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| Saturday, 07 July 2007, 05:38 EDT Kurdistan Draft Constitution-Part I Kurdistan National Assembly in Erbil. FILE PHOTO Translated by: Muzafer Abdullah Babakr The Globe Note: This is an informal English version of the Constitution of Kurdistan Region-Iraq Committee of Reconsidering Draft Constitution of Kurdistan Region-Iraq Erbil-August 22, 2006 A.D. Kharmanan 31, 2706 (Kurdish Calendar) In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate Preamble We, the people of Kurdistan-Iraq, have suffered decades of injustice and oppression at the hands of the dictatorship regimes that adopted an extreme centralism, deprived us of the liberties and natural rights that God has bestowed upon humankind, and [ the regimes] were arrogant to recognize the human civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights acknowledged in the International Charters. Further, formerly we, contrary to the peoples that were detached from the Ottoman Empire following World War I by virtue of the 14 principles of the American President Woodrow Wilson, were the victims of international interests that resulted in depriving us of our right to self-determination and determination of our political and legal position by our own will. The 1920 Treaty of Sevres approved the Kurd's right to self-determination within its Articles (62, 63, and 64), but this right was later annulled by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. The League of Nations Investigating Committee became certain that South Kurdistan, which was later called Iraqi Kurdistan, was not, one day, part of the Arab Iraq and that the claims and requests of the neighboring countries are not supported by historical facts. Further, the books and maps prepared by ancient Arab historians and geographers and the maps of the Europeans of the 16th and 20th centuries impugned these claims and requests. It thus ascertained that the borders of Iraq do not go northward beyond the Mount of Hamrein and that Kurdistan was not part of Anatolia, thereby all the claims of claimants were rejected. Notwithstanding, Kurdistan was annexed to the Arab Iraq due to the requirements of international interests with no regard to our opinion poll or plebiscite on our will. The Iraqi government partly recognized a minimum of some of our rights in its statement issued on March 30, 1932, but this commitment was having an international image as Article (10) prevented its amendment or cancellation except with the consent of the majority of the members of the League of Nations. The Iraqi government's commitment to the United Nations remained effective after its foundation but it remained only ink on paper. The policy of repression escalated year after year for more than eight decades. This policy, beginning from the Constitution of 1925 through to the 1958, 1964, 1968, and 1970 Constitutions, and ending with the draft Constitution of 1990, was not stopped or limited by the provisions and texts quoted from the international Declarations and Charters on human rights that praise justice, equality, partnership, liberty, and equal opportunity that are stated in the successive Constitutions of Iraq. Rather, the Iraqi successive governments have exceeded all red lines and did not stop by just ignoring our national rights, but surpassed to committing crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing. These policies reached the stage of wiping out 4,500 villages and changing the demographic status of a large part of Kurdistan by forcibly displacing the citizens of the nondestroyed cities and villages and getting them to change their nationality. Further, those Iraqi successive governments pursued the policy of corporal cleansing by using chemical weapons in the town of the martyred Halabja, the areas of Balisan, Badinan, and many other areas, sending thousands of young Fayli Kurds to their deaths in chemical field tests and mass graves after forcibly getting their families to emigrate from Iraq and drop their Iraqi nationality. That was followed by the campaigns of genocide against Barzanis and the Anfal campaigns that claimed the lives of more than 182,000 unarmed young, elderly, women, and children civilians. The cruelty that we dealt with and the oppression, repression, injustice, and genocide that was the language of the rulers of Iraq inspired us into the spirit of revolution and inflamed the sparkles of successive uprisings that our forefathers held their torch on their path toward self-defense, battling for existence, and responding to the inclination for survival. Thus, our revolutions, struggles, and uprisings extended over the period of the 20th century and our leaders did not hesitate to reach out for peace whenever a ray of hope on the horizon was seen. However, the habit of the rulers who ascended to power in Iraq was at times treachery and betraying their commitments at other times. This was the essence of their policy and manner of action. The best evidence of this fact is their denial of the June 29, 1966, Treaty, their renouncement from the March 1970 Treaty, and their concluding of the sinister March 1975 Algeria Treaty, which paved the way to pounce on the Liberation Movement of People, a light that, albeit, was extinguished for some time but managed to flicker. The Movement strongly resumed after some months and culminated in the 1991 Spring Uprising and the subsequent migration of a million people to neighboring countries, tragedies that shook the global conscience. Thereupon, the Security Council Resolution 688 was issued on April 5, 1991, and the safe haven of Kurdistan was thereby established by the coalition countries of the Second Gulf War, which became a saving rope that helped us escape from an unknown fate. We took advantage of this golden chance and elected the first Parliament on May 19, 1992, established the first government on July 5, 1992, and then set up the judicial power followed by Parliament's famous decision declaring federalism on its part and choosing a federal relationship for Kurdistan with any Iraqi central government. In addition, realizing Iraq as a Republican, Federal, Parliamentary, Democratic, and Pluralistic State, pursuant to our legitimate rights to determine our fate, based on the United Nations Charter, International Agreement of civil and political rights, and the International Agreement of economic, social, and cultural rights that the United Nations issued in 1966 and Iraq acceded on January 25, 1971. When Iraq was liberated from the brutal dictatorship regime, the Iraqi State Administration Law for the transitional period was approved whereby a federal state of Iraq was established, and then Iraq's permanent Constitution was established on the same grounds, our hopes were restored. Further, the approval by the majority of the Iraqi people of the Federal Constitution in the plebiscite held on October 15, 2005, proves the right choice of Kurdistan people. It also proves it's the right choice in identifying a system of governance proper for an Iraq that consists of two main nationalities, which are Arabs and Kurds as well as Turkmen, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Armenian, and various religions such as Islam, Christianity, Yazidi, Sabea, and Mandea. The best of this lies in the establishment of a federal State that shall be more qualified and perfect for establishing justice and achieving security, peace, liberty, democracy, equality, and equity among its national and religious components. Realizing that our generations have suffered from persecution, oppression, and injustice, and in recognition of the Leaders and Symbols of the Kurdistan Liberation Movement, the Peshmarga fighters and the martyrs, who sacrificed for the sake of freedom for Kurdistan people and its legitimate rights, including its right to self-determination and democracy for Iraq; further, in recognition of the justness of the goals for which they struggled and in adoption of the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the relevant International Agreements and Charters; moreover, to establish a democratic society in Kurdistan Region based on social justice and basic human rights open to all its national and religious components, a society that releases the potential of its citizens and builds Kurdistan-Iraq as a unified democratic Region, that contributes in building a country for Iraq in which our will and choice will go side by side with the will of the rest of the components of the Iraqi people and its political national powers, provided it shall be a federal, democratic, and Parliamentary State that believes in pluralism and human rights and for all these, we have established this Constitution. Section I Fundamental Principles Article 1 Kurdistan Region is a federal region within the federal State of Iraq, and its political system is Republican, Parliamentary, and Democratic, which adopts political pluralism, peaceful rotation of power, and the principle of separation of powers. Article 2 First: Kurdistan Region-Iraq consists of the governorate of Dahuk in its current administrative borders and the governorates of Kirkuk, Sulaymaniyah, and Erbil, along with the districts of Aqra, Shekhan, Sinjar, Tala'far, Talkif, Qaraqush, and the subdistricts of Zimar, Ba'shiqa, and Aski Kalak from Nineveh Region. Besides, the districts of Khanaqin and Mandali from Diyala Region, the district of Badra, and the subdistrict of Jasan from Al-Wasit Region in their administrative borders prior to 1968. Second: Article (140) of the Federal Constitution shall be relied upon for demarcating the administrative border of Kurdistan Region. Third: Whenever the areas detached from Kurdistan are restored according to the provision of Article (140) of the Federal Constitution, people inhabiting them shall enjoy the equal rights, obligations, and guarantees provided for the people of Kurdistan in this Constitution. Article 3 No new region within the borders of Kurdistan Region-Iraq may be erected. Article 4 First: People are the source of power and the basis of its legitimacy, and shall exercise this through their Constitutional institutions. The Constitution and laws of Kurdistan Region are superior and sovereign over all laws passed by the Iraqi government, which are not within the exclusive authorities of the federal government stipulated in Article (110) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Iraq. Second: In the event of conflict between Kurdistan Region laws and any other law, Kurdistan courts must apply the Constitution and laws of Kurdistan unless the law is repealed or amended by the Parliament or abolished by the Constitutional Court. Article 5 Kurdistan Parliament may enforce any law of the Federal Republic of Iraq in Kurdistan Region, which is not within the exclusive authorities of the federal government stipulated in Article (110) of the Federal Constitution, if the interests of Kurdistan people so demand and that shall be regulated by law. Article 6 First: The people of Kurdistan-Iraq consist of Kurds and other nationalities, Turkmen, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Armenians, and Arabs, who are citizens of Kurdistan Region in accordance with the law. Second: Kurdistan Region authorities may regulate citizenship rights by a law. Article 7 This Constitution confirms the Islamic identity of the majority of the Kurdistan people and the principles of Islamic Shari'a (law) shall be one of the main sources of legislation. It also guarantees the full religious rights of Christians, Yazidis, and others to the freedom of belief and religious practice. Article 8 Kurdistan-Iraq people shall enjoy the right to self-determination and be free to determine their political position and to achieve economic, social, and cultural development. They have chosen a free union with Iraq, its people, land, and sovereignty, as long as all shall be abided by the Federal Constitution, a federal, Parliamentary, democratic, and pluralistic system, and respect the human individual and collective rights. The people shall also enjoy the right to reconsider the choice of determining their own future and political position in the following cases: First: Violation of the sanctity of the Federal Constitution as a retreat from commitment to the federal system or the basic constitutional principles of democracy and human individual and collective rights. Second: Adoption of the policy of ethnic discrimination and changing the demographic status of Kurdistan or working on keeping its previous effects and results as a retreat from the constitutional commitments stated in Article (140) of the Federal Constitution. Article 9 It shall be a fundamental and constitutional right of Kurdistan Region to: First: Conduct an opinion poll of Kurdistan Region before any agreement shall be concluded between the federal government and any foreign state or party that might affect the current or future circumstances, conditions, or rights of Kurdistan Region. Second: Conclude agreements with governments of regions of foreign countries (within the limits of enacting laws that are not within the exclusive authorities of the federal government). Third: Conclude agreements with foreign countries with the consent of the federal government, and the federal government may not show dissent without convincing legal justifications (within the limits of enacting laws, which are not within the exclusive authorities of the federal government). Article 10 It shall be a fundamental and constitutional right of Kurdistan Region to: First: Have a fair share of federal resources in a way that achieves the principle of population equality and proportionality, taking into account what inflicted Kurdistan from burning, destruction, and deprivation of its people from its merits during the previous successive regimes. Second: Share federal posts and offices in an equal and proportionate way. Third: Confer office grades of federal offices based in Kurdistan Region on its citizens. Article 11 The city of Erbil is the capital of Kurdistan-Iraq and the Parliament may take other cities in the Kurdistan Region as the capital. Article 12 First: Kurdistan Region shall have a special flag hoisted beside the flag of the Federal Republic of Iraq, and shall have a motto, anthem, a national day (Nawroz), and this shall be regulated by law. Second: The Kurdistan flag is red, white, and green, with a 21-ray, yellow sun in the center. Third: A law shall regulate the formal medals, decorations, and holidays. Article 13 Kurdistan Region shall have defense Peshmarga forces to guard its formulation and duties, whereof it shall be regulated by law and no armed militias outside the range of law may be formed. Article 14 First: Kurdish and Arabic shall be two official languages in Kurdistan Region, and this Constitution guarantees the rights of citizens of Kurdistan Region to the education of their children in their