Constitutional Protection of Future Natural Resources under the Iraqi Constitution Of 2005

Abstract

Most constitutions of the world's countries are keen to regulate the issue of protecting natural resources at the core of the constitutional document. Therefore, these constitutions are eager to provide constitutional protection for these resources, whether they exist or may exist in the future. Consequently, we discussed the constitutional protection of future natural resources under the Iraqi Constitution of 2005 in our research. This research is vital because the Iraqi Constitution stipulates the regulation of natural resources and focuses on the oil and gas resources, as they are the most prominent among these resources and are considered a significant source of revenues in the state's general budget. The study focuses on the fact that the process of sharing natural resources, especially future ones, was not clearly stated in the Constitution, as the texts it contained were marred by ambiguity and inconsistency due to ambiguous wording and the failure to legislate a law for these resources that clarifies the details of the constitutional texts. Hence, disputes arise between the federal government and the regions and governorates—not organized by region on future natural resources. The research was divided into two requirements according to a scientific plan that adopted the scientific sequence in studying the research. In the first requirement, we addressed the constitutional framework for the future natural resources in Iraq in two sections. The first is an explanation of the concept of natural resources. The second deals with the distinction between constitutional protection and criminal protection as an entry point with which we pave the way for entering into the study. The subject of the study. The second requirement deals with the federal government's authority over future natural resources, as per the provisions of the Iraqi Constitution of 2005, in two sections. The first section dealt with the constitutional organization of the relationship between the federal government and the region's governments and governorates regarding future natural resources. The second section was devoted to constitutional principles and their role in protecting future natural resources. Then, we ended with a conclusion that included the most important results and proposals drawn from the research.