Law of Iraq

Iraq legal system is a mixture of civil law, drawing on the Napoleonic Code and other European frameworks, and Islamic sharia, a blend that traces to the country history under the Ottoman Empire, whose own courts combined sharia with secular Kanun law, followed by the British mandate from 1921 to 1932 and later independence. The system was reorganized after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following the First World War and again after the 2003 invasion, which left Iraqi law in what the sources describe as a continuing period of transition. Iraq permanent constitution, adopted by referendum in 2005, establishes the country as a federal, democratic and parliamentary republic and recognizes Islam as the state religion, while guaranteeing civil liberties that carry exemptions tied to Islamic morality. The judiciary includes civil, criminal, religious and military courts under the oversight of a Federal Supreme Court, and Iraqi law is drawn from three sources, the Constitution, Islamic sharia, foundational especially for personal and family matters, and Western law shaped by the Napoleonic Code and international standards.