The Judiciary in Iraq

After simmering in the background through the nineties, Iraq burst into the awareness of many when it became a battleground against the war on terror under the Bush administration. Few realize that in the midst of the fierce policy battles, one partially implemented state-building exercise took root, and Iraq became the first country in the Middle East, democracy or otherwise, to have a constitutionally mandated independent judicial branch. In The Judiciary in Iraq, Madhat al-Mahmood, chief justice of Iraq, examines the many elements contributing to the creation of the first independent judicial branch in the Middle East in 2003, born from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, as well as the almost accidental opportunity created by the US state-building machinery that so often misfired. Chief Justice al-Mahmood draws on his decades of work in academia in Iraq and in the government sector to provide insight into why Iraq was positioned to accept the opportunity created in 2003 and how the independent courts have been able to invest heavily in expanding access to services, providing motivation for renewed efforts in Iraq and lessons for new democracies in the region. This study examines the role of the judiciary in the recent history of Iraq, starting from the Ottoman Era and moving through the British occupation and the establishment of the modern Iraqi state in its various phases, to guide consideration of what role the judiciary can play today so justice predominates.