mother-tongue languages such as Turkmen, Assyrian, and Armenian in Kurdistan governmental educational institutions according to educational regulations. Second: Turkmen and Assyrian languages are two other official languages besides Kurdish and Arabic in the Administrative Units densely populated by people speaking these languages, and this shall be regulated by law. Third: Article (4) of the Federal Constitution shall be relied on concerning the official language whenever a legal opportunity shall be available to apply its provisions in Kurdistan Region. Article 15 Kurdistan Region shall adopt a free economic system, prohibit monopoly and exploitation, and guarantee a free and legitimate competition. Article 16 The Kurdistan Regional Government shall ensure Kurdistan Region's economic reform on modern economic grounds for promoting the infrastructure and development and motivating investment in the various sectors, and this shall be regulated by law. Article 17 First: Public assets in Kurdistan Region belong to the Kurdistan people, and a law shall regulate the special provisions governing its preservation, management, and disposal conditions, and the limits within which some of the assets are to be relinquished. Second: Natural wealth, surface water, groundwater, nonextracted metals, quarries, and mines are national wealth of Kurdistan Region, and a law that preserves the interests of the current and future generations shall regulate their extraction, management, and disposal conditions. Section II Chapter One Civil and Political Rights Article 18 Citizens shall be equal before law in their rights and duties without discrimination on account of sex, race, color, language, social origin, religion, creed, social or economic status, or political and ideological affiliation. Article 19 Everyone has the right to life, security, and liberty. Deprivation or restriction of these rights is prohibited except in accordance with the law and based on a decision issued by a competent judicial party. Article 20 Equal opportunity shall be guaranteed to all citizens of Kurdistan Region and Kurdistan Region authorities must take the necessary measures to achieve this. Article 21 Women shall enjoy equality with men and discrimination against them shall be prohibited. The Kurdistan Regional Government shall ensure that women enjoy all civil and political rights set forth in this Constitution and in the International Agreements and Charters ratified by the State of Iraq, and it is to remove anything whatsoever that is regarded as a stumbling block to equality in the social, cultural, economic, and political life. Article 22 First: Education is a right that shall be guaranteed by the Kurdistan Regional Government to every citizen without discrimination, which shall be compulsory in the primary stage, and the Kurdistan Regional Government shall be committed to eradicate illiteracy among all age groups, male and female. Second: The Kurdistan Regional Government shall ensure free education in primary, secondary, university, vocational, and technical stages, and shall be committed to its development and promotion of scientific research for peaceful and civil purposes and care for excellence, creativity, and innovation and the various aspects of ingenuity. Third: A law shall regulate private and public education. Article 23 First: Citizens of Kurdistan Region shall have the right to freely participate in the management of public affairs directly or through their elected representatives. They shall also have the right to participate in general elections, plebiscites, elections of local and municipal councils and private committees, and assume the public positions equally in accordance with the conditions set forth in the law and the principle of equal opportunity. Second: A proportion of no less than 25% of the seats shall be guaranteed for women's participation in the Parliamentary elections of Kurdistan-Iraq and in the local and municipal councils. Article 24 Penalty is personal and the liberty and dignity of humans shall be protected. Article 25 There shall be no crime or punishment except by law. The punishment shall only be for an act that the law considers a crime when perpetrated. A harsher punishment than the applicable punishment at the time of the offense may not be imposed. Article 26 Litigation before a competent court is a right protected and guaranteed to all. Article 27 The accused is innocent until proven guilty in a fair, legal trial. Article 28 The right to defend is sacred and guaranteed in all stages of investigation and trial in accordance with the provisions of law. Article 29 Everyone shall have the right to be treated fairly in the judicial and administrative proceedings and may not be maltreated, and the use of physical or mental tools of torture or inhumane treatment may not be practiced against him. Confession made under force, threat, torture, promise, or intimidation shall not be relied on, and the victim shall have the right to seek compensation for material and moral damages incurred in accordance with the law. Article 30 No ex post facto law shall be passed unless stipulated otherwise. This exclusion shall not include laws on taxes and fees. Article 31 No criminal ex post facto law shall be passed unless it is to the benefit of the accused. Article 32 The investigating party must submit the preliminary investigative documents to a competent judge in a period not to exceed 24 hours from the time of the arrest of the accused, which may be extended only once and for the same period. Article 33 First: Detention of persons shall be prohibited and no person may be held in custody, arrested, or imprisoned except by a decision of a competent judicial party according to the law. Second: Detention, arrest, or imprisonment shall be prohibited in places not designed for these purposes pursuant to laws covering health and social care and subject to the Kurdistan Regional Government authorities. Article 34 The court shall appoint a lawyer at the Kurdistan Regional Government expense to defend the accused guilty of a felony or a misdemeanor who has no defense lawyer in the two phases of investigation and trial. Article 35 First: Home and its equivalents shall have sanctity and may not be violated, entered, searched, or controlled except in the circumstances and in a manner as prescribed by law. Second: Persons and their properties may not be searched except in accordance with the law. Article 36 Any person arrested must be informed of reasons for his arrest, when it occurs, and promptly informed of any charge against him. Article 37 No discrimination in the treatment of prisoners may be made on account of race, color, sex, religion, political opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status. Article 38 The religious beliefs and moral principles of the group to which a prisoner belongs shall be respected. Article 39 The right to submit complaints and petitions to Kurdistan Region authorities shall be guaranteed to the citizens of Kurdistan Region, and the authorities must make a decision during a period not to exceed 15 days. If they refuse to receive them, for any reason whatsoever, or settle them within the specified period without a legal excuse, they shall be held legally responsible. Article 40 Political refugees shall not be forcibly extradited to the country from which they fled. Article 41 The Regional Government of Kurdistan-Iraq shall guarantee care for the families of the martyrs of the Kurdistan People's Liberation Movement, the Peshmarga, families of the victims of the Anfal and the chemical bombardment, and those who are permanently disabled due to the chemical bombardment. Article 42 Any entity or program that adopts, incites, facilitates, glorifies, promotes, or justifies Chauvinism, Fascism, Racism, Terrorism, or accusations of Infidelity (Takfiri) or racial or ethnic cleansing shall be prohibited. The Kurdistan-Iraq authorities shall be committed to combating terrorism in all its forms and shall work to protect the land of Kurdistan Region from being a base, pathway, or field for its activities. Chapter Two Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights Article 43 Work shall be a right to every citizen and an opportunity must be made available to him to earn his living by a work chosen and freely accepted by him. Article 44 The Kurdistan Regional Government shall ensure the provision of technical and vocational directing and training programs to create job opportunities. Article 45 Workers shall have the right to be equally paid for an equal work and the law shall regulate the relationship between workers and employers on economic grounds, taking into account the rules of social justice and protection of workers from exploitation. Article 46 Workers shall have the right to equal opportunity to be promoted within their work to an appropriate higher level without subjecting them to any consideration other than seniority and competence. Article 47 The Kurdistan Regional Government shall ensure the right to establish and freely join syndicates and vocational unions, and this shall be regulated by law. Article 48 Private property shall be inviolable and may be expropriated only for the purposes of public interest in return for a fair and quick compensation paid before lifting the ownership from the owner or when expropriated, and this shall be regulated by the law. Article 49 Family is the natural and fundamental social unit of society and is entitled to protection from the Kurdistan government, therefore: First: Marriage shall be only with full consent of both parties to be married and without coercion. Second: The Kurdistan Regional Government shall guarantee protection of motherhood, childhood, and old age and the establishment of an Advisory Council for Family Affairs. Third: Children have the right to upbringing, care, and education from their parents. Parents have the right to respect and care from their children, especially in times of need, disability, and old age. Fourth: Economic exploitation of children shall be prohibited and the Kurdistan Regional Government shall take promising measures for their protection. Fifth: All forms of discrimination, violence, and abuse in family, school, and society shall be prohibited. Sixth: The Kurdistan Regional Government shall guarantee the establishment of special centers for care and protection of women who lost their family safety for social reasons. Article 50 Every citizen has the right to health care and the Kurdistan Regional Government must provide the means of prevention and treatment, and, according to its capability, guarantee the right of the one who loses the source of living for circumstances beyond his control in the event of sickness, disability, widowhood, and old age. Article 51 First: The Kurdistan Regional Government shall be committed to caring for public health through the establishment of hospitals, health institutions, and social care centers for the elderly, and ensuring the means of prevention and treatment. Second: Individuals or private corporations may establish private hospitals and health-care centers under the supervision of the relevant Kurdistan Regional Government authorities, and this shall be regulated by law. Article 52 First: The disabled shall enjoy a genuine right to be respected and, regardless of the cause, nature, or danger of his disability, have the same fundamental rights provided to the citizens who are his age, and enjoy a decent life, which is normal as much as could be. Second: The disabled shall enjoy the right to physiotherapy, psychotherapy, education, and employment, and shall have the right to benefit from prostheses and orthopedic appliances and all that enables him to develop his abilities and skills to the maximum limits for qualifying himself in order to be integrated into society. Third: The disabled shall enjoy the right for his special needs to be taken into consideration at all stages of economic and social planning. Fourth: The disabled shall enjoy the right to be protected from any exploitation or any system or treatment of a discriminating, arbitrary, or degrading nature. Fifth: The Kurdistan Regional Government shall guarantee care for sign language and writing in Braille for those who are in need of them due to any physical defect. Article 53 The Kurdistan Regional Government shall guarantee care for the universities of Kurdistan, protect their sanctity, and preserve their artificial personal position within the framework of law. Article 54 First: The Kurdistan Regional Government shall guarantee care for science, literature, arts, and promoting scientific research. Second: Everyone shall have the right to participate in cultural life, enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications, and benefit from the legal protection of the moral and material interests springing from any scientific, artistic, or literary production of which he is the author. Third: Everyone shall have the right to freedom of scientific research and creative activity. Fourth: The Kurdistan Regional Government shall guarantee the protection of patents, designs, models, trademarks, trade names, and the rights of literary, artistic, and scientific works. Article 55 The Kurdistan Regional Government shall guarantee care for juveniles and the young by: First: Protecting them from exploitation and preventing them from delinquency. Second: Developing their faculties in various fields, developing their abilities, refining their talents, and encouraging their activities. Third: Preparing them educationally, instilling genuine moral and national values and inculcating the spirit of initiatives in them, and making them aware of their nation's historical, struggling, and humanitarian heritage. Fourth: Providing opportunities for them to invest their talents in contribution to economic, social, and cultural development projects. Fifth: Developing plans and programs to enable them to assume their duties and play their role in society. Sixth: Encouraging their individual and collective initiatives, caring for their creations, and establishing the necessary centers to care for and support them financially and morally. Seventh: Encouraging cooperative spirit, group work, and democratic practices, and providing the means that shall allow them to invest productively in their leisure time in a way that refines their abilities and increases their expertise. Article 56 The practice of sport shall be the right of every citizen, and the Kurdistan Regional Government must encourage athletic activities and provide for its requirements. Article 57 First: Protection of the environment, land, water, air, plants, and living creatures shall be the responsibility of natural and artificial persons, and the one who inflicts damage to any of them shall bear the responsibility to set it right in addition to his being criminally responsible in accordance with law. Second: Citizens