Iraq

• The Constitution of 2005, the highest law
• The Civil Code (1951), the Penal Code and other codes and statutes
• Islamic law and the personal-status rules of each religious community, in family matters
• Decisions of the Federal Supreme Court and the Court of Cassation

• The Federal Supreme Court, which decides constitutional questions
• The Federal Court of Cassation, the top court for ordinary cases
• Courts of appeal and first-instance courts, with personal-status courts for family matters

A law degree, then registration with the Iraqi Bar Association.

• The Kurdistan Region has its own legislature and courts for matters assigned to it.
• The Civil Code is a sister of Egypt's, drafted by the same jurist.
• Family matters are decided under the personal-status rules of each community.
• The system is a federal one, and court and security conditions have changed greatly in recent decades, so check current developments.

Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, France

The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Iraq as: Civil law, Muslim. It names the systems in order of importance.

The map colours a country by the first-named system, and shows both civil-law and common-law countries as “mixed”. It is a simplification, and real systems are rarely pure.

Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria.

• Federal Supreme Court of Iraq

Sources last reviewed: October 2026.