Iraq's top judge warns treaty chaos after Khor Abdullah ruling
Iraq's top judicial authority warned on Wednesday that the Federal Supreme Court's decision to invalidate a 2013 law endorsing the maritime border agreement with Kuwait could unravel hundreds of international treaties ratified over the past two decades.
Chief Justice Faiq Zidan, head of the Supreme Judicial Council, issued a sharply worded article titled 'The Waves of Khor Abdullah Between Two Contradictory Rulings,' criticizing the Federal Court's reversal of its 2014 ruling on the Khor Abdullah agreement.
In September 2023, the Federal Court ruled the law ratifying the agreement unconstitutional, citing the need for a two-thirds parliamentary majority—an interpretation that differs from its earlier stance requiring only a simple majority. That shift, Zidan warned, could retroactively invalidate more than 400 international treaties approved under the previous standard.
'If the two-thirds requirement is adopted as a precedent, then every treaty ratified by a simple majority becomes null, dismantling Iraq's entire international legal framework built over the past 20 years,' Zidan wrote.
The chief justice stressed that the ruling jeopardizes Iraq's legal credibility, particularly as the Khor Abdullah agreement is already lodged with the United Nations. 'The decision undermines the legal stability of international commitments and could expose Iraq to potential liabilities,' he warned.
Zidan also questioned the Federal Court's authority to reverse its own final ruling. He noted that while Iraq's legal system allows for 'judicial reversals' in rare cases, these are strictly limited to abstract legal principles—not binding judgments—and must follow rigorous procedures handled only by the General Assembly of the Federal Court of Cassation.
'The Federal Court granted itself an extraordinary power through Article 45 of its internal bylaw, allowing it to reverse previous principles if public interest demands. However, internal regulations cannot override constitutional or legislative authority,' he argued.
Moreover, Zidan said the court misapplied that internal rule by revoking an entire ruling—rather than a legal principle—as its 2023 decision invalidated the 2014 judgment that had recognized the agreement's constitutionality.
'This is a legal overreach,' Zidan wrote. 'By annulling a final decision, the court violated the doctrine of res judicata and generated a legislative vacuum and diplomatic confusion.'
The Khor Abdullah dispute has already strained Iraq-Kuwait relations. But Zidan's article expands the scope of concern.
'The 2014 ruling was aligned with constitutional provisions and international law, providing legal certainty both domestically and globally,' Zidan concluded. 'In contrast, the 2023 ruling lacks a constitutional basis and poses significant legal and diplomatic consequences.'
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