shall have a fundamental right to liberty, equality, and satisfactory living conditions in a social and economic environment that allows them to live in dignity and prosperity, and they shall have the duty to protect and improve the environment for the benefit of present and future generations. Third: The Kurdistan Regional Government shall ensure finding a solution to the sources of environment pollution and putting a limit to them. Hence, it has to seek to develop forests, protect them, and expand their areas, and preserve green areas and belts inside and around the cities and develop them. Besides, it has to expand the creation of parks and natural preserves to preserve the natural wildlife for living creatures and plants and natural production, and prohibit the establishment of buildings and facilities and the use of mechanisms and machines in natural preserves, and all these shall be regulated by law. Article 58 The Kurdistan Regional Government must take the necessary measures to protect consumers, encourage them, and enable them to defend their rights by, with this purpose in mind, providing legal means for the establishment of unions and associations. Chapter Three: Liberties Article 59 Everyone shall enjoy the right to freedom of opinion and expression. Article 60 The Kurdistan Regional Government shall ensure freedom of publishing, printing, and press, as well as the right to assemble, demonstrate, and strike peacefully, and this shall be regulated by law. Article 61 The freedom of postal, telegraphic, telephonic, electronic, and other communication and correspondences shall be guaranteed and may not be monitored, wiretapped, or disclosed except for a legal or security necessity and by a judicial decision. Article 62 Kurdistan Region citizens shall be free to travel or reside outside the Region or return to it. Article 63 Each individual, legally based within Kurdistan Region, shall have the right to movement from it and the freedom to choose his residence, and this right may not be restricted except for the necessities of the protection of national security, public order, public health, or the rights and liberties of others in accordance with the law. Article 64 The Kurdistan Regional Government shall be committed to strengthen, support, and develop the role of civil society organizations and ensure their independency so they achieve their goals, and this shall be regulated by law. Article 65 There shall be no coercion in religion; everyone has the right to freedom of thought, religion, and belief, and the Kurdistan Regional Government shall ensure the freedom of Kurdistan citizens including Muslims, Christians, Yazidis, and others to practice their worship, ceremonies, and rites. As well, it shall ensure respect for mosques, churches, and other places of worship and their development. Article 66 All forms of involuntary servitude, forced labor, or arbitrary dismissal shall be prohibited and may not be resorted to them: First: As a means of political coercion or direction or as a punishment for embracing a political view or a view that is ideologically opposed to the current political, economic, or social system or expressing such a view. Second: As a way to mobilize workforce and use it for the purposes of economic development Third: As a punishment for participating in a party. Fourth: As a means of racial, social, national, religious, doctrinal, or political discrimination. Article 67 First: The freedom to form and join political parties and associations shall be guaranteed, and this shall be regulated by law. Second: It shall not be permitted to force any person to join a party or association, continue his membership in it, or quit it. Third: Political parties and associations shall guarantee exercising democratic principles in the management of their formation, regulations, and the rights of their affiliates. Fourth: Parties may not be branch of a foreign party or serve foreign interests and agencies. Fifth: Parties and associations shall be committed, in their programs, regulations, and practices, to the fundamental principles and rights stated in this Constitution, accepting different opinions, pluralism, and eliminating violence. Sixth: Using religion or quotations of holy books or ceremonies or rituals as means of degrading another one, politically or socially, to achieve partisan, electoral, or other advantages by parties, organizations, associations, and individuals shall be prohibited. Seventh: Those associations whose objectives or actions may contradict the provisions of criminal laws or take a counter position to the political system in Kurdistan Region, or peaceful coexistence and rapprochement among national and religious components of Kurdistan people, shall be prohibited. Article 68 Everyone has the right to freedom of participation in peaceful meetings and associations, and no restrictions may be imposed on this right except in accordance with the law. Article 69 The International Agreements, Charters, and Declarations of human rights that Iraq has ratified or acceded shall supplement the provisions of this Constitution. Article 70 Foreigners shall enjoy the rights and freedoms declared in the applied International Charters, Agreements, and Treaties to which the Federal Republic of Iraq is a party and in return, they must be abided by their duties. Article 71 Practicing any of the rights and liberties set forth in this Constitution may not be restricted or abridged except in accordance with the law provided the abridgment or restriction may not affect the essence of the right or liberty except within a reasonable and justifiable extent that is acceptable in a society built on democracy, dignity, equality, liberty, and justice. Chapter Four Duties Article 72 Defending country and the safety of its land, protecting its constitutional institutions, preserving the national unity, and commitment to the noble ideals of the Kurdistan people's struggle for freedom and democracy is a sacred duty of every citizen. Article 73 Abiding by the Constitution and laws and regarding the public order is the duty of Kurdistan Region citizens. Article 74 Respecting and commemorating the leaders and symbols of the Kurdish Liberation Movement, its revolutions and martyrs, and protecting the dignity of their relatives, Peshmarga veterans, and militants who participated in the revolutions is a sacred duty of the Kurdistan Regional Government and citizens. Article 75 Every citizen must protect public property, preserve public money, and respect the property rights of others. Article 76 Every person must contribute to public expenditure through the taxes and fees imposed on him in accordance with the law. Article 77 The one who holds an official position or public office must perform his duties with discipline, honesty, and honor. Section III Powers of Kurdistan Region-Iraq Article 78 Powers of Kurdistan Region-Iraq shall consist of: First: Legislative Power (Kurdistan Parliament) Second: Executive Power Third: Judicial Power Chapter 1 Legislative Power (Kurdistan Parliament) Article 79 Kurdistan Parliament shall be the legislative power in Kurdistan Region and a reference to decide on the crucial issues of Kurdistan Region people, and its members would be representatives of people that shall be elected by a general, free, secret, and direct ballot. Article 80 First: The method of electing the members of the Parliament of Kurdistan-Iraq and the manner of doing it, determining its timing and rate of representation and conditions of voters and members shall be identified in accordance with the law. Second: A fair representation of the nationalities in Kurdistan Region shall be regarded in the composition of Parliament. Third: Parliament members shall represent the people of Kurdistan-Iraq with all its national, political, and religious components regardless to their affiliation or constituency. Article 81 First: The electoral term of the Parliament shall be four years starting from the date of its first meeting. Second: The Kurdistan Region President shall, within 15 days from the date of announcement of the final results of the elections, convene the Parliament to meet, and if not convened, it shall automatically meet at 12 noon the next day. Article 82 The Parliament shall hold its first meeting under the chairpersonship of its most senior member in age and shall elect, by a secret ballot, a Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and Secretary General. Article 83 The Parliament member shall take the following oath prior to assuming his duties: "I swear by Almighty God to protect the interests of Kurdistan Region people, its unity, dignity, and the rights and liberties of its citizens, and to do my membership duties sincerely and faithfully." Article 84 The Parliament member shall be deemed resigned from his [other] post[s read commitments] upon taking the constitutional oath and shall have the right to return to it or a similar job after the expiration of the term of his membership in Parliament. In addition, the duration of his membership in Parliament shall be accounted for the purposes of upgrading, promotion, seniority, and retirement. Article 85 Combination of membership in Kurdistan Parliament with the federal Parliament or local or municipal councils or public offices is not permitted. Article 86 The Parliament shall have two annual term periods; each shall be four months and its bylaws shall define the methods of convening the sessions. The session in which the general budget is being presented shall not end until approval of the budget. Article 87 A term may be extended for no more than 30 days to complete the tasks that require the extension based on a request from the Kurdistan Region President, the Prime Minister, or 25 members of Parliament. Article 88 The quorum in the Parliament shall be achieved by the presence of an absolute majority of its members, and its decisions shall be made by the majority votes of those present unless the law provides otherwise; if the votes are equal, the Speaker of the Parliament's vote shall make one preponderant. Article 89 Ten or more members of Parliament may submit a law or resolution proposal. Article 90 First: A Parliament member may direct questions to the Prime Minister, his Deputy, or Ministers on issues pertinent to the Council of Ministers or one of the Ministries, and the Parliament rule and bylaw shall regulate this. Second: Ten of the members of Parliament may direct an inquiry to the Prime Minister or members of the Council of Ministers, and the inquiry shall be discussed only after eight days from the date of its arrival at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. If the inquiry results in withdrawing confidence from the Prime Minister or one of the Ministers, for the Prime Minister it shall be with the consent of two thirds of the members of Parliament, and for the Minister with the consent of an absolute majority of members of Parliament. Article 91 The rights and privileges of the Speaker of Parliament, his Deputy, Secretary General, and members of Parliament shall be defined by law. Article 92 Details of the course of work in the Parliament, the manner of holding regular and emergency sessions and cases of ending membership, and the way of filling the vacant seats shall be defined by the rules and bylaws of Parliament. Article 93 The Parliament shall practice the following exclusive powers: First: Decide on the crucial issues of the people of Kurdistan Region-Iraq. Second: Approve the proposal to amend the Kurdistan Region Constitution by a two-thirds majority of its members on the condition that the amendment proposal would not take away from the fundamental rights and liberties stipulated herein. Third: A. Legislate laws for Kurdistan Region, and amend and repeal them. B. Modify the application of federal laws that are not within the exclusive authority of the federal government. C. Legislate laws related to common powers between the federal authorities and the Kurdistan Region authorities. Fourth: Pardon the Kurdistan Region President or the Vice President, by the absolute majority of members of Parliament, after being indicted by the Kurdistan Constitutional Court in one of the following situations: A. Perjury of the constitutional oath B. Violation of the Constitution C. High treason Fifth: Grant to and lift confidence from the Council of Ministers and its members by an absolute majority of the members of Parliament. Sixth: Approve common policies between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the federal government. Seventh: Control the executive power and question the Prime Minister, his deputy, and Ministers, according to the law and its bylaw. Eighth: Approve the general budget and final accounts for the Kurdistan Region, conduct transfers between the sections, and ratify all expenses not mentioned therein. Ninth: Approve general plans for development. Tenth: Lay taxes and fees, and amend and repeal them. Eleventh: Settle the validity of membership in the Parliament. Twelfth: Develop its bylaws, identify its personnel, estimate its budget, appoint its staff, and determine their emoluments. Thirteenth: Form temporal, permanent, and investigative committees on issues that it considers necessary. Article 94 The Parliament may not waive its legislative powers except to the extent stated in Clause (Seventh) of Article (104) of this Constitution. Article 95 First: The member shall have a Parliamentary immunity and shall have the freedom of speech within the limits set forth in the bylaw of Parliament. Second: The freedom of a Parliament member may not be restricted and he may not be watched except with the consent of the Parliament. Third: The Parliament member may not, without the authorization of Parliament, except in flagrante delicto, be pursued, investigated, inspected, or arrested, nor shall his home or office be searched during a term convened by any party. Fourth: The Parliament member may not, without the authorization of the Speaker, except in flagrante delicto, be pursued, investigated, inspected, or arrested, nor shall his home or office be searched after a term of the Parliament, and as soon as the Parliament holds its meeting, it must be notified about the measures taken against him. Article 96 First: The Parliament may dissolve itself with the concurrence of two-thirds majority of its members. Second: The Parliament may be dissolved by a decree of the Kurdistan Region President in the following cases: A. Resignation of more than half of its members. B. Lack of quorum to hold its term within 45 days from the date of convening to hold the term to start its electoral term. C. Not granting confidence to three different consecutive proposed ministerial formations. Third: A writ of election shall be issued for conducting Kurdistan Parliament elections within 15 days from the date of its dissolution or during 2 months prior to the end of its electoral