According to the

constitution of Iraq The Constitution of the Republic of Iraq ( Kurdish: دەستووری عێراق) is the fundamental law of Iraq. The first constitution came into force in 1925. The current constitution was adopted on September 18, 2005 by the Transitional Nati ...

, the Republic of Iraq is composed of the capital, federal regions, decentralised governorates, as well as local administrations. Article 117 of the constitution recognises

Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region (KRI) is a semi-autonomous Federal regions of Iraq, federal region of the Iraq, Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurds, Kurdish-majority governorates of Arabs, Arab-majority Iraq: Erbil Governorate, Sulaymaniyah Governorate ...

as a federal region, and as of December 2024, it is the only federal region of the country.

Overview

The post-2005 Iraqi federal model of governance as outlined by the constitution includes the notion of

decentralization Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those related to planning and decision-making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group and gi ...

and

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territori ...

of power from the federal government to administrative divisions, that is,

governorates A governorate or governate is an administrative division headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces, the term ''governorate'' is typically used to calque divisions o ...

and regions. Both governorates and regions in Iraq are given the constitutional guarantee to exercise a degree of local self-rule in non-federal matters. One or more governorates in Iraq may organize into a region based on a request to be voted on in a referendum submitted in one of the following two methods: a request by one-third of the council members of each governorate intending to form a region, or a request by one-tenth of the voters in each of the governorates intending to form a region. Recents developments in the internal politics of the country have prompted some to cast doubt on the future of federalism in Iraq.

Authorities

Section four of the constitution defines the exclusive powers of the

Federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

and section five defines the authorities of the federal regions. It does not explicitly describe the federal regions as possessing "

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...

", however. The authorities of the regions are divided into two kinds: shared authorities (mentioned in Article 114), that is, authorities that the regions exercise with the federal government such as formulating public educational policy in the regions; and devolved authorities, that is, authorities that are neither of the first kind nor are exclusive federal powers. For instance, the constitution delegates the authority to exercise "executive, legislative, and judicial powers in accordance with heConstitution" to federal regions in those matters outside of the federal government's exclusive jurisdiction. Also, in case of legal dispute, the regions are allowed to either “amend the application of” federal legislation in the region or regional laws will take priority in areas related to devolved or shared authorities respectively, as long as they don't contradict with the constitution. Federal regions are also allowed to establish and organize the internal security forces for the region such as police, security forces, and guards of the regions. Examples of exclusive federal government authorities are ratifying

international treaties A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, conventi ...

and formulating

foreign policy Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

. Interpreting the constitution, and settling disputes between the federal government, governorates and regions and matters related to constitutionality of all laws are settled by the Federal Supreme Court. Since February 2024, the Federal Supreme Court has expanded its authorities to include the power to amend laws passed by the legislative bodies of federal regions, such as those passed by the

Kurdistan Region Parliament The Kurdistan Regional Parliament, also known as Kurdistan Parliament – Iraq (; ), or simply Perleman, is the parliament of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq. It is made up of representatives from the various parties, lists or slates that are elec ...

Issues

Unconvened Federation Council

The constitution stipulates in article 65, that "a legislative council shall be established named the "Federation Council," to include representatives from the regions and the governorates that are not organized in a region. A law, enacted by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Council of Representatives, shall regulate the formation of the Federation Council, its membership conditions, its competencies, and all that is connected with it". This would theoretically serve as the upper house of a bicameral legislature, and facilitate the passing of laws that pertain to issues related to regional and provincial authorities and governance. As of December 2024, the Federation Council has not been created, which entails that the federal model in Iraq has not been completely implemented, i.e. the constitutional guarantee of decentralization has not been fully realized.

