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Iraq considers appointing powerful clerics to high court

Iraq's legislature is mulling over a bill that would change the makeup of the country's top court to include Islamic scholars, stirring controversy over how much influence they should have.

Judge Medhat al-Mahmoud, presiding over the supreme federal court, reads a verdict on appeals concerning amendment of an election law in Baghdad, Iraq June 21, 2018. REUTERS/Abdullah Dhiaa al-Deen - RC134238AFB0
Judge Medhat al-Mahmoud, presiding over the Supreme Federal Court, reads a verdict on appeals concerning the amendment of an election law, Baghdad, Iraq, June 21, 2018. — REUTERS/Abdullah Dhiaa al-Deen

Iraq's parliament is working on a draft law that could put clerics on the Federal Supreme Court and give them veto power.

The legislature held its second reading of a draft law regarding the Federal Supreme Court on June 13, amid heated disputes over most of the proposed articles, particularly those providing for the appointment of clerics to the court and the entity responsible for their selection.

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