term. Article 97 In the event of the dissolution of the Parliament or the end of its electoral term, a new election shall be conducted to elect a new Parliament in a period maximum of which shall be 60 days from the date of its dissolution or during 2 months prior to the end of its electoral term. Article 98 If the duration of the electoral term of the Parliament ended and a new election was not held due to war or natural disaster, the Parliament would continue functioning until the election of a new Parliament and the holding of its first meeting. Chapter Two Executive Power First: Kurdistan Region President Article 99 First: Kurdistan Region shall have a President called (Kurdistan Region President) who shall be the highest official of the executive power and the Commander-in-Chief of the Peshmarga forces (Regional Guard), and he shall represent the Kurdistan Region people. He shall act in lieu of them in the national occasions, and undertake coordination between the federal authorities and the Kurdistan Region authorities. Second: The Kurdistan Region President shall have a Vice President that shall assist him in performing his duties and replace him in his absence and shall become the deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Peshmarga forces. Article 100 The Kurdistan Region President shall be elected by a general, secret, and direct ballot by the citizens of the region. Article 101 The method of electing the Kurdistan Region President and conditions of nomination, the manner of impeaching him and bringing him to trial, and cases of ending his term shall be defined by the law. Article 102 Prior to assuming his duties, the Kurdistan Region President shall take the following constitutional oath before the Parliament of Kurdistan-Iraq: "I swear by Almighty God to preserve the rights, achievements, unity, and the interests of Kurdistan Region people, and to perform my duties sincerely and faithfully and abide by the Constitution of Kurdistan-Iraq." Article 103 The term of the Kurdistan Region President in office shall be four years and he may be reelected for a second term. Article 104 The Kurdistan Region President shall practice the following powers: First: Propose bills and draft resolutions to the Parliament of Kurdistan-Iraq. Second: Issue laws and decrees enacted by the Parliament of Kurdistan-Iraq within 10 days from the date of their receipt by the Office of the President. He shall have the right to oppose them in whole or in part and return them to the Parliament for reconsideration and, in case they are not issued within the mentioned period, the Parliament's decision shall be deemed final and ratified. Third: Issue a writ of election for conducting general elections of the Parliament of Kurdistan-Iraq upon its dissolution or at the end of its term pursuant to Article (96) of this Constitution, taking into account the specified periods in Articles (96 and 97). Fourth: Issue a decree to convene the Kurdistan Parliament to hold its first meeting of the electoral term within 15 days from the date of announcement of the final results; if not convened, the Parliament shall automatically meet the day next to the mentioned period. Fifth: Dissolve the Parliament of Kurdistan-Iraq by a decree in cases provided for by this Constitution or the law of Kurdistan Parliament. Sixth: Dismiss a Minister based on a suggestion from the Prime Minister. Seventh: Issue decrees that shall have the force of law after consultation and agreement with the Speaker of Parliament and the Council of Ministers of the Kurdistan Region. This shall be practiced when the Kurdistan Region and its political system or public security or its constitutional institutions face demolishing dangers threatening its entity, and the Parliament could not meet provided these decrees shall be presented to the Parliament in its first meeting. If not presented or presented but the Parliament does not approve them, the decrees shall cease to have the force of law. Eighth: Special pardon for those convicted according to law. Ninth: Ratify death sentences or reduce them to lifelong imprisonment. Tenth: Declare a state of emergency in cases of war, occupation, rebellion, anarchy, natural disasters, spread of epidemics, or any other states of emergency provided the first period shall be for not more than one month. Further, the subsequent extensions, with the consent of an absolute majority of members of Parliament, may be for a period not exceeding three months for each. Special provisions of states of emergency shall be regulated by law. Eleventh: Convene the Council of Ministers for an emergency session when necessary, discussing the specific issues for which the meeting shall be held and chairing the meeting. Twelfth: Allow the entry of federal armed forces or any other military units to the Kurdistan Region, when needed, with the consent of the Parliament of Kurdistan-Iraq, provided he shall determine their duties, venue, and the duration of their presence. Thirteenth: The Kurdistan Region President may send Peshmarga forces (Regional Guard) or the internal security forces outside the Kurdistan Region with the consent of Parliament of Kurdistan-Iraq. Fourteenth: A. Charge the nominee of the largest parliament bloc with the formation of the Council of Ministers within a period of 30 days from the date of the charge. B. The Kurdistan Region President shall charge another nominee from the same bloc for the formation of the Council of Ministers if the first nominee failed to form it within the period specified in Clause (A) above. C. In the event of failure of the second charged nominee for the formation of the Council of Ministers, the Kurdistan Region President may choose whomever he shall see appropriate and charge him to form the Council of Ministers. D. The designate for the formation of the Council of Ministers may be from among the members of Parliament or others. Fifteenth: Issue a decree whereby accepting the resignation of the Council of Ministers or a Minister upon withdrawal confidence from any of them. Sixteenth: Issue a decree whereby accepting the resignation of the Council of Ministers or a Minister and charging them to continue their duties until the formation of a new Council of Ministers. Seventeenth: Issue a decree for the establishment of Kurdistan Regional offices for social, cultural, and developmental affairs in Iraqi diplomatic embassies and missions abroad. Eighteenth: Appoint those with special grades based on the nomination of the relevant Minister and the approval of the Council of Ministers. Nineteenth: Appoint judges and the Chairman and members of the Public Prosecution after being nominated by the Kurdistan Region juridical council. Twentieth: Award military ranks for Peshmarga officials (Regional Guard) and the internal security forces, and fire and retire them according to the laws in force. Twenty-first: Award medals and decorations in accordance with the law. Article 105 The emoluments and allowances of the Kurdistan Region President and Vice President shall be identified by law. Article 106 The Kurdistan Region presidency shall have a bureau and its formation and duties shall be defined by law. Article 107 First: If the Kurdistan Region President resigns, dies, or suffers from a permanent disability, a successor shall be elected in the same manner as set forth in this Constitution. Second: If the post of the Kurdistan Region President goes vacant, the Speaker of the Kurdistan Parliament shall carry out his duties until the election of a new President. Third: In the absence of the Kurdistan Region President or at his leave, the Vice President shall perform his duties. Second Kurdistan Region Council of Ministers Article 108 The Kurdistan Region Council of Ministers shall be the executive and administrative power in Kurdistan Region and shall function under the supervision and direction of the Kurdistan Region President. Article 109 First: The Council of Ministers shall consist of the Prime Minister, his Deputy, and the Ministers, and its formation shall be regulated by law. Second: The nominee shall be charged to form the Council of Ministers in accordance with the provisions of Clause (Fourteenth) of Article (104) of this Constitution. Third: The Prime Minister-designate shall select his Deputy and the Ministers from among the members of Kurdistan Parliament or others who are eligible for Kurdistan Parliament membership. Fourth: The Prime Minister-designate shall submit a list of the members of his cabinet to the Kurdistan Region President for approval. Fifth: The Prime Minister-designate, after its ratification by the Kurdistan Region President, shall submit a list of the members of his Cabinet to the Kurdistan Parliament asking that confidence be granted to them. Sixth: The Prime Minister shall chair meetings of the Council except meetings attended by the Kurdistan Region President. Article 110 After gaining the requested confidence and prior to assuming their official duties, the Prime Minister and members of the Council of Ministers shall take the following constitutional oath before the Parliament: "I swear by Almighty God to loyally preserve the unity of the people and land of Kurdistan-Iraq and to respect the applied Constitution and laws and completely consider the interests of people." Article 111 Equitable representation of the nationalities shall be regarded in the formation of the Kurdistan Region Council of Ministers. Article 112 Ministers shall be equal before the Kurdistan Parliament concerning the affairs pertinent to the Council of Ministers, and every Minister shall be individually responsible on the work of his Ministry and shall be the first and direct official of it. Article 113 The Council of Ministers shall exercise the following powers and competencies: First: Implement laws, decisions, and regulations, and preserve the security of the Kurdistan Region and public money. Second: Formulate public policy of the Kurdistan Region in conjunction with the Kurdistan Region President and implement it after the approval of the Parliament. Third: Prepare developmental plan projects and carry them out after the approval of the Parliament. Fourth: The Kurdistan Regional Government along with the federal government shall undertake the management of oilfields and extracted gas from the Kurdistan-Iraq land. As well, they will manage the amount being commercially used before August 15, 2005, provided the resources derived from them shall be fairly distributed according to the principles specified in Article (112) of the Federal Constitution, and this shall be regulated by law. The measure of commercial production for the purposes of the application of the provision of this Clause is the production of 5,000 barrels per day during 12 months prior to August 15, 2005. Fifth: The Kurdistan Regional Government along with the federal government shall formulate the necessary strategic policies to develop oil and gas wealth on the condition that the Parliament of Kurdistan-Iraq shall approve the policies. Sixth: The Kurdistan Regional Government shall pay the cost of all the requirements of the non-extracted and extracted, but non-commercially produced oil and gas fields before August 15, 2005, which includes the cost of excavation, extraction, management, manufacturing, sales, marketing, exporting, and others, and this shall be regulated by the law. The measure of commercial production for the purposes of the application of the provision of this Clause is the production of 5,000 barrels per day during 12 months prior to August 15, 2005. Seventh: Exercise all the Kurdistan Region-specific executive powers not stipulated within the exclusive authorities of the federal government according to Article (110) of the Federal Constitution. Eighth: Exercise, in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Constitution, what the common powers between the federal authorities and the Kurdistan Region authorities authorize. Ninth: Prepare the draft general budget of the Kurdistan Region. Tenth: Prepare and submit bills and draft resolutions to the Parliament of Kurdistan-Iraq. Eleventh: Issue executive and administrative decisions in accordance with the laws and regulations. Twelfth: Oversee, direct, follow up, and monitor the work of Public Ministries, Institutions, and Utilities in the Kurdistan Region, and coordinate among them. Thirteenth: Recruit, promote, dismiss, remove, and retire employees in accordance with the law in a way that does not conflict with the law of Civil Service Council in the Kurdistan Region. Fourteenth: Nominate the Kurdistan Region representatives who have a general manager grade and above for the independent federal commissions and the federal posts with the consent of Parliament of Kurdistan-Iraq. Fifteenth: Establish and organize internal security forces for the Kurdistan Region such as Police, Security, and Regional Guard. Article 114 First: The Council of Ministers shall be deemed resigned in the following cases: A. The resignation of the Prime Minister B. If Kurdistan Parliament withdraws confidence from the Prime Minister C. At the start of a new term of the Parliament of Kurdistan-Iraq D. At the start of a new term of the Kurdistan Region President E. The death of the Prime Minister Second: A Minister shall be deemed resigned if the Kurdistan Parliament withdraws confidence from him. Third: The resigned Council of Ministers shall run until the formation of a new Council. Article 115 First: A law shall define the manner of impeaching the Prime Minister, his Deputy, and Ministers and their trial. Second: The emoluments, allowances, and privileges of the Prime Minister, his Deputy, and the Ministers shall be defined by law. Chapter Three Judicial Power First: General Principles Article 116 The judicial power shall be independent and only law shall be superior to it. Article 117 The judicial power shall have general power on all natural and artificial persons in the Kurdistan Region. Article 118 Judicial sentences and decisions shall be executed and issued in the name of people. Article 119 Judges cannot be removed except in the circumstances permitted by law. Article 120 The judge and members of the Public Prosecution are prohibited from the following: First: Combination of a judicial position with legislative and executive positions or any other position. Second: Affiliation with a political party or organization, or engagement in any political activity. Article 121 The proceedings of a trial are public unless the court decides to make them secret as a consideration of public order or moral or for the sanctity of family on the condition that the sentence shall be announced in an open trial. Article 122 The establishment of special or exceptional courts in the Kurdistan Region shall be prohibited. Article 123 A law shall regulate the competent courts to try crimes of a military nature committed by members of Peshmarga forces and the internal security forces, as well as crimes perpetrated from among members of Peshmarga forces or internal security forces. Article 124 First: Imposing personal provisions of a religion on followers of another religion shall not be allowed. Second: Followers of non-Islamic religions and communities such as Christians and Yazidis and others may establish their spiritual boards and adopt special provisions to their personal status, which shall be defined by law and tried by the Court of Personal Status special to them. Third: Provisions of the laws in force in the Kurdistan Region shall be applied on the personal status of non-Muslims until the enactment of a law that shall regulate the provisions of their special personal status. Article 125 It shall be prohibited to stipulate in law the prevention of courts from hearing cases arising from it. Article 126 It shall be prohibited to stipulate in law the immunity of any administrative action or decision from appeal. Article 127 The law shall guarantee the impartiality of management and punishing the arbitrary use of power by persons. Article 128 Any damage caused to anyone resulting from the conduct, action, or omission of the Kurdistan Region governmental and department employees while exercising their job shall give the right to him to claim compensation from the parties thereof. |
