Constitution of Iraq
The constitution of Iraq forms the legal
basis for the government of Iraq.
History
The current constitution was approved by a
referendum that took place on 15 October
2005. The constitution was drafted in 2005
by members of the Iraqi Constitution Draft-
ing Committee to replace the Law of Admin-
istration for the State of Iraq for the Trans-
itional Period (the "TAL"). The TAL was draf-
ted between December 2003 and March 2004
by the Iraqi Governing Council, an appointed
body that was selected by the Coalition Provi-
sional Authority after the Iraq War and occu-
pation of Iraq by the United States and Coali-
tion forces.
Under a compromise brokered before the
referendum, it was agreed that the first par-
liament that was to be elected pursuant to
the new constitution would institute a Consti-
tutional Review Committee with a view to de-
termine whether the constitution should be
amended. Any amendments agreed would
have to be ratified by a similar referendum to
the one that originally approved it. After this
agreement was entered into, the Sunni-ma-
jority Iraqi Islamic Party agreed to back a Yes
vote in the referendum that took place on
October 15, 2005. The Constitutional Review
Committee was constituted by the Iraqi par-
liament on 25 September 2006. [1]
Electoral Commission officials said at a
news conference that 78 percent of voters
backed the charter and 21 percent opposed
it. Of the 18 provinces, two recorded "No"
votes greater than two thirds, one province
short of a veto. A two-thirds rejection vote in
three of the country’s 18 provinces (of which
three -- Mosul, Anbar, and Salahaddin -- are
thought to include Sunni majorities) would
have
required
the dissolution
of
the
Assembly, fresh elections, and the recom-
mencement of the entire drafting process.
Turnout in the referendum was 63 percent,
commission officials had previously said.
The drafting and adoption of the new Con-
stitution was not without
controversy,
however, as sectarian tensions
in
Iraq
figured heavily in the process