THE LEGISLATIVE POLICY IN THE ONTEXT OF IRAQI COMMERCIAL LAWS
Authors: Ali Hussein Hiwa 
Published: December 2024

Generally speaking, laws and regulations are more than just rules and principles printed on papers. Every law is made for a specific purpose or a set of purposes determined by the legislator (It would be preferable to use legislature rather than legislator; in English, legislature is frequently used instead of legislator). Indisputably, this holds true for all the laws, regulations and legislations likewise, but this research has opted to take the commercial laws in Iraq as the most striking example of that. Tracing back to the time of the enactment of the 1984 law of commerce no.(30) and the other collateral laws that had been subjected to a specific legislative policy which was in core a state-oriented policy, we can get into the mainstays and pillars of those laws and dissect the legislative idea, philosophy and imprint of those who laid down the rules of those laws. Sticking to the legislative policy would reveal that the research explores the ideas, intellect and philosophy that override the whole law. Moreover, the research would scrutinize the nature of the legislative policy under the current reality of Iraqi economy.

The research problem is to weigh and guess how far the legislative policy behind the Iraqi commercial laws is compatible, sufficient and suitable with the current reality of Iraqi economy ,taking into account the new legal trends and advancements in the room of commercial law.

In performing the current research paper the researcher has conducted an analytical method as he opts to stick to the Iraqi legal system and just to analyze and explain the legal situation of Iraqi laws and regulations, going far beyond the formality of the relevant provisions and articles, so as to extract the features of the legislative policy latent behind them.

The main findings of this research paper can be summarized in some basic points. First of all is the centrality and importance of the legislative policy and its role as an essential part of the commercial laws. Second, the legislative policy varies between the general law of commerce no. (30) of 1984 and other private commercial laws; in the former it is rater a state-oriented policy,whereas in the second it is a market-oriented policy. Third, the positivism, beside the centrality, is the main driving force of the legislative policy for the General law of commerce of 1984. Finally, Iraqi law of commerce of 1984 is marked by shortcoming and insufficiencies, and some other private laws need amendments and change. Finally we have recommended to amend the commercial acts,the sources of commercial law, and some aspects of Iraqi trademark law. In addition to that ae recommended legal revitalization of the private sector.

The research has focused on how to set forth the general nature of the laws at issue and how far they could be labeled as a well-developed or underdeveloped law. In addition to that, the research has explored the adaptability of those laws under the rapid and widescale economic and legal developments throughout the world which deeply influenced Iraqi legal system.