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| Article 129 Judicial proceedings are enforceable, and refrain from implementing them or hampering their implementation is regarded as a crime that shall be punished in accordance with the law. If the accused is a public employee or assigned to a public service, he shall be removed from the post in addition to subjected to criminal penalties; the convicted shall have the right to sue directly in a special court and the Kurdistan Regional Government shall guarantee full compensation for him in case of damage. Second Juridical Council Article 130 Judicial power in the Kurdistan Region shall be independent and composed of the Juridical Council, Constitutional Court, Court of Cassation, Consultative Council, Judiciary Oversight Commission, Public Prosecution Department, and courts at all levels, types, and formations. The way they shall be formed and the conditions and procedures for the appointment of their members and their questioning shall be regulated by law. Article 131 First: The Juridical Council shall consist of the President of the Constitutional Court and one of his deputies, the President of the Court of Appellate and one of his deputies, the Chairperson of the Judiciary Oversight Commission, the Chief Public Prosecutor, and Speakers of the Appellate Courts in the Kurdistan Region. Second: The Juridical Council shall undertake the administration of the affairs of judicial power, supervising the judicial departments and ensuring their independency in accordance with law. Article 132 First: The judicial power shall have a special budget attached to the budget of the Kurdistan Region. Second: The Juridical Council shall prepare the annual draft budget for the judicial power and present it to the Parliament of Kurdistan-Iraq for approval on the condition that the final figure shall be included within the annual budget of the Kurdistan Region. Third Constitutional Court Article 133 Kurdistan-Iraq shall have a Supreme Court named (Kurdistan Constitutional Court) and shall be established by law. Article 134 First: The Kurdistan Constitutional Court shall be comprised of seven members, including the Chairman who shall be selected from among judges, law professors, and lawyers who have no less than a total of 20 years experience in the fields of judiciary, legislation, teaching, or the legal profession. Second: The Juridical Council in consultation with the Kurdistan Region President shall select members of the Constitutional Court. Third: Members of the Constitutional Court shall be appointed by a decree from the Kurdistan Region President after the Kurdistan Parliament approves the nominees. Article 135 The Constitutional Court shall elect its Chairperson from among its members. Article 136 The Chairperson and members of the Constitutional Court and the Court of Cassation shall take the legal oath before the President of Kurdistan Region-Iraq prior to assuming their duties. Judges of other courts in the Kurdistan Region shall take the legal oath before the President of the Juridical Council. Article 137 The Constitutional Court shall have the following competencies: First: Interpret the provisions of the Constitution of the Kurdistan Region-Iraq. Second: A. Oversee the constitutionality of laws upon the request of the Kurdistan Region President or the Council of Ministers or the direct victim. B. Decide on the legality of regulations, decisions, and instructions upon the request of the direct victim. Third: Decide upon pleads that claim the unconstitutionality of a law or illegality of a decision, system, or instruction regarding a lawsuit brought before a court, and the relevant court to the lawsuit must adjourn the lawsuit until a decision shall be made on the outcome of the plead. Fourth: Ratify the results of the general elections of the Kurdistan Region President and the Parliament of Kurdistan-Iraq. Article 138 A law shall regulate the conditions of membership in the court, the course of work in it, and the manner of receiving the suits and requests. Article 139 Provisions of the Constitutional Court are final and binding for all. If it decides, when settling the constitutionality of the laws or legality of regulations, instructions, and decisions, that any of them contradicts the Constitution or the law, it must notify the appropriate authority in Kurdistan to take the required action to remove or correct the constitutional violation. Fourth Public Prosecutor Article 140 The Public Prosecutor shall represent society, undertake the public proceedings in its name defending the public rights and achieving justice, watch over the application of criminal laws, supervise the affairs of the judicial discipline, and oversee the legal violations and the implementation of decisions, judgments, and penalties. V. Consultative Council Article 141 A Consultative Council for the Kurdistan Region shall be established and shall have the following powers: First: Settle appeals on disciplinary and criminal proceedings and employee-related public-services issues in the Kurdistan governmental offices. Second: Decide on the issues of conflict of competencies among Kurdistan governmental Ministries, Institutions, and Departments in the Kurdistan Region upon the request of the Prime Minister. Third: Prepare and draft bills in Kurdistan Region upon the request of the Kurdistan Region President, the Council of Ministers, or a relevant Ministry or other non-relevant parties to a Ministry. Fourth: Express opinions and advice on legal issues submitted to it by a Ministry and non-related parties to a Ministry as well as deciding on the controversial issues; if the parties of the cause appeal for a legal decision, the opinion of the Council shall be binding. Section IV Local Administrations and Municipal Councils Article 142 The administrative divisions in the Kurdistan Region (Governorate, District, and Subdistrict), their creation, naming and changing their centers, identifying and amending their borders, and disintegrating them from and annexing them to other administrative units shall be in accordance with the law. Article 143 First: Administrative decentralization shall be adopted in the management of administrative units in the Kurdistan Region (Governorate, District, and Subdistrict); each shall have a local council that shall be elected by a general, secret, and direct ballot, and a law shall state the way of its election and define its powers and functions. Second: Each Administrative Unit shall have an Executive Council chaired by the president of the Administrative Unit, and a law shall state the way of its formation and define its powers, functions, and relations with the local council of the Administrative Unit itself and with the Ministries and central institutions in Kurdistan. Article 144 The Center of each Governorate, District, Subdistrict, and any village with a population of 3,000 people or more shall have a municipality managed by an elected municipal council that shall provide public services to its citizens in accordance with the law. Article 145 First: Local and municipal councils shall enjoy an artificial personality. Second: Each administrative or municipal unit shall have its independent budget. Article 146 A fair representation of nationalities that exist within an Administrative or Municipal Unit shall be regarded in the formation of the local and municipal councils, and this shall be regulated by law. Section V Independent Commissions and Committees Article 147 First: The following shall be established by law: A. Independent High Electoral Commission and Plebiscite in Kurdistan Region B. Civil Service Council C. Board of Supreme Audit D. Public Integrity Commission E. Commission of Protection of Rights of People (Ombudsman) F. Commission of Fayli Kurds Rights G. Public Commission for Safety and Quality of Domestic and Imported Products H. Kurdistan Independent Commission of Information and Communications Second: The following shall be established by law: A. Advisory Council for Economic and Social Affairs B. The task of the Council shall provide advice on economic and social affairs to the Presidency of the Kurdistan Region, the Parliament of Kurdistan-Iraq, and the Council of Ministers. Article 148 Committees and commissions included in the first provision of Article (147) shall be subject to Kurdistan Parliament control according to law. Section VI Financial Provisions Article 149 First: No tax or fee may be laid, modified, or repealed, nor shall one be exempted from taxes and fees or assigned to pay more than what is imposed on him except in accordance with the law. Second: Low-income earners shall be exempted from taxes in a way that guarantees a fair minimum level for living, and this shall be regulated by law. Article 150 Kurdistan Region income shall consist of: First: The income of taxes, fees, and wages of public utility services and revenues of public institutions, companies, and services in the Kurdistan Region, and what will be gained from expenses of the management and collection of customs taxes and tariffs and other federal income in Kurdistan Region. Second: The revenue of the investment of natural resources in the Kurdistan Region. Third: Grants and donations. Fourth: Internal and external loans of Kurdistan. Fifth: Kurdistan Region's share of the revenues of oil and gas wealth, customs tariff, and other federal revenues. Article 151 Fiscal year shall be defined by law. Article 152 First: In each fiscal year, the budget law for the Kurdistan Region shall be enacted, which shall include the estimated income and expenses. Second: The draft budget for the fiscal year shall be presented to the Parliament of Kurdistan-Iraq three months prior to the end of the fiscal year. Third: In case of delay in preparation or submission of the budget at the beginning of the fiscal year, for whatever reason, the Kurdistan Regional Government shall expend a rate of (12/1) of the approved fund of the budget of the previous fiscal year for each month the budget is delayed. Section VII Final Provisions Article 153 The Kurdistan Region President, the Speaker of Parliament of Kurdistan-Iraq, members of Parliament, the Prime Minister and his Deputy, Ministers, Judges, Public Prosecutors and their Deputies, those with special grades, General Directors and those who are at their rank may not buy or rent anything from public properties in the Kurdistan Region, nor may they hire or sell some of their assets to the Kurdistan Region authorities or conclude contracts directly or indirectly under the pretense of being building contractors, suppliers, or concessionaires. Article 154 No constitutional provision or federal law that takes away from the powers of the Kurdistan Region-Iraq, which is not within the exclusive authorities of the federal government, shall be applied except with the consent of Kurdistan Parliament and the consent of the people of Kurdistan Region in a plebiscite by the majority of voters. Article 155 First: On lands that have not been settled or the final decisions that have not been made about them in Kurdistan Region, provision of Article (12) of the 1970 Agrarian Reform Law No. 117 shall be applied, and provisions of Article (8) of 1975 Law No. 90 shall become inoperative. Second: Courts shall have power to try the suits of entitlement to compensation for rights of lands that were seized by the Kurdistan Regional Government for the purposes of public interest covered by the provisions of Clause (First) above, for which it did not become possible to fix the rights by the competent committees. Article 156 The Kurdistan Region Court of Cassation, in addition to its normal authorities, shall have power to interpret the provisions of this Constitution and to decide on pleads that claim the unconstitutionality of laws, decisions, regulations, and instructions regarding a lawsuit brought before a court until the formation of the Constitutional Court in Kurdistan. Article 157 Laws shall be published in the Official Gazette of Kurdistan Region-Iraq and shall be applied from the date of their publication unless stipulated otherwise. Article 158 This Constitution shall be deemed certified after the approval of the majority of voters of the people of Kurdistan Region-Iraq in a plebiscite. Article 159 First: The Kurdistan Region President and the Council of Ministers altogether, or half the number of members of Parliament, may propose amending this Constitution, provided the amendment shall not affect the safety of the Republican Parliamentary Democratic system of the Kurdistan Region and the unity of its land. Second: The Parliament of Kurdistan-Iraq may approve the amendment by a two-thirds majority of its members. Third: Plebiscite shall be a right of Kurdistan Region citizens and 25% of those who enjoy suffrage in Kurdistan Region are entitled to request a plebiscite for a particular issue on the condition that it shall be organized and conducted according to law. Fourth: The amendment shall enter into force 60 days after the approval of the Kurdistan Region people in a plebiscite by the majority of voters. Article 160 This Constitution shall enter into force after 60 days from the date of its approval in a plebiscite and the Kurdistan Region President shall undertake its promulgation in the Official Gazette within 10 days from the date of the approval in the plebiscite. Explanatory Memorandum A Constitution is the cornerstone in the establishment of any political system that adopts democracy, seeks social justice and respect for human rights, and believes in the principle of