ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s top court for ordinary judiciary, the Federal Court of Cassation, has sparked a fierce debate after recognizing nine as the age of discretion for females, based on its interpretation of recent amendments to the Personal Status Law. The move has drawn widespread criticism from experts who argue it dismantles protections for Iraqi children.
Yahya al-Kubaisi, a prominent Iraqi political researcher and academic, shared a formal judicial ruling issued by the Iraqi Federal Court of Cassation on November 17, 2024 that shows the court applying the Iraqi Personal Status Law, which allows for the recognition of girls as young as nine as “biologically mature.” The top court legally interpreted this as indicating they can also be considered “mentally mature,” thereby bypassing the 18-year age requirement set by the Iraqi Civil Code.
Slamming the move as “a legal scandal for the Court of Cassation,” Kubaisi wrote that the top court “comes today to decide that nine years is not just the age of puberty, but can also be the age of legal discretion for a female,” which “relates to cognitive maturity and the legal responsibility to make sound decisions.”
The Iraqi academic argued that “one can be pubescent without being mature,” asking, “How can we fix a judiciary that has lost its way?” and affirming that the move contradicts Article 106 of the Iraqi Civil Code which stipulates that “the age of discretion for both men and women is 18 years.”
The Iraqi Federal Court of Cassation - the highest judicial body in Iraq’s ordinary judiciary, responsible for civil, criminal, and personal status cases - based its interpretation on the Iraqi Personal Status Law.