Issued by the dissolved Revolutionary Command Council. Iraqi parliament works to cancel about 6,<> resolutions

Baghdad — Nearly 20 years after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, the Iraqi parliament is working to cancel and amend about 6,<> decisions of the dissolved Revolutionary Command Council, including decisions described as harsh as special political and criminal courts were formed, as well as tightening penalties in most Iraqi laws in force.

To implement this order, committees were formed between the presidency of the republic and the legal committee in parliament to classify these decisions in preparation for their cancellation or amendment, according to the head of the committee, Rebwar Hadi, who confirmed that the number of decisions in question is 5903,<>, and that most of them are still in force.

Hadi pointed out – to Al Jazeera Net – that his committee held a meeting with Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid and discussed with him the status of legislation in Iraq, explaining that the committees formed will begin their work starting this week, where the agreement included the development of alternative legislation through the enactment of laws.

The head of the legal committee in the Iraqi parliament pointed out that the decisions that did not need alternative legislation will be canceled according to the constitutional contexts, noting that the parliament has already canceled dozens of laws during the past years and sessions.

Hadi pointed out that the legal committee in parliament needs to cooperate and coordinate with the presidency to submit draft laws as a body concerned with legislation.

Chairman of the Legal Committee of the Iraqi Parliament confirmed that the Parliament has already abolished dozens of laws during the past years (Al Jazeera)

Consideration of resolutions

Earlier, the Iraqi president directed the need to expedite the review of the decisions of the dissolved Revolutionary Command Council, stressing the importance of parliament enacting and legislating important laws stipulated in the constitution.

According to a statement by the presidency, Abdul Latif Rashid met with a delegation of the parliamentary legal committee headed by Rebwar Hadi to discuss ways to cancel the decisions of the dissolved Revolutionary Command Council and submit an integrated legislation package, directing the body of advisers and experts in the presidency to cooperate fully with the legal committee to speed up the review of those decisions.

Regarding the details of these decisions and the reasons for canceling them, legal expert Ali al-Tamimi believes that the decisions of the so-called dissolved Revolutionary Command Council are still in force, and they are like legislation at the time, which is 5903 decisions, including decisions related to tightening penalties, as they do not accept release on bail.

Tamimi pointed out, in an interview with Al Jazeera Net, that the previous interim constitution issued in 1970 was allowing the Revolutionary Council to issue decisions that have the force of law has exploited this paragraph until the decisions became more than the decisions of the Iraqi Penal Code, consisting of only 506 articles, so you need many decisions to be canceled.

Al-Tamimi pointed out that the decisions of the Revolutionary Council are considered effective by virtue of the current constitution in accordance with Article 130, which confirms that laws remain in force unless canceled or amended by law, pointing out that the ministerial curriculum of the Sudanese government stipulated the cancellation of those decisions that violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international conventions.

Al-Tamimi explained that most of these decisions were used by the former regime to suppress dissent, so the parliament is concerned with them today, and they can be canceled in one sentence while a few of them are amended after studying them.

The legal expert pointed out that among the most dangerous of these decisions is the formation of special courts at varying times, decisions that violate international law as well as Iraqi law and the International Covenant, such as the so-called Revolutionary Court, the Interior and Defense Court, and the Intelligence Court, which severely punish the smallest violation.

Al-Tamimi called for the importance of rehabilitating those affected by these courts and compensating them retroactively in the event that these decisions are annulled and restoring their rights and privileges, especially since these courts proceed with their rulings without presenting them to the Court of Cassation, so they are invalid decisions.

20 years have passed since the dissolution of the Revolutionary Command Council in Iraq, and until now its decisions are in force, as the political system did not abolish them after 2003. According to a legal activist, under these decrees, a policeman or security officer "has the right to kill a protester" even though this violates the new constitution.
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Study it before canceling it

Contrary to Tamimi's view, Hadi Hussein al-Kaabi, a professor of philosophy of law at the University of Babylon, believes that it is wrong to issue the annulment of decisions in such a large amount in general without detail, since they were not in principle related to a single topic.

He added that these decisions emanate from a number of laws and changed many of their fundamental provisions, so each decision must be independently considered and the feasibility of amending it must be studied, or at least the decisions with one subject and try to classify their provisions in order to amend or cancel them.

Al-Kaabi told Al Jazeera Net that seeking to try to cancel completely without tabulation is not approved by logic and contradicts the feasibility of the amendment without careful consideration of its direct and indirect legal effects.

Al-Kaabi said that these decisions were not issued by the so-called Revolutionary Command Council, but were issued by specialized legal committees from the Iraqi jurisprudence and judiciary after extensive effort and studies, and amended many of the weaknesses and defects in Iraqi legislation at the time.

It is noteworthy that the Iraqi Council of Representatives issued in August 2007 a law stipulating the cancellation of the decisions of the dissolved Revolutionary Command Council No. (172) of 1989 and its amendment and Resolution (1177) of 1975, while repealing dozens of laws that contradict modern legislation.