NYT/AP: Text of Proposed Iraq Constitution (entire text here)

(ON EDIT: I do not believe this is copyrighted, so I have edited to post the entire proposed Constitution.)

Text of Proposed Iraq Constitution
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 22, 2005
Filed at 8:22 p.m. ET


Chapter One

Article One

The Republic of Iraq is an independent state.

Article Two

The political system is republican, parliamentary, democratic and federal.

1. Islam is a main source for legislation.

-- a. No law may contradict Islamic standards.

-- b. No law may contradict democratic standards.

-- c. No law may contradict the essential rights and freedoms mentioned in this constitution.

2. This constitution guarantees the Islamic identity of the Iraqi people and guarantees all religious rights; all persons are free within their ideology and the practice of their ideological practices.

3. Iraq is part of the Islamic world, and the Arabs are part of the Arab nation.

4.

a. Arabic and Kurdish are the two official languages, and Iraqis have the right to teach their sons their mother language like the Turkomen and Assyrian in the government educational institutes.

b. The language used orally in official institutions such as the Parliament and the Cabinet as well as official conventions should be one of the two languages.

c. Recognizing the official documents with the two languages.

d. Opening the schools with two languages.

Article Three

Federal institutions in Kurdistan should use the two languages.

Article Four

The Turkomen and Assyrian languages are the official languages in the Turkomen and Assyrian areas, and each territory or province has the right to use its own official language if residents have approved in a general referendum vote.

Article Five

Power is transferred peacefully through democratic ways.

Article Seven

1. Any organization that follow a racist, terrorist, extremist, sectarian-cleaning ideology or circulates or justifies such beliefs is banned, especially Saddam's Baath Party in Iraq and its symbols under any name. And this should not be part of the political pluralism in Iraq.

2. The government is committed to fighting terrorism in all its forms, and works to protect Iraqi soil from being a center or passage for terrorist activities.

CHAPTER TWO

Article 35

-- a. Human freedom and dignity are guaranteed.

-- b. No person can be detained or interrogated without a judicial order.

-- c. All kinds of physical and psychological torture and inhumane treatment are prohibited, and any confession is considered void if it was taken by force, threats and torture. The person who was harmed has the right to ask for compensation for the financial and moral damage he/she suffered.

Article 36

The State guarantees:

1. Freedom of expression by all means.

2. Freedom of the press, printing, advertising and publishing.

Article 37

Freedom to establish political groups and organizations.

Article 39

Iraqis are free to abide in their personal lives according to their religion, sects, beliefs or choice. This should be organized by law.

CHAPTER THREE

Article 66

A presidential candidate should:

1. Be Iraqi by birth and the offspring of two Iraqi parents.

2. Be no less than 40 years old.

3. Have a good reputation and political experience, and be known as honest and faithful to the nation.

Article 75

The prime minister should have all the qualifications as the presidential candidate and should have a university degree or its equivalent and should not be less than 35 years old.

Article 104

A general commission should be set up to observe and specify the central (government) revenues, and the commission should be made up of experts from the central government, regions, provinces and representatives.

CHAPTER 4:

Article 107

Federal authorities should preserve Iraq's unity, security, independence and sovereignty and its democratic federal system.

Article 109

Oil and gas are the property of all the Iraqi people in regions and provinces.

Article 110

The central government administers oil and gas extracted from current wells, along with governments of the producing regions and provinces, on the condition that revenues are distributed in a way that suits population distribution around the country.

CHAPTER FIVE

Article 114

1. A region consists of one or more provinces, and two or more regions have the right to create a single region.

2. A province or more has the right to set a region according to a referendum called for in one of two ways:

-- a. A demand by one-third of all members of each of the provincial councils that aims to set up a region.

-- b. A demand by one-tenth of voters of the provinces that aim to set up a region.

Article 117

A region's legislative authority is made up of one council, named the National Assembly of the region.

Article 118

The National Council of the region drafts the region's constitution and issues laws, which must not contradict this constitution and Iraq's central laws.

Article 120

The executive authority of the region is made up of the president of the region and the region's government.

Article 128

The region's revenues are made up from the specified allotment from the national budget and from the local revenues of the region.

Article 129

The regional government does what is needed to administer the region, especially setting up internal security forces, such as police, security and region guards.

Article 135

This constitution guarantees the administrative, political, cultural and educational rights of different ethnic groups such as Turkomen, Chaldean, Assyrians and other groups.

CHAPTER SIX

Article 144

The Iraq Supreme Criminal Court continues its work as a legislative, independent commission to look into the crimes of the former dictatorial regime and its symbols, and the Council of Deputies has the right to annul it after it ends its duties.

Article 145

a. The Supreme National Commission for de-Baathification continues its work as an independent commission, in coordination with the judicial authority and executive institutions and according to laws that organize its work.

b. Parliament has the right to dissolve this commission after it ends its work, with a two-thirds majority.

Article 151

No less than 25 percent of Council of Deputies seats go to women.

Article 153

This law is considered in force after people vote on it in a general referendum and when it is published in the official Gazette and the Council of Deputies is elected according to it.


http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Iraq-Constitution-Text.html

Seriously, it's a bunch of platitudes...

for THAT sort of clap trap?

Wow -- bushie is working for Osama!

1. Islam is the main source for legislation.

http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/health/content/shared-gen/ap/Middle_East/Iraq_Constitution_Text.html



complete text: http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/health/content/shared-gen/ap/Middle_East/Iraq_Constitution_Text.html

Does anyone know?

A lot of things that are COMPLETELY CONTRADICTORY.

the entire text of the proposed Constitution.

There seems to be a lot of detail missing.

No law may contradict Islam.

==

Sounds pretty clear. :grrr:

isn't even intellectually consistant on its face -- much less in its details and implementation.

Argh....

How is the president elected? Who is a citizen? How are the provinces drawn, and by whom? Can Iraq enter into international treaties? How is the judiciary seated? What are their powers? What is the president's role? How does a bill become a law?

Seriously, is this a joke? Is this a fucking joke? I hope no mother who lost a son sees this shit.

What an embarrassment.

No...this is something some freshman in high school would write up in a civics class or something. This is an utter farce of a document.

Parts of it are blank for crying out loud!

This is what 2000 soldiers died for? This is it?!

Article 110

The central government administers oil and gas extracted from current wells, along with governments of the producing regions and provinces, on the condition that revenues are distributed in a way that suits population distribution around the country.

or all that has been agreed upon by the Kurds and Shi'ites? :shrug:

:shrug:

This is being reported by the AP in 2-3 different places, so it seems like the genuine document.

I HOPE something is missing because this isn't worth the paper its written on.

<< Have a good reputation and political experience, and be known as honest and faithful to the nation. >>

oh brother...

:eyes:

. Islam is a main source for legislation.

-- a. No law may contradict Islamic standards.

-- b. No law may contradict democratic standards.

come out of it.

:rofl:

But I have a feeling that the only thing that matters in there is this:

1. Islam is a main source for legislation.

:crazy:

Article Seven

1. Any organization that follow a racist, terrorist, extremist, sectarian-cleaning ideology or circulates or justifies such beliefs is banned, especially Saddam's Baath Party in Iraq and its symbols under any name. And this should not be part of the political pluralism in Iraq.

If this were US Law a lot of people would be banned. Who gets to decide what is extreme?