The Iraqi Special Tribunal was established according to the statute no. (1) dated 10.12.2003 enacted by the Iraqi Governing Council. The tribunal was recognizing the wishes of the Iraqi people to establish a legal instrument suitable for proving their rights and uncovering the truth about what happened during the past years.
The statute of the Iraqi special tribunal was drafted by the legal committee of the governing council and followed significant consultation with the legal staff and other experts in the coalition provisional authority and other government officials of countries connected with the coalition. Some of these experts had significant expertise in the field of prosecution of war crimes. In addition, the drafters of the statute consulted international experts in the field, as well as some non-governmental organizations. Finally, the drafters of the statute consulted Iraqi lawyers and judges who provided advice on Iraqi criminal law and the Iraqi criminal procedures law.
The intention of the drafters of the statute was to attempt insofar as possible to comply with international standards of due process of law and to focus on the crimes committed under international law, such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. At the same time, the drafters of the statute had to take into account the wishes of the Iraqi people, namely that this process needed to substantially be an Iraqi process. The governing council further concluded that, with international assistance, the Iraqi judicial process would be able to pursue an accountability process.
This website is setup in order to meet our ambitions in presenting the real image of the Iraqi Special Tribunal and be a guidance which inspires all those interested. Being an open gate for your opinions and suggestions which will certainly help us to take confident steps towards an Iraqi judicial establishment characterized by its neutrality, integrity and transparency and backed to the Iraqi legal legacy which is well known domestically, regionally and internationally with the aid of the international expertise to serve the Iraqi people who are looking forward attaining their rights, establishing justice and ensuring fairness to all misdeed that they suffered.
