Legislative Challenges of Application of Restorative Justice Practices in The Criminal Courts of Iraq

Restorative justice does not only aim to impose harsher punishment on criminals and defend the victims’ justice, but rather it works in a balanced manner to distribute roles between the victim and the accused in order to restore the damage that befell the victim and those around him. It also works to hold the offender responsible for this according to the order of the Imam. Society. The Economic and Social Council in Vienna stipulated in 2002 that the criminal case should be transferred to restorative justice institutions before being considered by the criminal court. The question raised here are: What are the legal challenges that hinder the application of restorative justice in the Iraqi criminal courts? To answer this question, and through collecting opinions and decisions, it is noted that conciliation is the only form taken by the Iraqi criminal courts as an aspect of restorative justice. However, it faces many challenges that prevent the judge from expanding to cover a large number of crimes, the most important of which are the inflexibility of legal texts and the inflation in Punitive legislation and the failure of laws to keep pace with developments. Added to these challenges are existing laws that focus largely on custodial penalties and restrict the possibility of applying restorative justice. Also, social and cultural norms, such as tribal customs, play a role in out-of-court reconciliation, requiring updating laws to align with these norms and further strengthening the application of restorative justice within the Iraqi judicial system. In short, Iraqi laws are still insufficient to effectively implement restorative justice programs, and criminal mediation has not yet been provided for, despite its importance and actual practice by Iraqi society in resolving disputes.