VICE CHAIR OF COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES LEGAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002460

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/11/26
TAGS: PGOV PNAT KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: VICE CHAIR OF COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES LEGAL
COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

Classified By: Classified by Political Counselor Margaret M. Scobey for
Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).



1. (C) Summary. Saleem al-Jaboori, Vice Chair of the Council
of Representatives (CoR) Legal Affairs Committee, told Legal
Adviser and PolOff July 10 that he expected the Tawafuq
members to end their legislative boycott, which he
characterized as a signal to the other parties and the USG
not to take the Sunni Arab bloc for granted. He said the
Legal Committee (and possibly the CoR as a whole) would
review and possibly seek to annul CPA Order 17. Legal
Adviser said such a step would be unwise to take
unilaterally. Jaboori gave a frank assessment of the
challenges facing the Legal Committee and the CoR in setting
priorities and enacting legislation, including lack of
expertise, conflicts of interest, and a lack of resources.
Jaboori provided a list of laws that he expected the CoR to
act upon before its recess, including measures on an
electoral commission, pensions, the Ministry of Labor and
Social Affairs, and the Ministry of Health. Other
legislative priorities mentioned included an investment law,
a militia law, an amendment to the terrorism law, and an oil
revenue regulation. End Summary.

--------------
Tawafuq Boycott
--------------


2. (C) Vice Chair of the Legal Committee Saleem al-Jaboori
(Tawafuq) told Embassy Legal Adviser and PolOff July 10 that
Tawafuq members would end their CoR boycott and attend the
next session July 11. He said the Tawafuq boycott had
signaled to the other parties and the USG not to take the
bloc for granted. He added that Tawafuq members also wanted
to assure their constituents that the bloc will not tolerate
actions such as the abduction of CoR member Tayseer
al-Mashadani. While claiming that other political blocs were
sympathetic to Tawafuq, he admitted that the boycott had not
been a perfect solution. He added that there were Tawafuq
members who wanted to continue the boycott, but that the
majority were in favor of returning. (NOTE: The Tawafuq
members did not return to the CoR on July 11 (septel),but
announced that they would end their boycott the following
day.)

--------------
CPA Order 17
--------------


3. (C) Jaboori asked Embassy Legal Adviser if the CoR had the
legal authority to review CPA orders, adding that there is a
proposal within the Legal Committee to discuss CPA Order 17
in the wake of recent allegations of crimes by MNF-I troops.
(NOTE: CPA Order 17, inter alia, provides for the immunity of
MNF-I from the Iraqi legal process. END NOTE.) Embassy
Legal Adviser answered that such a unilateral action could be
politically unwise without careful consideration by the CoR
and that any decision on alternatives to CPA Order 17 should
be the result of a dialogue between the GoI and USG.
Al-Jaboori claimed that there is a political agreement among
all parties to have at least a "legal discussion" of the
possibility of revoking Order 17. He noted that the CoR as a
whole would likely discuss the issue as well.

-------------- -
CoR to Consider Many Laws Before August Recess
-------------- -


4. (C) Al-Jaboori said the CoR will try to complete action on
the following pieces of legislation before it adjourns at the
end of July: amendments to the Pension Law and laws on the
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Ministry of Health and
electoral commission. He said that other measures under
discussion, which had not yet been drafted, included
amendments to the antiterrorism law, a law on militias, and a
law that would regulate revenues from oil. He said that an
investment law had not yet been transmitted to the CoR from
the Council of Ministers. He noted that a major challenge
for the legal committee will be setting priorities, noting
that it had 10 laws submitted to the former Transitional
National Assembly to assess, as well as a number of members'
legislative proposals referred by the current Speaker. He
said that additional legislation was on its way from the
Ministry of State for CoR Affairs. He added that the Legal
Committee has only met once, but that it would meet again
July 11 to discuss priorities. He stated that the Legal
Committee will try to present a version of the electoral
commission legislation within a week and was considering
drafts from the current electoral commissioners, the

BAGHDAD 00002460 002 OF 002


electoral commission's chief administrative officer, and from
the Tawafuq bloc.

--------------
Views on the Legal Committee
--------------


5. (C) Al-Jaboori expressed dissatisfaction with the
relationship between the Council of Ministers and the CoR,
stating that it was not well-organized and involved breaches
of legislative procedures. For example, he complained that
the Ministry of State for CoR Affairs had appointed
representatives to attend all CoR committee meetings.
Al-Jaboori said this violated the CoR procedures requiring a
written invitation from a committee to the Ministry to send a
representative to attend particular meetings. He noted that,
while the Speaker and other CoR members had not objected, it
was an unwise precedent as actions taken now will provide the
basis for the future of the CoR.


6. (C) Al-Jaboori expressed some optimism about the ability
of the Legal Committee to work effectively, noting that most
members had degrees in law. He added that Chairman Baha
al-Araji (Sadrist) and he had agreed that it was necessary
for the committee members to work together on a technical
basis, setting aside political differences when possible.
Despite this, he noted four major problems facing the
committee. First, it will need drafting assistance and might
have to turn to the State Consultative Council or
international experts for assistance. Second, he expressed
fear of conflicts of interest between members, in particular
with respect to laws on politicized topics such as
federalism, formation of regions, and natural resources.
Third, he argued that the Committee needed a better
specialized legal library. Fourth, he thought the committee
members, though motivated, were inexperienced.
SATTERFIELD