Partial text of constitution

Here are excerpts from the Iraq constitution. The part of most interest to us is:

1. Islam is a main source for legislation.
- a. No law may contradict Islamic standards.
- b. No law may contradict democratic standards.
- c. No law may contradict the essential rights and freedoms mentioned in this constitution.

Sections (a) and (b) don’t necessarily contradict each other, because you can have a democratically elected sharia government. But sections (a) and (c) would seem to contradict each other totally and make a complete hash of this constitution, since most individual rights and freedoms as we understand them are banned under sharia law. I can’t yet say this for sure, however, as I have not yet seen what all the “essential rights and freedom” under this constitution are.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at August 24, 2005 07:13 AM | Send