Laws
Treaties
Judgments
Browse By Jurisdiction
Iraqi Constitution, Iraq
Back
Latest Version in WIPO Lex
Year of Version
2005
Dates
Published:
December 28, 2005
Adopted:
October 15, 2005
Type of Text
Constitution/Basic Law
Subject Matter
Other
Notes
The current Constitution of Iraq was approved by referendum on 15 October 2005, to replace the Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period (TAL), previously adopted by a Governing Council appointed by the Coalition Provisional Authority after the Iraq War. This Constitution defines Iraq as a democratic, federal, representative and parliamentary republic, with Islam as the State religion and basic foundation for the country’s laws.
Iraq has a federal government where the legislative branch is composed of the Council of Representatives and the Federation Council, responsible for the election and appointment of members of the executive and the judiciary.
The executive branch of government is composed of the President (Head of State elected by the Council of Representatives) and the Council of Ministers.
The federal Judiciary branch is mainly composed of the Higher Judicial Council, the Supreme Court, the Court of Cassation, the Public Prosecution Department, and the Judiciary Oversight Commission.
The Iraqi constitution contains no provision expressly referring to intellectual property rights. However, there are a number of articles that recognize and guarantee the protection of economic, social and cultural rights of citizens (see article 23 on private property, art. 35, art. 113).
The English version of the Constitution of Iraq is reproduced from the website of the Government of the Republic of Iraq (© http://www.iraqinationality.gov.iq/index_en.htm).
Available Texts
Main text(s)
Main text(s)
Arabic
دستور جمهورية العراق
PDF
English
Iraqi Constitution
PDF
HTML
WIPO Lex No.
IQ004