separation of powers. It is superior to all laws and legislations and is the surest guarantee for our future and the future of our posterities toward building a free and democratic society wherein people shall enjoy political, social, and economic security, safety, and stability. Believing this fact, the Kurdistan Parliament has decided to take serious steps toward formulating the Iraqi federal draft Constitution and Kurdistan Region draft Constitution more than a year prior to the liberation of Iraq and toppling the past dictatorial regime in April 9, 2003. Accordingly, a special committee was formed by the Kurdistan National Assembly at the beginning of 2002 and was vested with the above mission, which consisted of the following: 1. Dr. Rozh Nouri Shaways - Speaker of Kurdistan National Assembly-Iraq 2. Firsat Ahmed, Lawyer - Secretary of Assembly 3. Sherwan Haydari, Lawyer - Assembly member 4. Kaka Rash Naqshbandi, Lawyer - Assembly member 5. Sa'eed Al-Ya'qubi, Lawyer (the late) - Assembly member 6. Dr. Naseh Abdul-Ghafour - Assembly member 7. Dr. Mohammad Omar Mawlud - Member of the Court of Cassation 8. Dr. Sa'di Albarznji - President of Salahaddin University 9. Ibrahim Aldogrmdhi, Lawyer (the late ) - Assembly member 10. Dr. Sherzad Ahmed Alnajar The Committee adopted in its mission a draft name, which is (Basic Law for the Kurdistan federal state), prepared by a Committee of Jurists who joined the Kurdish Liberation Movement in 1974. The Parliamentary committee thereof completed its mission, which culminated in the ratification of the draft by the Kurdistan National Assembly-Iraq by its resolution No. 26 on November 7, 2002. The ratification was based on the consideration that the draft was the official opinion of the Kurdistan people and its unified materialized draft of federalism, which was announced, at the time, by the National Assembly by its resolution No. 22 on October 4, 1992. The progress that happened to the circumstances of Iraq and the establishment of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Iraq and its approval in the plebiscite by the Iraqi people on October 15, 2005, made reconsidering the draft Constitution of Kurdistan Region an inevitable necessity. That was to make it consistent with the provisions of the Constitution of Iraq on the one hand, harmonious with the new political system of Iraq, and materializing of the constitutional recognition that the political system in Kurdistan and its legislative, executive, and judicial powers have achieved on the other hand. Hence, the Kurdistan Parliament elected a special committee to reconsider the draft Constitution of the Kurdistan Region and to reformulate it in the light of the progress thereof. The Parliament has taken into account in the formation of the Committee that those who have juristic experience inside and outside the National Assembly shall have a prominent presence by virtue of their specialty. As well, it has taken into consideration the political representation of the parties represented in the Parliament. Thus, the formation of the Committee was according to a Parliament's decision taken at a regular meeting held on September 8, 2005, as follows: 1. Firsat Ahmed, Lawyer - Secretary of the National Assembly/Chairman of the Committee 2. Tariq Jambaz, Lawyer - Assembly member/Vice Chairman of the Committee/Member of the Legal Committee 3. Sherwan Haydari, Lawyer - Assembly member/Vice Chairman of the Committee/Chairman of the Legal Committee 4. Abdul Karim Abu Bakr, Lawyer - Assembly member/Rapporteur of the Committee/Rapporteur of the Legal Committee 5. Awni Bazaz - Assembly member/Judge of Court of Cassation/Rapporteur of the Committee/Vice Chairman of the Legal Committee 6. Dr. Nouri Talabani - Assembly member/University professor/Member of the Legal Committee 7. Khalil Ibrahim Mohammed - Assembly member/Member of the Legal Committee 8. Dler Mohammad Sharif, Lawyer - Assembly member/Member of the Legal Committee 9. Qadir Sa'eed Khidhir, Lawyer - Assembly member/Member of the Legal Committee 10. Karim Bahri Abdullah, Lawyer - Assembly member/Member of the Legal Committee 11. Mohamed Saleh Ismail, Lawyer - Assembly member/Member of the Legal Committee 12. Pakhshan Abdullah Hassan Zangana - Assembly member 13. Karkhi Najmaddin Nuradddin - Assembly member 14. Romeo Huzayran Nisan - Assembly member 15. Amir Abdul Kareem Haweze - Judge of the Court of Cassation(retired) 16. Dr. Mohammed Omar Mawlood - Judge of the Court of Cassation 17. Dr. Sherzad Ahmed Alnajar - University professor 18. Shorsh Hassan Omar - University professor 19. Khidhir Suleiman Khalil - Assembly member The Committee performed its work September 14, 2005, through August 22, 2006, aimed at involving the largest possible number of citizens, non-governmental organizations, and specialists in its work. It made an announcement in media outlets inviting citizens to participate in its work by providing written suggestions directly or through the members of Parliament or members of the Committee. Moreover, it opened a special website on the Internet. By submitting their suggestions and remarks, the participation of political parties, civil society organizations, university professors, judges, magistrates, lawyers, economists, businesspersons, women, student and youth associations, and citizens in general from all segments of Kurdistan society played a great role in enriching the draft. Likewise, the committee did not neglect exerting its efforts to study the Constitutions of the federal or simple countries and the International Charters, Agreements and Declarations of civil, political, cultural, economic, and social rights and many constitutional studies that were in its hand and closely examine them in a way that evidently enriched the draft. Accordingly, the Constitutions of South Africa, Australia, the United States of America, Germany, India, Malaysia, Bosnia, Italy, Saqlia, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, and Mexico, Constitutions of 22 Arab countries, as well as the Constitutions of Iraq since its foundation, including the state administration law and the Federal Constitution, were of the most important sources and fountains of information for the committee. It examined them carefully to derive the suitable constitutional ideas, provisions, and principles with the conditions of the Kurdistan Region. The meetings and efforts of the committee have resulted in adding 82 Articles to the reconsidered draft, which, at the time, consisted of 78 Articles, rewriting many of the Articles as required by the necessities of harmony with each other and smooth wording, and adding 28 new Clauses to the present Articles. For the sake of necessity, we clarify some of the most important provisions and Articles that existed in the draft or added to it. Section I Since the first section of the draft Constitution was about the fundamental principles of the political system of Kurdistan Region, the term (General Provisions) was replaced by (Fundamental Principles) and the articles included in the said section became 17 while they were 8 before. First: Article (1) was reformulated and enriched by adding political pluralism and rotation of power and the principle of separation of powers to it as principles that the republican system of the Kurdistan Region will depend on. Second: Provision (Second) is added to Article (2), as Article (140) of the Federal Constitution shall be the reliable basis for the demarcation of the administrative border in Kurdistan Region after the geographical areas that are historically regarded as Kurdistan-Iraq in the first provision of it are declared. As well, provision (Third) is added to maintain the principle of equality in rights, duties, and guarantees among the Kurdistan people in the existing areas of the Kurdistan Region and those detached from it upon their restoration. Third: The unity of Kurdistan Region and the inadmissibility of its division into Regions are stressed in Article (3). Fourth: Article (4) emphasizes the superiority and sovereignty of the laws of the Kurdistan Region than any Iraqi law related to an issue, which is not within the exclusive authorities of the federal government stipulated in Article (110) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Iraq. In addition, the provisions of the above-mentioned Article are stated as an emphasis and reiteration of the provision of Article (110) and Clause (Second) of Article (121) of the Federal Constitution, which grants the Kurdistan Region the freedom of enforcing laws covering issues that are not within the exclusive authorities of the federal government. In the same manner, the Kurdistan Region draft Constitution grants Kurdistan Parliament the power to enforce any law issued by the federal government on issues that are not within the exclusive authorities set out in Article (110) of the Federal Constitution if the interests of the Kurdistan people so demand (Article (5) of the draft Constitution). Fifth: Article (7) is added to the draft Constitution as an emphasis on the Islamic identity of the majority of the Kurdistan people and that the principle of Islamic Shari'a (law) shall be one of the main sources of legislation. As well, it is stated as an emphasis on ensuring the full religious rights of all including Christians, Yazidis, and others to the freedom of belief and religious practice. Sixth: Article (5), which states that Kirkuk is the capital of the Kurdistan Region, is deleted from the reconsidered draft Constitution, as the city of Erbil shall be the capital of the Kurdistan Region. Seventh: With respect to Article (8), it covers the cases in which Kurdistan people can exercise their right to self-determination. The base and source of its provision is stated in the preamble of the Federal Constitution on the one hand, and it has its authority in the Charter of the United Nations in which Iraq is a member on the other hand. In addition it also seeks authority in Article (1) of both the 1966 International Agreements of civil and political rights and the economic, cultural, and social rights that Iraq acceded them in 1971. Therefore, the adoption of this principle in the draft Constitution is consistent with the Federal Constitution on the one hand and with the International Charters recognized by Iraq on the other hand. As such, the provision that Article (8) of the draft Constitution includes is stated in harmony with the last line of the preamble of the Federal Constitution, which stipulates, "Adherence to this Constitution preserves for Iraq its free union of people, of land, and of sovereignty." The one who has knowledge of the background of writing and drafting this sentence knows that it is stated as a compromise to the demands of Kurdistan political leadership of recognition of the principle of self-determination for the people of Kurdistan at the heart of the Constitution. As well, the demand for drafting the mentioned principle in the same manner of drafting any Article of the Constitution, however lengthy deliberations resulted in a compromise, which is the inclusion of the principle at the heart of the preamble. Accordingly, the first and second Clauses that Article (8) of the Kurdistan draft Constitution contains is stated as an emphasis on the mentioned provision in the preamble of the Federal Constitution and grants Kurdistan people the right to reconsider the choice of federalism in case it is necessary and in the following cases: A. ‌Retreat from the federal system. B. Retreat from the basic constitutional principles of democracy and human rights. C. If the federal authorities pursue the policy of ethnic discrimination and change the demographical status of Kurdistan. D. If the federal authorities work on keeping the effects and results of the policy of ethnic discrimination and demographic changes in Kurdistan in a manner considered a retreat from the constitutional commitments stated in Article (140) of the Federal Constitution. The text of Article (8) of the draft Constitution stated this way mentioned before is in line with the provision of the last sentence of the preamble of the Federal Constitution, which public opinion scholars of constitutional law consider part of the Constitution and has, according to law, its power of obligation. Eighth: Clause (First) of Article (9) regards opinion poll of Kurdistan Region authorities regarding any Agreement that might affect the circumstances or conditions or the rights of Kurdistan Region, rights that cannot be ignored; this is what the principle of participation in governance dictates as a basis for a federal system. While Clause (Second) considers concluding Agreements with the authorities of foreign regions on issues that constitutionally fall within the competencies of the Kurdistan Regional Government, which are not within the exclusive authorities of the federal government a natural exercise of the rights and powers of Kurdistan Region and are in accordance with the constitutional trends in the world. This is not true to only federal systems, rather even to the autonomous regions and the clearest evidence of that are Switzerland and Germany as two federal States, and Italy and Spain as examples of two regions that enjoy autonomy. Whereas Clause (Third) is peculiar to the conclusion of Agreements with foreign countries, which the draft Constitution restricts and considers the consent of the federal government a condition and the federal government cannot show dissent without a convincing legal justification. In other words, the draft Constitution confirms that the federal government shall have the right to control the said Agreements through considering its consent a condition for the agreements provided it shall not arbitrarily exercise this right. Working according to this principle is a custom in States having federal systems and it has its authority and consensus of the public constitutional scholars. Ninth: However, the added Article (10) is stated with its first and second Clauses as an emphasis on and consistency with the provision of Articles (105) and (106) of the Federal Constitution, which is related to guaranteeing equitable participation in federal powers, offices, functions, and wealth. Thus, the Kurdistan Region shall have a fair share of the federal resources in achievement of the principle of equality and proportionality, taking into account what inflicted Kurdistan from burning, destruction and deprivation of its people from its merits during all the previous regimes. Further, the said text is stated in line with the provision of Article (112-First) of the Federal Constitution on the one hand and consistent in its essence with the text of Article (106) of the Federal Constitution on the other hand. As for the contents of Clauses (Second and Third) of Article (10) of the draft Constitution, Clause (Second) is stated in application of the principle of Kurdistan Region participation in federal governance. This