Dismantling Kurdistan Region

Since the failed attempt of the only federal region of the country to

secede Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal is the c ...

in 2017, it has witnessed a gradual erosion of its authorities. The future relevance of the Iraqi federal model has been questioned as a resurgence of

centralism Centralisation or centralization (American English) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning, decision-making, and framing strategies and policies, become concentrated within a particular ...

is evident. In February 2022, the

Federal Supreme Court of Iraq The Federal Supreme Court of Iraq (FSC) is the highest court of Iraq within the remit of constitutional law, having exclusive jurisdiction to interpret the Constitution of Iraq. In addition to determining the constitutionality of laws and regulat ...

issued a verdict revoking the regional oil and gas law passed by the

on grounds of the law being unconstitutional. This officially took effect after Iraq won an international arbitration case at the

International Chamber of Commerce The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC; French: ''Chambre de commerce internationale'') is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. ICC represents over 45 million businesses in over 170 countries who have interest ...

in March 2023. Following that, the federal government halted all oil exports from the north of the country, dealing a massive blow to the federal region's economy. In September 2023, (according to a report published by ''

Al-Monitor ''Al-Monitor'' is a news website launched in 2012 by the Arab-American entrepreneur Jamal Daniel. Based in Washington, D.C., ''Al-Monitor'' provides reporting and analysis from and about the Middle East. ''Al-Monitor'' is the recipient of the I ...

'') the Prime Minister of Iraq's Kurdistan Region,

Masrour Barzani Masrour Barzani (; ) (born 2 March 1969) is an Iraqi Kurdish politician and serving as prime minister of the Kurdistan Region, since June 2019. He is also the chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council and a member of the Kurdistan De ...

sent a private letter to the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

urging him to intervene, stating: "I write to you now at another critical juncture in our history, one that I fear we may have difficulty overcoming. … are bleeding economically and hemorrhaging politically. For the first time in my tenure as prime minister, I hold grave concerns that this dishonorable campaign against us may cause the collapse of … the very model of a Federal Iraq that the United States sponsored in 2003 and purported to stand by since". In February 2024, the Federal Supreme Court issued two verdicts. In one verdict it ordered the KRG to hand over all of its revenues to the federal government as a precondition to it receiving its annual share of the federal budget. In another verdict, it revoked and amended Kurdistan Region's Election Law, setting a legal precedent for the latter. By amending its legislation the Court effectively superseded the Kurdistan Region Parliament. In January 2024, Kurdistan Region PM Barzani said: “The attacks targeting the Kurdistan Region are deliberate attempts by our enemies, opponents, and traitors to dismantle its structure. Their objective is to weaken the Kurdistan Region through sustained aggression and pressure, with the hope that it will eventually collapse”. The undoing of Kurdistan Region's authorities is indicative of the shift in the political model of governance in Iraq towards pre-

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

centralism and a sign that Baghdad is reasserting control.

Unimplemented Article 140

Article 140, Second, of the Constitution of Iraq states: “The responsibility placed upon the executive branch of the Iraqi Transitional Government stipulated in Article 58 of the Transitional Administrative Law shall extend and continue to the executive authority elected in accordance with this Constitution, provided that it accomplishes completely (normalization and census and concludes with a referendum in Kirkuk and other disputed territories to determine the will of their citizens), by a date not to exceed the 31st of December 2007.” The Transitional Administrative Law Article 58 in question stipulates that areas that were previously affected by Baathist policies of demographic change as well as territorial changes such as redefining borders of Governorates, have to be “normalised” demographically as well as geographically by restoring them to their initial ethnic composition as well as provincial boundaries. Those that were forcibly relocated or otherwise disenfranchised by the previous regime have to be resettled to their original estates or provided compensation. With regards to those “newly introduced” settlers that were brought there by the previous Baathi regime, they also have to be compensated and relocated. Finally, a census would be conducted to determine the official ethnic composition of the territories, as well as a referendum that would determine the status of the disputed territories; that is, whether or not they would become part of the Kurdistan Region. As of November 2024, no steps have been taken to implement the provisions of the article.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Federal regions of Iraq Governorates, Iraq Subdivisions of Iraq Iraq geography-related lists Iraq, Federal regions Iraq 1