BAGHDAD: Iraq’s top court on Tuesday threw out a legal challenge that had temporarily halted three controversial laws passed last month by the country’s parliament.
The measures — each supported by different blocs — include an amendment to the country’s personal status law to give Islamic courts increased authority over family matters, including marriage, divorce and inheritance, which critics have said would erode women’s rights.
They also include a general amnesty law that opponents say allows the release of people involved in public corruption and embezzlement as well as militants who committed war crimes. The third bill aimed to return lands confiscated from the Kurds under the rule of Saddam Hussein, which some fear could lead to the displacement of Arab residents.
Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court decided on Tuesday to revoke its previous judicial injunction that had suspended the implementation of the three laws after a lawsuit was filed by a number of lawmakers attempting to halt them. The ruling also noted that all laws must comply with the country’s constitution.
The lawmakers in suit had claimed that the voting process was illegal because all three bills were voted on last month together rather than each one being voted on separately. The Federal Supreme Court issued an order last month to suspend their implementation until the case was adjudicated.
Parliament Speaker Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani in a statement praised the passage of the amnesty law in particular.
“As we promised the mothers of the innocent, after we received the cries of those in prisons, we worked within Parliament to obtain political consensus to pass the general amnesty law,” he said.
“And thank God we succeeded where others failed, and achieved the desired goal by voting on it and then implementing it.”
Iraq’s top court throws out challenge to new laws, including one increasing Islamic courts authority
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Iraq’s top court throws out challenge to new laws, including one increasing Islamic courts authority
- The lawmakers in suit had claimed that the voting process was illegal because all three bills were voted on last month together rather than each one being voted on separately
Arab and Islamic states reject Israel’s recognition of Somaliland
- Israel formally recognized Somaliland as an “independent and sovereign state” on Friday
- Saudi Arabia on Friday expressed full support for sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity of Somalia
A group of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries, alongside the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), have firmly rejected Israel’s announcement of its recognition of the Somaliland region within Somalia.
In a joint statement issued on Saturday, the ministers condemned Israel’s decision, announced on December 26, warning that the move carries “serious repercussions for peace and security in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region” and undermines international peace and security, the Jordan News Agency reported.
The statement described the recognition as an unprecedented and flagrant violation of international law and the charter of the United Nations, which uphold the principles of state sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, JNA added.
Israel formally recognized Somaliland as an “independent and sovereign state” and signed an agreement to establish diplomatic ties, as the region’s leader hailed its first-ever official recognition.
The ministers reaffirmed their full support for the sovereignty of Somalia, rejecting any measures that would undermine its unity or territorial integrity.
They warned that recognizing the independence of parts of states sets a dangerous precedent and poses a direct threat to international peace and security.
The statement also reiterated categorical opposition to any attempt to link the move with plans to displace the Palestinian people outside their land, stressing that such proposals are rejected “in form and substance.”
Alongside the Jordanian foreign ministry, the joint statement was issued by the foreign ministers of Egypt, Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, The Gambia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Maldives, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, Turkiye and Yemen, as well as the OIC.
Saudi Arabia on Friday expressed full support for the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Somalia, and expressed its rejection of the declaration of mutual recognition between Israel and Somaliland.