requires that Kurdistan Region shall have a share in the important federal offices that suits with its population density in accordance with the principle of apportionment. While Clause (Third) covers the federal offices that shall be based within the Kurdistan Region, which Kurdistan Region citizens should be entrusted with in application of the principle of regional autonomy (local), for Kurdistan Region. This case is applicable in the federal systems and we cite, as an example, Article (36) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany. Tenth: Article (12-First) stipulates that Kurdistan Region shall have a special flag hoisted side by side with the flag of the Federal Republic of Iraq and by the flag of the Federal Republic of Iraq is meant the flag that expresses the federal Iraq stipulated in Article (12-First) of the Federal Constitution. Eleventh: Article (13) stipulates the organization of Peshmarga forces as regional guards for Kurdistan Region by a law in line with what is stated in Article (121-Fifth) of the Federal Constitution that each Region shall have guards. Twelfth: Three Articles, numbers of which are (15, 16, and 17), are added stating that the Kurdistan Region shall adopt free economy, prohibit monopoly and exploitation, ensure free and legitimate competition, encourage investment, and protect public assets, as they are the property of the Kurdistan people. Furthermore, the natural resources, surface water, groundwater, non-extracted metals, quarries, and mines are national wealth of the Kurdistan Region and a law shall regulate the provisions of their preservation, management, and disposal conditions. Section II Section II of the draft Constitution was entitled (Basic Rights and Duties) and consisted of 17 Articles. The committee noticed that the mentioned items of the section mostly and in essence regulate the rights and not the duties, which at the time were shortened in terms of form and substance in 17 Articles. while it required more expansion and detail in a way that covers the majority of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights to be in line with the contents of the International Declarations and Charters of human rights, particularly the 1948 Universal Declaration and the two 1966 International Agreements. This prompted the Committee to rearrange it and enrich it in detail developing four chapters out of Section II, Chapter One for the (Civil and Political Rights), Chapter Two for the (Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights), Chapter Three for (Liberties), and Chapter Four for (Duties). All the chapters have been organized in 60 Articles instead of 17 Articles, Articles (18 to 77). Chapter One 1. Chapter (One) stresses that citizens are equal before law in terms of rights and duties without discrimination on account of sex, race, color, language, social origin, religion, creed, social or economic status, or political and ideological affiliation. Besides, everyone has the right to life, security, and liberty and may not be deprived or restricted of these rights except in accordance with the law and based on a decision issued by a competent judicial party. Moreover, equal opportunity shall be guaranteed to all citizens of Kurdistan Region, and the Kurdistan Regional Government shall guarantee the right to education for every citizen without any discrimination, which shall be compulsory in primary stage, and that it shall be committed to eradicate illiteracy and provide free education at all the primary, secondary, university, vocational, and technical stages. Furthermore, it shall care for women's equality with men, prevent discrimination against her, remove anything regarded as an obstacle to equality, and ensure a proportion of no less than 25% of the seats for women's participation in the Kurdistan Parliamentary elections, local councils, and municipal councils. The addition of the last two councils is a development compared to the Iraqi Constitution, which limits this right to the Council of Representatives only. 2. The draft Constitution allocated three Articles (consisting of eight Clauses) respecting human rights in personal punishment, the right to self-defense, and the publicity of court hearings and sanctity of homes. The Committee considered the expansion of the said rights in line with the prevailing provisions in the Constitutions of democratic countries, which prompted it to organize the mentioned rights in 15 Clauses and guarantee the rights of prisoners and the prevention of discrimination against them and respecting their religious beliefs and moral principles. Further, submitting complaints and petitions to the Kurdistan Region authorities shall be guaranteed to the citizens of the Kurdistan Region and the authorities must make a decision during a period not to exceed 15 days. If they refuse to receive them, for any reason whatsoever, or settle them within the specified period without a legal excuse, they shall be held legally responsible. The Kurdistan Regional Government, further, guarantees care for the families of the martyrs of the Kurdistan People Liberation Movement, the Peshmarga, families of the victims of the Anfal and the chemical bombardment, and those who are permanently disabled due to the chemical bombardment (Article (41)). 3. Article (42) prohibits Chauvinist, Fascist, Racist, Terrorist, and Takfiri (accusations of Infidelity) entities and their programs. Chapter Two Chapter Two is allocated for economic, social, and cultural rights and 16 Articles that include 26 Clauses are allocated for it in a manner consistent with the rights included in the Constitutions of democratic countries. Focus is on the right to work, equal opportunity, equality of wages, the principles of justice in promotion, protection of workers from exploitation, the right to the establishment of syndicates, family and private property rights, protection of motherhood, childhood, old age, and prohibition of coercion in marriage. Clause (Sixth) of Article (49) is stated to ensure the establishment of special centers for care for and protection of women who lost their family safety for social reasons. As well, it stipulates the citizens' rights to health care and the Kurdistan government's commitment to establish health and social care centers and hospitals. Further, the rights of the disabled and those with special needs are regulated and five Clauses within Article (52) are devoted to them. Likewise, four Clauses are devoted in Article (54) to care for science, literature, arts, and encouraging scientific research and protecting the moral and material rights and patent and the rights of literary, artistic, and scientific works. Article (55) focuses on care for juveniles and the young and seven Clauses are devoted to it within the Article. In addition, it recognizes that sport shall be a right to every citizen and that the Kurdistan Regional Government must promote it and provide for its requirements. Article (57) covers the environment with its different elements, land, water, air, plants, and living creatures, making it the duty of natural and artificial persons to protect it and for the Kurdistan Regional Government to ensure finding a solution to the sources of pollution. Accordingly, it shall be the duty of the Kurdistan Regional Government to seek to develop forests, protect them, expand their areas, and preserve green areas and belts inside and around the cities and develop them. In addition, it has to expand the creation of parks and natural preserves to preserve the natural wildlife for living creatures and plants and natural production, prohibit the establishment of buildings and facilities and the use of mechanisms and machines in natural preserves to preserve their nature. Article (58) makes it the duty of the Kurdistan Regional Government to take necessary measures to protect consumers, encourage them, and enable them to defend their rights by, with this purpose in mind, providing legal means for the establishment of unions and associations. Chapter Three Chapter Three covers the regulation of liberties through 13 Articles, wherein it regulates the freedom of opinion, expression, publishing and printing, press, and peaceful assembly, demonstration, and strike, communications and correspondence, travel, residence, movement and strengthening the role of civil society institutions, supporting their independency, and the freedom of founding political parties and associations. Likewise, Article (65) stipulates that there shall be no coercion in religion and in the freedom of thought, religion, and belief, and the Kurdistan Regional Government guarantees the freedom of citizens of Kurdistan including Muslims, Christians, Yazidis, and others to practice their worship, ceremonies, and rites, and guarantees respect for mosques, churches, and places of worship and developing them. Article (69) considers the International Agreements, Charters, and Declarations of human rights that Iraq has ratified or affiliated to supplementary to the provisions of Kurdistan Region Constitution. Article (70) preserves the rights and freedoms of foreigners approved in the International Charters to which the Federal Republic of Iraq is a party. Article (71) stipulates that practicing the rights and liberties set forth in this Constitution may not be restricted or abridged except in accordance with law provided the abridgment or restriction may not affect the essence of the right or liberty except within a reasonable and justifiable extent acceptable in a society built on democracy, dignity, equality, liberty, and justice. Chapter Four The draft Constitution covers regulating the duties in 6 Articles, making the burden of defending the country and safety of its land, protecting its constitutional institutions, preserving the national unity, respecting the noble ideals of Kurdistan people's struggle for freedom and democracy, committing to the Constitution and the laws, and considering the public order a sacred duty of every citizen. As well, it devotes a special Article for respecting the leaders and symbols of the Kurdish Liberation Movement and its struggle and martyrs, and preserving the dignity of their relatives and Peshmarga veterans and participant militants, plus protecting public property, preserving public money, respecting the property rights of others, and contributing to public expenses through the taxes and fees imposed on citizens according to law. Further, it makes it the duty of anyone who holds an official post or public office to perform his tasks with discipline, honesty, and honor. Section III It was noted that Section III of the draft Constitution does not enumerate the Kurdistan Region authorities or determine them into a single Article, which prompted the Committee to enumerate and determine them in Article (78) as the legislative, executive, and judicial powers, thus Section III, which consisted of 37 Articles, became 64 Articles, Articles (78-141). Chapter One Chapter One is dedicated to the legislative power, and the name of the Kurdistan National Assembly-Iraq is changed to (Kurdistan Parliament) considering that the said name has become used commonly at both the popular and official levels and is more expressive of what is meant by the National Assembly. In addition, the Kurdistan Parliament shall be deemed the source to decide on the crucial issues of the people of Kurdistan in line with what is stated in Clause (First) of Article (56) of its electoral law. Likewise, Article (90) stipulates the right of members of Parliament to direct questions and inquiries to the Prime Minister, his Deputy and Ministers, as the right is a constitutional one in all States with democratic regimes. The mentioning of this right in the electoral law of the Assembly or its bylaw does not dispense with its mentioning in the Constitution, as it is an effective mechanism for controlling the executive power. In light of the provisions of the Iraqi Constitution and the powers and competencies vested in Kurdistan Region authorities, the powers of the Parliament are detailed in Article (93). Thus, in Clause (Second), "Approving the proposal to amend the Constitution," in item (Third-B), "The right to modify the application of federal laws that are not within the exclusive authorities of the federal government," and in item (Third-C), "The right to legislate laws related to common powers between the federal authorities and the Kurdistan Region authorities," are stipulated. Moreover, in Clause (Fourth), the cases of pardoning the Kurdistan Region President or his Vice after being indicted by the Kurdistan Constitutional Court, and in Clause (Sixth), "Approving common policies between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the federal government," are stipulated. As well, it is stipulated in Article (94) that the Parliament may not waive its legislative powers except to the extent stated in Clause (Seventh) of Article (104) of the draft Constitution. In this case, the Kurdistan Region President shall be granted power to issue decrees that shall have the force of law when Kurdistan Region and its political system or public security or its constitutional institutions face demolishing dangers threatening its entity, and the Parliament could not meet provided these decrees shall be presented to the Parliament in its first meeting. If not presented or presented but the Parliament does not approve them, the decrees shall cease to have the force of law. Chapter Two The following is dedicated to the executive power: First: The section about the Kurdistan Region President According to Article (99) of the draft Constitution, the Kurdistan Region President shall be the Commander-in-Chief of the Peshmarga forces (Regional Guard), as the Iraqi Constitution acknowledges that the Kurdistan Region shall have its special guards. The formulation of Article (40) of the reconsidered draft Constitution is modified, which stipulates that the election of the Kurdistan Region President shall be in the same manner as the election of the President of the Republic of Iraq. In Article (100), the election of the Kurdistan Region President by the citizens of Kurdistan through a general, secret, and direct and ballot is stipulated. With regard to the powers of the Kurdistan Region President included in Article (44), they have been reformulated in Article (104) of the draft in a way that is consistent with the provisions and principles of the Constitution of Iraq, which adopts federalism. Second: The section about the Kurdistan Region Council of Ministers Some Clauses are added to the competencies of the Council of Ministers stated in Article (52) of the reconsidered draft, which has become Article (113) in the current draft in application of the Kurdistan Region powers stipulated in the Iraqi Constitution and in line with the provisions of the Federal Constitution, Article (112) with its first and second Clauses. In