Salahaddin, Kurdistan - Iraq (KRP.org) –Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani on 31 October presided over the swearing-in of the members of the Court of Cassation, the Region’s court of appeal.

Judges Abdulkarim Haider Ali, Mohamad Omer Mawlod, Amir Jarjis Mohamad, Widad Hussein Hamad and Ismael Khalil Shakib each took the oath of office as members of the Court of Cassation.

Following the ceremony, President Barzani congratulated the judges and spoke about the importance of an independent and neutral judiciary. He offered his full backing for their work and urged them to ignore any kind of pressure regardless of its source, and to ensure that the rule of law is upheld.

In the past two years the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has made reforms to strengthen the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary. The judiciary was separated from the Ministry of Justice, put under the authority of a new Judicial Council headed by the Chief Justice, and allocated its own budget to allow self-administration. See Prime Minister states support for independent judiciary at inauguration of Judicial Council headquarters