitutional vacuum in the Federal Supreme Court," noting that "all its members are in good health and there is nothing to hinder the performance of their tasks."

He continued, "The court has a two reserve members, namely, Judge Mohammed Rajab al-Kubaisi and Mohammed Qasim al-Janabi, and they have been issued two presidential decrees to do so, In the case of an impediment to the participation of any of the current members of the Court, the replacement member shall replace him. This is for the law in force, and the law to be passed will outline how the members of the court will be appointed. "

"All our judgments and decisions are published on the website of the Federal Supreme Court in both Arabic and English, to ensure transparency and impartiality and inform the citizen," he said.

He stated that "the Federal Supreme Court is keen to inform the international public opinion through the judgments and decisions that Iraq is a state of law and there is a court monitors the constitutionality of legislation and regulations." He concluded by saying "the need to preserve the institutions of the state and not to be exposed or offended because we are in front of an international community and that exposure to any institution means targeting all of Iraq."

For his part, the Head of the Legal Committee Hadi Rebwar called to "continue communication between the House of Representatives and the Federal Supreme Court because of its importance in terms of the constitutionality of laws."

Hadi said that "the Committee wants to submit all the draft laws to the Federal Supreme Court to take advice on them before the vote to ensure that they are issued in accordance with the Constitution, including the draft law of the Federal Supreme Court." He stressed that "the Commission received the proposals of the Court regarding its law, but its members were keen to hold a face-to-face meeting in order to hear more proposals."

Hadi confined the dispute to the law of the court "who is responsible for the nomination of members of the Court, and the decision-making mechanism, and some of the technical issues."

In turn, the deputy of the Committee, Mohammed al-Ghazi, "the importance of the Federal Supreme Court in maintaining balance and the rights of components, and convey the image to the outside world that Iraq has constitutional and legal institutions."

He continued, "The Legal Committee is in the process of starting to legislate the law of the Federation Council to complete the lack of legislative authority, and the draft will be presented to the Federal Supreme Court in order to take the court opinion in its texts."

The rapporteur, Yahya al-Mohammadi, talked about real obstacles to the adoption of the Federal Supreme Court Law, and attempts to political interference, while the Committee member Saeb Khadr expressed admiration for the decisions of the Federal Supreme Court, which he said it maintained the balance and preserved the rights of components and the identity of the civil state.

He requested for "the adoption of the proposal of the Court to be changed its members in two stages in order to preserve the constitutional experience and benefits provided by the Federal Supreme Court for small components."

In turn, a member of the Legal Committee Ammar al-Shibli on the importance of legislation of the Federal Supreme Court and contribute to the resolution of differences, especially the nomination of judges

At the end of the meeting, the judge stressed the importance of continuing dialogue and convergence of views in order to get out the Federal Supreme Court law in a manner consistent with the Constitution, and it was agreed to maintain communication on all laws, especially the Constitution provided for legislation.

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