Federal Court Ruling on Regional Rights; What were Erbil’s commitments and what was implemented? / Amanj Rahim

The Kurdistan Region has placed its oil, energy and export pipeline infrastructure at the service of Iraq, and currently more than 250,000 barrels of oil per day are transported to Ceyhan Port through this infrastructure and sold there, and the revenue from its sale, in addition to 120 billion dinars in non-oil revenue, returns to the federal treasury. Thus, the region’s commitment in the field of oil and oil revenues has been implemented, and the region now provides a significant share of Iraq’s federal revenues from its oil and non-oil revenues.

Kurdistan

According to Article 94 of the Iraqi Constitution, the Federal Supreme Court’s decision No. 224 and its attached decision No. 269 / Union / 2023, issued on February 21, 2024, are final and binding on all government institutions, including the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Council of Ministers.Even the House of Representatives does not have the right to approve any article or clause of the federal budget law contrary to the provisions and rulings of this Federal Supreme Court ruling; in particular, the illegal condition of linking the payment of regional salaries to the actual spending criterion, cutting off the financing of salaries during a dispute between the two governments, and creating inequality between regional and federal salary recipients.

Salaries are not a share of the government, but rather the legal right of the employee to perform his duty and must be protected from financial and political disputes.

Therefore, in the formulation of articles related to the 2027 budget, especially articles related to the financial rights and entitlements of the Kurdistan Region, the provisions and rulings of this ruling must be the legal and constitutional basis, and any text that contradicts this ruling is illegal and unconstitutional.The Kurdistan representatives and factions are also responsible for monitoring the implementation of this decision and not allowing any article in the budget to be approved that contradicts the provisions and rulings of the Federal Court's decision. Otherwise, if the method, conditions, and mechanism for allocating climate rights costs in 2027 are the same as the limitations and conditions of Articles 11, 12, and 13 of the budget laws of previous years, the problems will continue.

Previous and next articles