Legal study on the project of the first amendment on Iraqi Nationality law No.26 in 2006

Abstract

Nationality is a legal, political and spiritual bond that binds individuals to states. It is the means that distributes individuals between countries. Through nationality, the component of people is determined in every country; ie people who hold the nationality of a specific country are considered its citizens. By contrast, those who do not hold the nationality of the same country are foreigners, even if they have permission to stay on its ground. In general, there are three laws enacted to regulate nationality in Iraq: The first of which was the Nationality Law No. 42 in 1924, which was legislated after the establishment of the Iraqi state. However, this law was repealed and replaced by the Iraqi Nationality Law No. 43 in 1963. The latter sparked widespread controversy, especially after the change of the political system in Iraq, including the amendments made to it by the dissolved Revolutionary Command Council. Therefore, changing this law was a priority for the Iraqi parliament after the fall of the previous Iraqi regime in 2003. Indeed, this law and all decisions related to it were formally repealed by the Iraqi parliament in 2006 and replaced by the new Iraqi Nationality Law No. 26 in 2006. However, this law contains many legal and political criticism, especially regarding dual nationality. In addition, the law contains some other controversial cases regarding imposing original nationality and granting nationality through Iraqi mother and other legal disputes related to the recovery of a lost nationality and many other legal problems. Therefore, the Iraqi legislator has prepared a draft to amend the current Iraqi nationality law. In this study, we will highlight the most important points included in this project. We will also indicate the extent to which this project respond to the requirements of society. Finally, we will address the legal problems surrounding the current Iraqi Nationality Law.