History and current state of parliamentary oversight in Iraq

Abstract

The phenomenon of Iraqi constitutionalism traditionally arouse skepticism among researchers. This is due not only to the historical difficulties faced by Iraqi constitutionalism, but also to the lack, according to researchers, of effective mechanisms for legal protection of the constitution. Among such mechanisms is the institution of parliamentary control in Iraq and its historical predecessors that has received virtually no coverage among Russian constitutional scholars, which determines the relevance of the study. The object of the study is the history and current state of parliamentary control in Iraq. Having proposed his own periodization of the history of Iraqi statehood, the author analyzes the main sources of legal regulation of parliamentary control in each of the identified historical periods, also referring to the assessments of applying constitutional provisions practice and assessments of contemporaries. The research method is the analysis of relevant normative regulation and practical implementation of constitutional norms on parliamentary control based on the assessments of constitutional scholars. The author concludes that the institution of parliamentary control in Iraq emerged in the late Ottoman era and strengthened in the first half of the XX century, after which it was dismantled for political, ideological and legal reasons. The author analyzes the current state of the institution of parliamentary control in Iraq, including atypical control powers of modern parliament. According to the author, their emergence is a reaction of the constitutional legislator to consistent oppression of mechanisms of popular representation, which, however, led to radicalization of the role of parliament in the system of separation of powers in Iraq.