Iraq's top court rejects lawmaker's challenge to budget approval

Shafaq News/ Iraq's Federal Court on Tuesday dismissed a legal challenge filed by lawmaker Raed al-Maliki against Parliamentary Resolution 64 of 2024, which approved the budget.

In a statement to Shafaq News Agency, al-Maliki explained that the court justified its rejection by citing a lack of jurisdiction to hear the appeal in its current form against the parliamentary decision.

“The court seems to be suggesting that the challenge should be filed directly against the budget tables,” al-Maliki said. “However, even in that case, the appeal would likely be rejected based on the internal regulations that prohibit non-governmental entities, including members of parliament and citizens (Article 22 of the internal regulations), from filing such appeals.”

Al-Maliki added that the court also dismissed an appeal filed by a member of the Finance Committee, Mustafa al-Karawi, who challenged the budget tables. The court reasoned that al-Karawi did not have a sufficient interest to file the appeal.

“I expected the appeals to be rejected because the court would prioritize what it considers the higher interest of the state, which is to proceed with the implementation of the budget tables, and would not reverse the process regardless of the existence of valid legal grounds for the appeal,” he stated.