Research 39 ILIC 2019

Abstract:  Conflict of laws arise when there is a foreign element in legal relations and, this is a subject of private international law. However, there is another type of conflict of laws that this study intends to exam which is the conflict of laws between the levels of government in the federal state and in the framework of the functions and competencies granted to them in accordance with the federal constitution, and this deserves a thorough discussion. Especially, and subsequently this type of conflict is not related to a foreign element, but both side of the relationship have the same nationality.
And, this matter for the Iraqi experience is clearer when it can be noted that the legislation issued by the House of Representatives does not require the courts in the Kurdistan Region to apply its provisions, this the case even when one of the parties to the conflict is linked to residents of other Iraqi provinces, and if the legislation is outside the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government, with regard to the legislation issued by the Kurdistan Regional Parliament of Iraq, then, the Iraqi courts refrain from applying it pursuant to the principle of regional laws. However, this allows individuals to get rid of a different legal provision between the two levels without difficulty, which necessitates the need to find legal solutions to raise the conflict between the two laws.
Observable examples include the application of the Personal Status Law, the legislator in the Kurdistan Region has made a number of amendments to it, but the federal legislator has kept the law as it is without any amendments, this difference allowed the residents of the Kurdistan region to get rid of the new texts without difficulty, hence, they can apply to a nearest court in the governorates that are not incorporated in a region in Iraq.
Keywords: Conflicts of Laws, Federal State, Applicable Law, Attribution Rules, Levels of Government, Federal Laws.