Iraqi Legal System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Iraqi Legal System - Essay Example Iraq’s legal system is based on Sunni and Shii fiqh sects and this is applied through the Sharia courts. Its legal system is an integrated form of various laws and customs; such as the constitutional law, legislation and statutory provisions, judicial precedents, customs, and juridical opinions. The Hanafi School of fiqh, originated in Iraq. In the 17th century, Iraq came under Ottoman rule, which introduced several new codes into Iraq’s legal system. These included civil, penal and commercial codes based on the European legal systems. After World War I, British Mandate was established in the region. This brought to an end, the control exercised by the Turkish Ottomans on Iraq. As such, Ottomans could not implement the Ottoman Law of Family Rights (OLFR) 1917 in Iraq (Legal History). The British administrators did not implement the OLFR because it was not a part of local law. In addition, there were an equal number of Shia and Sunni members in Iraq. After the Arab Revolt, King Faisal established a kingdom in Iraq in the year 1921. In 1932, Iraq obtained full independence from the British. The monarchy of King Faisal was overthrown in 1958, by a military coup; and Iraq became a republic. The Iraqi Law of Personal Status provides that the courts should deliver judgments, in accordance with the principles of Islamic Sharia law. Thus, the customary Islamic Sharia law constitutes the source of law in Iraq. This was confirmed by Article 1 of the Civil Code (Legal History). There are two important schools of fiqh in Iraq, namely the Jafari and Hanafi schools. In addition, Iraq contains other religious minority groups, like the Christians, Jews and Yezidis. It adopted a provisional constitution on 22 September 1968, and Article 4 of this constitution, declares Islam to be the state religion (Legal History). Iraq has adopted a legal system that is founded on European civil and Islamic law. However,