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Law of the Independent Higher Commissariat for Elections
 

(Chapter I)

Article 1

First: under this law the order of the coalition no. 92 dated 31/5/2004 shall be repealed after this law has entered into force with all regulations and instructions issued thereunder.

Second: a panel shall be founded under this law named the Independent Higher Commissariat for Elections


Chapter II

 Article 2

The Independent Higher Commissariat for Elections is a technocrat government independent body, impartial, enjoys legal corporate status and subject to the control of the House of Representatives, and shall:

1.    Lay the principles and rules adopted in federal, regional and local elections and referendums in all over Iraq to ensure their implementation in a fair and impartial way.
2.    Supervise all types of federal and regional elections and referendums and in governorates irregular a region.
3.    Announce, organize and implement all types of federal and local elections and referendums in governorates irregular in a region as noted in the Constitution in all parts of Iraq.
4.    Elections panel of regions shall in coordination and cooperation with the national bureau shall assume the tasks of administration and organization of regional and local elections pertaining to the region under the supervision of the Independent Higher Commissariat for Elections.

(Chapter III)

Bodies of the Commissariat

Article 3:

First: the Higher Independent Commissariat for Elections consists of:

a.    Council of Commissioners
b.    Electoral administration   
    
Second: Council of Commissioners

•    it consists of nine members, two of them at least of lawyers selected by the House of Representatives by a majority after they are nominated from a (committee form the House of Representatives), provided they are experts and experienced and recognized for their competence, integrity and independence while taking into account the representation of women.

Fourth:
Members of the Commissioners' Council shall swear in front of the Supreme Judicial Council and in the following wording: (I swear to God Almighty that I will perform my legal and professional responsibilities honestly and sincerely and to do the tasks commissioned to me independently and impartially, and God is my witness).

Fifth:

Meeting of the Council will be valid by an absolute majority of its members and its decision shall be taken by a majority of attendances, and in the case votes are equal the chairman will have the casting vote unless otherwise provided for by the law.

(Chapter IV)
Powers of the Commissioners Council

Article 4:

The commissariat shall exercise the following powers:

First: create and update voters' register in cooperation and coordination with the regional and government offices.
Second: arrange the register of political entities and endorse them for the purpose of running the elections
Third: arrange the record of candidates' lists and ratify them
Fourth: approve the elections observers, agents of political entities and media
Fifth: decide on all electoral complaints and contestations and thus its decisions shall be contestable before a competent cassation judicial body
Sixth: ratify the procedures of counting and sorting out
Seventh: announce the final results of elections and referendum after being ratified by the competent judicial entities except for the results of the House of Representatives which are ratified by the Federal Supreme Court.
Eighth: design rules and instructions that would preserve the integrity of the electoral process.
Ninth: ratify the organizational structure of the electoral administration and appointments at the higher offices.
Tenth: draw up the monetary policy of the Commissariat







(Chapter V)
The electoral administration

Article 5:

a.    Electoral administration consists of the National Office and Electoral Offices in the region and governorates according to an organizational structure being proposed by the (director general/chairman) of the electoral administration and approved by the council of commissioners, while the director general assumes the presidency of electoral administration whereupon this is approved by the council of  commissioners and entities he is entitled to by the council to organize its functions and make sure of its proper functioning.
b.    Electoral administration shall be responsible for implementing the regulations and decisions issued from the Council of Commissioners, and managing all activities of operational, executive and procedural nature at both the national and regional levels.
c.    Senior jobs in the National Office such as director general aides, directors of administrations in the Office all shall be nominated by the executive management and approved then by the Council of Commissariat by a majority of five out of eight. As for the directors of regional offices and governorates, they are nominated and approved by the Council of Commissioner by a majority of five candidates on the part of the House of Representatives members in that region or governorate, however, any one of them shall be selected and approved by the Council of Commissioners by a majority of five members thereof at least.
d.    Chairs and members of the electoral offices shall be responsible for their assigned work before the director of the Electoral Administration who may hold them accountable and replace whoever fails in performing his duties using the same mechanism set forth in clause (c).


(Chapter VI)
Replacement of members

Article 6:

Membership in the Council of Commissioners shall terminate for one of the following reasons:

1.    Accept the resignation of any member from the Council of Commissioners according to the rules of procedure.
2.    Demise or disability of any member of the Commissioners' Council
3.     Issuance of a final judgment against any member of the Council of Commissioners for an honor-violating crime.
4.    Approval of the recommendation issued from the Council of Commissioners by the House Representatives by a simple majority of five members in dismissing any member thereof for violating the rules of conduct.
5.    House of Representatives may discharge the Council of Commissioners, severally or jointly, from its tasks by an absolute majority after their legal violations were proved.
6.     If it was proved that the information he reported upon taking up the job was invalid
7.    In the case that one seat of the Commissioners' Council became vacant for any of the reasons shown in article (6) hereof, he will be replaced by a member to be selected using the same mechanism provided for in article (3), clause (second).


Article 8:

First: the Council shall have an exclusive authority as regards the civil implementation of its procedures and regulations and thus the Council shall refer any criminal case to the competent authorities if evidence were found about misconduct in the integrity of an electoral process.

Second: unless the law of Higher Commissariat otherwise provided for, the Council has the exclusive authority to resolve disputes arising from preparing and implementing national and regional elections, or otherwise at the level of governorates, however, the commissariat may delegate authority to the electoral administration to solve the disputes the moment they transpire.

Third: the court of cassation shall form a panel designated as "the electoral judicial panel" composed of three part-time judges to look into contestations referred to it from the Council of Commissioners or presented by people affected by the decisions taken by the council, direct to the judiciary.

Fourth: final decision taken by the Council shall not be subject to appeal but only in front of the electoral judicial panel.

Fifth: decisions of the Council of Commissariat shall be announced in (3) daily newspapers for three days at least in Arabic and Kurdish and the decision must be contested within three days at least beginning from the day following the publication on the part of the decision-concerned political entity' this appeal must be submitted to the national office or any of the Commissariat's electoral offices in the regions and governorates.

Sixth: the electoral judicial panel shall decide on the appeal during a period not exceeding (10) days as from the date of contestation referred by the Council of Commissioners.