addition, to make it in line with Article (110), which is related to the exclusive authorities of the federal government, and Article (114), which is related to the common powers between the federal authorities and the Region authorities. The draft covers the issue of oil and gas in light of the provisions of the above-mentioned Articles, as follows: A. With respect to the oil and gas fields, extraction of which reached the stage of production by the scheduled date of completion of writing the Constitution August 15, 2005, their administration shall fall within the common powers of the federal government and the producing Region. This is covered in Article (113-Fourth) of the Kurdistan draft Constitution in light of the mentioned attitude. B. With respect to the oil and gas fields, extraction of which did not reach the stage of production by August 15, 2005, the draft Constitution considers the management and all the operations until export, the duty of the authority of the Kurdistan Region, as it is not mentioned within the exclusive or common powers in the Federal Constitution. C. The Kurdistan draft Constitution states the criterion of a productive field from August 15, 2005, onward, and determines the produced quantity to be 5,000 barrels per day as a criterion for production according to applicable technical and economic standards. As well, a Clause has been added to the competencies of the Council of Ministers about nomination of the representatives of the Kurdistan Region for the independent federal commissions and federal offices. Likewise, cases of deeming the Cabinet resigned are stated, which are fixed in Article (114), as they were not provided for in the draft Constitution and the said Article is stated in line with the bases of the constitutional law, political systems, and international practices, as it is stipulated in the Constitutions of many countries having democratic systems. Chapter Three The chapter dedicated for the Judicial power in the reconsidered draft consisted of 7 Articles (56 to 62) and became 26 Articles in the new draft after 19 new Articles are added to the provisions of the judicial power (116 to 141). The chapter is divided into five parts: the first part for the (General Principles), the second for the (Juridical Council), the third for the (Constitutional Court), the fourth for the (General Prosecution), and the fifth for the (Consultative Council), taking into consideration the application of the principle of separation of powers and entrenching the independency of the judicial power. New principles are thus added to the draft. For example, the judicial power shall have an independent budget prepared by the Juridical Council that shall be attached to the budget of the Kurdistan Region to make it consistent with the principles stated in the Iraqi Constitution on the one hand and ensure the independency of the judicial power on the other hand. Likewise, the Constitutional Court is created in Kurdistan in Article (133) and its formation, powers, justifiable laws, and terms are stated in Articles (133 to 139) and Article (120-Second) stipulates prohibition of the judge to affiliate with political parties and organizations or work in political activities. Furthermore, according to Article (122), the establishment of special or exceptional courts in Kurdistan Region shall be prohibited, and in Article (123), the formation of competent courts to try crimes of a military nature committed by Peshmarga forces and internal security forces is stipulated. As well, Article (125) stipulates that "It shall be prohibited to stipulate in law the prevention of courts from hearing cases arising from it" as it was an applicable principle in the former regime, which contradicts with the principle of the independency of the judicial power, separation of powers, and the principles of democracy and human rights. In addition, Article (126) states that it shall be prohibited to stipulate in law the immunity of any administrative action or decision from appeal and law shall ensure the impartiality of administration and punishing the arbitrary use of power by persons. In addition, anyone who suffers from any damage resulting from the conduct, action, or omission of the Kurdistan Region governmental and department employees while exercising their job shall have the right to claim compensation from the parties thereof. Further, judicial proceedings are enforceable and refrain from implementing them or hampering their implementation is regarded as a crime that shall be punished according to the law. If the accused is a public employee or assigned to a public service, he shall be removed from the post in addition to the criminal penalties; the convicted shall have the right to sue directly to a special court and the Kurdistan Regional Government shall guarantee full compensation for him in case of damage. As well, it is stated in Section (IV-Public Prosecution) that the Public Prosecutor shall represent society, undertake the public proceedings in its name, defend the public rights and achieve justice, watch over the application of criminal laws, supervise the affairs of the judicial discipline, and oversee the legal violations and the implementation of decisions, judgments, and penalties. While in Section (V), the Consultative Council is formed to settle appeals on disciplinary and criminal proceedings and employee-related public services issues in the Kurdistan governmental offices, as well as to decide on issues of conflict of competencies between the Ministries and institutions and prepare and draft bills and express opinion and advice on issues presented by a Ministry and non-related parties to a Ministry. Section IV With regard to local administrations and municipal councils, the adoption of the principle of administrative decentralization in the management of Administrative Units in the Kurdistan Region is stipulated in Clause (First) of Article (143) clearly and transparently. In addition, each local or municipal council shall have its artificial personality and independent budget in application of the principle of administrative decentralization, each shall have an Executive Council chaired by the President of the Administrative Unit, and a fair representation of the nationalities in the Kurdistan Region shall be regarded in local and municipal councils. Section V Section (V) is created for the independent commissions and committees due to their importance regarding them the pillars of democratic systems. Article (147-First) stipulates the establishment of the Independent High Electoral Commission and Plebiscite in the Kurdistan Region, Civil Service Council, Board of Supreme Court, Public Commission of Integrity, and the Commission of Protection of the Rights of People (Ombudsman). As well, a special Commission for Fayli Kurds Rights, Public Commission for Safety and Quality of Domestic and Imported Products, and the Kurdistan Independent Commission of Information and Communications. We believe that these mentioned councils are of particular importance because some are international experiences practiced in democratic countries such as the Commission of Protection of the Rights of People. As well, Clause (Second) of the above-mentioned Article stipulates the formation of an Advisory Council of economic and social affairs task of which shall be providing advice to the Presidency of the Kurdistan Region, Kurdistan Parliament, and the Council of Ministers. This Council may include experts, specialists, and representatives of Civil Society to achieve the goals of the Advisory Council and commissions, and committees included in Clause (First) of the mentioned Article shall be subject to the Kurdistan Parliament control. Section VI Financial provisions are covered in four Articles within Section (VI). Hence, a special Clause is added by which the draft budget for the fiscal year of Kurdistan Parliament shall be submitted three months before the end of the fiscal year. In another Clause, the principle of the Kurdistan Regional Government adoption of expending a rate of (12/1) of the approved fund of the budget of the previous fiscal year for each month in case of delay in preparation and submission of the budget from the beginning of the fiscal year is stipulated. Section VII The final provisions become Section (VII) of the new draft Constitution, while in the old draft Constitution, Section (VI) includes them, and the number of its Articles became eight while it was five. Article (153) stipulates the inadmissibility of abuse of power by the Kurdistan Region President, the Speaker of the Parliament, members of Parliament, the Prime Minister and members of the Council of Ministers, Judges, Public Prosecutors and their deputies, those with special grades, General Directors, and those in their rank. Further, it prohibited them from buying or renting public properties, hiring or selling their assets to the Kurdistan Region authorities, or concluding contracts with them directly or indirectly. Article (154) stipulates that the constitutional provisions or federal laws, which are not within the exclusive authorities of the federal government and take away from the powers of the Kurdistan Region, shall not be applied except with the consent of Kurdistan Parliament and the consent of the Kurdistan Region people in a plebiscite by the majority of voters. Article (155) stipulates fixing the rights of the lands covered by Law No. 90, 1975, which was whereby considered governmental lands registered in the name of the Ministry of Finance in case they were not settled or a final decision has not yet been made about them. Thereto, the way of compensation for the rights of lands seized by the Kurdistan Regional Government for public interest, which competent committees could not fix the rights is clarified. The fact that the draft Constitution covers this issue is of great importance to the restoration of the rights to their owners and to wipe out the effects of the racist policy of the dictatorship regime, which displaced millions of citizens from their land without any justification, only changing the demographic status of Kurdistan. Article (156) vests a temporal power in the Kurdistan Region Court of Cassation for interpretation of the Constitution provisions and deciding on pleads that claim the unconstitutionality of laws, decisions, regulations, and instructions until the formation of the Constitutional Court in Kurdistan. Article (158) stipulates the way of ratification of the Constitution and its entering into force and Article (159) states the provisions of amending the Constitution. Finally, in Article (160) it is stated that the Constitution shall enter into force after 60 days from the date of its approval in a plebiscite, and the Kurdistan Region President shall undertake its promulgation in the Official Gazette within 10 days from the date of the approval in the plebiscite. Committee of Reconsidering Draft Constitution of Kurdistan Region-Iraq Erbil-August 22, 2006 A.D. Kharmanan 31, 2706 (Kurdish Calendar) |
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| QUOTE |
| Do you have a whole section on Honor Killings |
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| QUOTE (artist @ July 10, 2007 07:45 pm) |
| I agree, it's an important point |
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| QUOTE (Piyade @ July 11, 2007 12:02 pm) |
| You know what? Just to make you happy, I will print it out on some soft paper and wipe my ass with your constitution. Look at the beginning: We, the people of Kurdistan-Iraq, have suffered decades of injustice and oppression at the hands of the dictatorship regimes that adopted an extreme centralism, deprived us of the liberties and natural rights that God has bestowed upon humankind, and [ the regimes] were arrogant to recognize the human civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights acknowledged in the International Charters. I got a new Preammble for the Kurds, ready: WE, THE PEOPLE OF KURDISTAN HAVE STUCK OUR HEADS IN OUR ASSES FOR LAST ONE THOUSAND YEARS, FOUGHT ANY EFFORT BY ANY GOVERNMENT TO CILIVIZE US, OR SEEK WAYS OF CILIVIZATION OURSELVES, WE THE VICTIMS OF OUR OWN DESIGN WHO COLLABORATE WITH OPRESSORS AS MUCH AS WE FIGHT THEM, WE THE ONLY LARGEST MINORITY IN THE WORLD WHO HAS NOT HAD A HOMELAND FOR A THOUSAND YEARS, WHO FOLLOW A DOGMATIC 8TH CENTURY FEUDAL SYSTEM (WHICH WE ALSO CONVENIENTLY ACCUSE OTTOMANS FOR PUTTING IT UPON US), WE KURDS WHO DON'T KNOW WHAT CLEANING, SOAP, SHAMPOO, DEODARANT MEANS, WHO TAKE PRIDE IN KILLING, TORTURING, RAPING OUR WOMEN UNDER "HONOR" HAVE SUCKED ENOUGH AMERICAN COCK TO FINALLY LET SOMEONE GIVE US A PIECE OF LAND IN A COUNTRY THAT WAS ALREADY A PSEUDO-STATE, INORDER TO ESTABLISHE ANOTHER PSEUDO-STATE THAT IS DEVOID OF MOST BASIC OF CIVIL HUMAN RIGHTS (OOH WE HAVE ALSO COPIED THE PREAMBLE OF THE UNITED STATE'S CONSTITUTION HOPING THAT OUR MASTER WILL LET US SUCK MORE COCK IF WE MODEL OUR CONSTITUTION AFTER THEIRS) Rise Rise KURDISTAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN ahahahahahahahahaaha |
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| QUOTE (kurdistani @ July 11, 2007 02:38 pm) |
| How.... retarded.... You should learn something about history before making such stupid statements.. PS. Do you think that Saddam was a civilising force in the world.. If you do you really are dumb.... What do you think us Iraqi Kurds should do? Not write a constitution and join the rest of Iraq where 1000s of woman are sold of to sex farms in Yeman and Egypt... get serious... you are acting like a dip stick... Anyhow... This is the proposed constition.... |
| QUOTE (kurdistani @ July 11, 2007 02:38 pm) |
| What do you think us Iraqi Kurds should do? Not write a constitution and join the rest of Iraq where 1000s of woman are sold of to sex farms in Yeman and Egypt... get serious... you are acting like a dip stick... |
![greekturkish/tiphat.gif](http://greekturkish.18.<a href="http://www.forumer.com">forumer</a>.com/html/emoticons/greekturkish/tiphat.gif)
| QUOTE (Piyade @ July 11, 2007 05:31 pm) |
| I told you a thousand times what the Kurds should do. You should wipe off PKK from your lands. You should bring all the PKK members on a silver platter to Turkey rather than giving them support and approval. AFTER that, when you show you are willing to be a legitimate partner in peace, Turkey and Kurdistan can work together for a deal for all the Kurds. But no Your agenda is different. You want to carve up piece of Turkey for a larger Kurdistan and you are pinning your hopes on the Kurds inside Turkey, PKK and US support. |
| QUOTE (Dirii @ July 11, 2007 06:24 pm) |
| That should be: The largest PEOPLE without a country... Not "minority"... Because we make the majority in our own lands... You're the minority in OUR lands... |
![greekturkish/Yes.gif](http://greekturkish.18.<a href="http://www.forumer.com">forumer</a>.com/html/emoticons/greekturkish/Yes.gif)
