IRAQ Law and Practice Contributed by: Buraq Al-Hamdy, Waddah Hamed, Sajida Ankouni and Mohammad Jaber, Basrah Obelisk Law Firm Ltd
petent, swear an oath and testify to facts they directly observed. There are no pre-trial depositions; and testi- mony occurs in court hearings. Witnesses are subject to cross-examination or questioning by opposing par- ties and the court to test credibility. 8.5 Expert Evidence Expert evidence is permitted under Article 126 when technical knowledge is required; courts appoint inde- pendent experts or accept party-nominated ones. Experts owe duties of impartiality, accuracy and bas- ing opinions on verified facts, with reports treated as evidence subject to court discretion. The court is not bound by the opinion and must justify rejection. Foreign judgments are enforced under Iraqi Execu- tion Law No 45/1980 (as amended), which applies once recognition is obtained via Law No 30/1928 or international agreements. Procedures involve filing an application at the Primary Court of First Instance in the debtor’s domicile or asset location, attaching a legal- ised/translated copy; the court verifies conditions (eg, finality, jurisdiction, reciprocity, no public policy viola- tion), notifies the debtor, holds hearings and issues an enforcement order if satisfied. Execution then pro- ceeds like domestic judgments via justice executors. 9.2 Enforcement of Arbitral Awards 9. Enforcement 9.1 Enforcement of Judgments Domestic awards follow Execution Law No 45/1980 directly if final; the creditor applies to the Primary Court for an enforcement order, with execution by justice executors. Foreign awards require prior rec- ognition (treated as judgments) or UNCITRAL Model Law principles if applicable, subject to reciprocity and public policy; this is simplified for Arab League Convention states (ratified by Iraq). Applications mir- ror foreign judgments: court approval after verification and then execution per Law 45/1980. 9.3 Length of Time Enforcement proceedings typically take between six and 18 months, depending on court backlog, debtor objections (15-day period per Law 45/1980), appeals to Court of Cassation and notification complexities
for non-residents. Execution post-order can be swift (weeks) if there is no resistance, but delays arise from asset attachment or force majeure objections. 9.4 Grounds for Resisting Enforcement Under Law 45/1980, resistance grounds include: lack of reciprocity, foreign court lacked jurisdiction, improper notification, non-final judgment, fraud/irreg- ular hearing, or violation of Iraqi public policy/justice principles. The debtor may object within 15 days of notification; the court rejects this if conditions are unmet; and appeals go to Cassation. Arbitral awards face similar scrutiny plus non-arbitrability. Iraq lacks specific legislation regulating AI in dispute resolution as of April 2026; no dedicated AI law exists, though general civil procedure (Law 83/1969) and evi- dence laws apply. The Supreme Committee for Arti- ficial Intelligence oversees national AI integration but judicial use falls under judicial council oversight with- out binding rules on AI tools like predictive analytics or ODR platforms. 10.2 Impact AI’s impact remains minimal in Iraqi courts, limited to pilot projects like trial monitoring in the Kurdistan Region and administrative case management tools for backlog reduction. It aids efficiency in document review and case prediction but raises concerns over bias, liability and fair trial rights under Evidence Law 107/1979, with no widespread adoption due to infra- structure gaps. 10.3 Future Courts have not embraced AI; UNESCO supports training at the Iraqi Judicial Institute (2026), but prac- tical use is nascent. Evolution likely involves gradual integration for case triage and analytics by 2027– 2030, driven by digital reforms, with new ethics leg- islation proposed to ensure transparency and judicial oversight. 10. Dispute Resolution and AI 10.1 Regulation
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