Wednesday, August 24, 2005

What would Jefferson do?

Excerpts from the Washington Post's "Key Provisions of Iraq's Draft Constitution."
Article Two:
1. Islam is the religion of the state and it is a main source for legislation.
-- a. No law that contradicts Islamic principles shall be issued.
-- b. No law that contradicts democratic principles shall be issued.
-- c. No law that contradicts the essential rights and freedoms mentioned in this constitution shall be issued.
Article 90
1. The Supreme Federal Court is a judicial institute, financially and administration independent. Its tasks and formation are organized by a law.
2. The Supreme Federal Court consists of a number of judges and Sharia (religious law) and law experts. Their number and the process of choosing them are organized by a law approved by two-thirds of the parliament council.
Article 91
The Supreme Federal Court is tasked with:
1. Supervising the legitimacy (according to the constitution) of the laws before they are issued.
2. Supervising the legitimacy (according to the constitution) of the effective laws and rules.
3. Explaining the texts of the constitution.
4. Judgment in the conflicts raised on applying the federal laws.
5. Judging the conflicts between the federal government and the governments of the states and provinces and the municipalities and the local governments.
6. Judging the conflicts between the governments of states and provinces.
7. Judging the accusations against the president, PM, and ministers.
8. The approval of the general elections of the parliament.
Anybody else think Article Two is going to be more than a little problematic?

[Emphasis added]

UPDATE: Thanks to Phil over at Philosophy of Phil for alerting me to the bad WaPo link. The link is now fixed.

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