Official references for federal law and Kurdistan Region legislation
Before any article is relied on, the first question is: from which official source was it taken? The Law Office of Ali Barakat distinguishes a federal source from a source in the Kurdistan Region, because mixing the two leads to applying a text to a place where it does not run.
Federal references
The Official Gazette (al-Waqa'i al-Iraqiya) is the federal official journal, produced under the Ministry of Justice. The issue number and date establish publication. The Iraqi Legislation Database of the Supreme Judicial Council presents the text — often in consolidated form — with an indication of status and amendments. A sound reading uses both: the text from the database, and the publication data from the Gazette when verification is required.
Ministries and departments also publish on their websites statutes or instructions connected with their work — for example the Companies Registration Department at the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Planning on public contracts, or the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Those publications help in understanding a procedure; they do not replace checking the text in the Gazette or in the database when a legal rule is in issue.
References in the Kurdistan Region
The Region has its own legislative authority and its own official journal. A regional statute or regional instructions are obtained from the regional source that published them, not from an assumption that they are a copy of the federal statute. A regional law may bring a federal statute into force or modify its application; that instrument is named as such. A federal text is not said to apply in Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok or Halabja until that effect has been established.
The names of departments also differ. "Companies Registration Department / Registrar of Companies" is the federal designation at the Ministry of Trade. In the Region, the General Directorate of Companies Registration in the Region's trade formation is the body to consult, and it is named as it is officially styled there. A federal designation is not substituted for a regional one, or the reverse.
What is not an official reference
Unofficial commentaries, translations not issued by an official body, commercial compilations and advisory pages may help in locating where to look. They are not the text that can be relied on. If they conflict with the official Arabic, the official text is preferred.
Legal basis and sources
- Iraqi Legislation Database (Supreme Judicial Council)
- Ministry of Justice — Official Gazette (al-Waqa'i al-Iraqiya)
Frequently asked questions
Is a ministry website enough to cite the text of a statute?
It helps in understanding the procedure, but a citation is built on the text published in the Official Gazette or on what the Iraqi Legislation Database records after the publication data have been matched.
Where is a statute enacted in the Kurdistan Region obtained?
From the regional source that published it in the Region's official journal, or from the official tool adopted there, together with the instrument that gives a federal statute effect in the Region if that is the case.
Related topics and articles
- 01How to search for an Iraqi statute in the Legislation DatabaseA practical method for finding a federal Iraqi statute in the Iraqi Legislation Database: by title, number or year, then checking status and amendments.
- 02When should the official wording be quoted, and what is its authority?When the Arabic Official Gazette text should be quoted verbatim, what an unofficial translation is worth, and what does not count as citing the source.
- 03What recent changes are confirmed in labour, social security and companies law?Recent instruments in the Iraqi Legislation Database on labour, social security and companies or branches, without any claim that the list is complete.
- 04Does the same rule apply in Baghdad, the Kurdistan Region and Basrah?How the 2005 Constitution decides which law applies in Baghdad, in the Kurdistan Region and in Basrah: exclusive federal powers, the Region's right to amend how federal law applies there, Kurdistan legislation since 1992, and the powers of a governorate council outside a region, with examples from the Income Tax Law.