The Extent to Which Legislation Responds to Advancing the Iraqi Administrative Judiciary

Abstract

Administrative justice is considered one of the main pillars on which the rule of law is based, due to the important role it plays in protecting individuals' rights and freedoms against the administration, and ensuring that the executive authority's actions comply with the principle of legality. Legislative developments have led to the transformation of the Iraqi judiciary from a unified system to a dual system, and this system has further evolved through amendments made to the Iraqi State Council Law No. (65) of 1979, as amended. The fifth amendment to this law strengthened the administrative judiciary structure by establishing the Higher Administrative Court to consider appeals against judgments issued by the Employees' Judiciary and the Administrative Judiciary Court         

Despite the legislative amendments and developments that the Iraqi administrative judiciary has witnessed, it still faces many legislative and procedural obstacles, such as the need to address some legislative shortcomings related to organizing administrative litigation procedures, in order to achieve greater efficiency and alignment with the nature of administrative disputes. As for the procedural obstacles, they are represented by the absence of a comprehensive and independent law that regulates litigation procedures, which requires developing a more comprehensive and independent legislative framework that suits the specifics of administrative disputes and what the administrative judiciary needs                                                                                                              

Therefore, advancing the Iraqi administrative judiciary requires building an integrated legislative system that keeps pace with modern changes in public administration, achieving a balance between the requirements of the public interest and guarantees for protecting individual rights, in a way that strengthens the principle of legality and the rule of law.