The scope of the Constitutional Court's authority to Overrule its judicial Precedents (Iraqi federal supreme court as a case study)

Abstract

This research deals with the principle of overruling the judicial precedents, whereby, according to this principle, the Constitutional Courts issue a new judicial decision or ruling that includes an explicit and clear change to a legal principle that it had decided in a previous decision without amending the constitutional and legal rules that were the basis for issuing the decision. The constitutional court resorts to it as a judicial mechanism whenever necessary in order to adapt the decision to the prevailing circumstances and developments of society to achieve the highest interest, or the constitutional court resorts to it as the only way to correct its previous decisions that are tainted with defects. This research also deals with the concept, meaning and elements of this principle and the justifications for its application, and then explains its conflict with the principle of legal security and the stability of the legal positions of individuals. This research also deals with the judicial applications of the Federal Supreme Court in Iraq in this regard and explains the problems facing the Federal Court when applying this principle.