The Legal Framework for Protecting Freedom of Opinion and Expression (The Case of Iraq as a Model)

Abstract

Despite the existence of international and regional instruments, and national legislation, devoted to organizing and protecting freedom of opinion and expression, they witness many violations and restrictions on their practice. This is after internal developments in many countries revealed the deterioration of political, economic, social and cultural conditions, which constitutes a major topic for studies in both international human rights law and national law, in order to address these violations and set rules and controls that guarantee the preservation of freedom of opinion and expression within its legitimate framework, without exceeding it to harm others or society. Iraq constitutes a prominent case for study in this regard, with regard to the protection of freedom of opinion and expression in Iraq since the establishment of the Iraqi state until today, as the paradigm shift that the Iraqi political system has witnessed since 2003 has contributed to the consecration of many rights and freedoms, including freedom of opinion and expression, which is the starting point for the rest of the freedoms and one of the mainstays of building an edifice Democracy. For the purpose of studying this topic, it has been distributed on two axes: The first axis deals with the concept of freedom of opinion and expression and its protection at the international and regional levels. The second axis is devoted to freedom of opinion and expression in Iraqi legislation.