Iraq’s top courts clash as Cassation voids Supreme Court ruling

Iraq’s judicial power struggle intensified on Wednesday after the Federal Court of Cassation voided a high-profile ruling by the Federal Supreme Court concerning the Unified Retirement Law. The latest escalation adds to a deepening institutional standoff between Iraq’s top judicial bodies over constitutional interpretation and legal authority.

In its statement, the Court of Cassation declared that the Supreme Court’s November 2024 ruling—which had struck down Article 35/8 of the Unified Retirement Law as unconstitutional—was procedurally invalid. The Cassation Court argued that the verdict was issued “in violation of the principles and provisions of Iraq’s Civil Procedure Law,” and therefore constituted a legally “null” act. It emphasized that, under Article 12 of the Judicial Organization Law, the Cassation Court is the highest judicial authority in Iraq and has the right to deem any ruling issued outside proper jurisdiction as void.