{"id":24964,"date":"2025-02-18T09:43:18","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T09:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peacerep.org\/?post_type=publication&#038;p=24964"},"modified":"2025-03-18T14:48:16","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T14:48:16","slug":"the-shifting-landscape-of-iraqs-judiciary","status":"publish","type":"publication","link":"https:\/\/gentest.cahss.ed.ac.uk\/dev-peacerep\/publication\/the-shifting-landscape-of-iraqs-judiciary\/","title":{"rendered":"The Shifting Landscape of Iraq&#8217;s Judiciary: Increased Judicial Activism, Centralisation and Politicisation after 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Author: <\/strong>Iraq Watch Group<\/p>\n<p>This paper examines the evolution of Iraq\u2019s judicial system after 2003, focusing on the increasing centralisation of judicial power and the rise of judicial activism. Following the fall of Saddam Hussein, the judiciary has become progressively insulated from criticism, with power concentrated within the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC). This consolidation has allowed the judiciary to expand its role beyond impartial justice administration, engaging more actively in political processes and increasing its susceptibility to political influence. The findings of this paper suggest that post-2003 judicial reforms, while ostensibly aimed at fostering judicial independence, have instead led to the creation of a judiciary that is often seen as playing a political role and serving the interests of the leading Shi\u2019a political elite. This has worked to compromise its intended neutrality and poses a risk to the rule of law in Iraq.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/peacerep.org\/about\/countries\/iraq\/\">Explore all PeaceRep Iraq research<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This paper examines the evolution of Iraq\u2019s judicial system after 2003, focusing on the increasing centralisation of judicial power and the rise of judicial activism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":24967,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":""},"categories":[1825,235],"tags":[658],"authors":[2074],"class_list":["post-24964","publication","type-publication","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iraq","category-publication","tag-publication","countries-iraq","authors-iraq-watch-group"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Shifting Landscape of Iraq&#039;s Judiciary: Increased Judicial Activism, Centralisation and Politicisation after 2017 - PeaceRep<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This paper examines the evolution of Iraq\u2019s judicial system after 2003, focusing on the increasing centralisation of judicial power and the rise of judicial activism.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Shifting Landscape of Iraq&#039;s Judiciary: Increased Judicial Activism, Centralisation and Politicisation after 2017 - PeaceRep\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This paper examines the evolution of Iraq\u2019s judicial system after 2003, focusing on the increasing centralisation of judicial power and the rise of judicial activism.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gentest.cahss.ed.ac.uk\/dev-peacerep\/publication\/the-shifting-landscape-of-iraqs-judiciary\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PeaceRep\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-18T14:48:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gentest.cahss.ed.ac.uk\/dev-peacerep\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Iraqs-Judiciary-LSE-MEC-report-image.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@peace_rep_\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gentest.cahss.ed.ac.uk\\\/dev-peacerep\\\/publication\\\/the-shifting-landscape-of-iraqs-judiciary\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gentest.cahss.ed.ac.uk\\\/dev-peacerep\\\/publication\\\/the-shifting-landscape-of-iraqs-judiciary\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Shifting Landscape of Iraq's Judiciary: Increased Judicial Activism, Centralisation and Politicisation after 2017 - 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