Never-ending task of Iraq's judges

By Rory MacLean BBC News home affairs correspondent, in Basra

The judges are overworked and need armed guards

Judges in Iraq automatically receive a sentence of hard labour.

There are 740 judges for a population of 25 million people. For comparison, Slovenia in former Yugoslavia has 1,300 for a population of 2 million.

In the court building in Basra the judges are hearing 20 cases a day.

Just outside the entrance to the court are the scribes. Sitting at basic tables alongside soft-drink sellers there are about 20 of them in total and they are the first port of call for anyone wanting to carry out basic legal tasks.

These might include changing a car registration for one of the hundreds of imported cars that are flooding in from Dubai and elsewhere to an Iraqi one.

The scribes deal with the application forms and are the first semi-official tier of the legal system.

Delivering justice in Iraq is not safe or easy - four judges have been assassinated Policing in Basra

There is also an informal court system used by tribal peoples, but in the main Iraq uses the Napoleonic inquisitorial system.

A person is arrested on suspicion and then an investigating judge examines the evidence.

In theory this is both evidence of innocence as well as evidence of guilt.

The case can then be sent to a Misdemeanour Court for less serious matters or the Felony Court which can pass the death penalty for a range of offences less than murder.

Armed guards

The penal code is the same as it was under Saddam Hussein, as are the penalties.

The corridors of Basra Court are thronged with people, while men carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles intermingle.

These are the armed guards that every judge has to have, because delivering justice in Iraq is not safe or easy.

Four judges have been assassinated.

'Kidnap gang'

The judges that are now hearing cases also worked under Saddam Hussein but have been officially de-Baathified.

All of the judiciary had to be members of the Baath party under Saddam Hussein but only those who did not play overt and active roles in the party have been allowed to continue.

Squatting down on the floor of the main entrance lobby in handcuffs are three boys alongside an armed police officer.

He explains that they are allegedly part of a kidnapping gang. The boys' older brother, it is claimed, has been kidnapping people for ransom and these children have been looking after the captives in the countryside outside Basra. They are waiting for their case to begin.

There has been one major change. The courts now appoint a lawyer to represent defendants who are not able to afford one for themselves.

All the activity is contained on the ground floor of the court building and, as cases are being heard, the noises of building work on the upper floors filters through.

Soaring temperatures

The senior provincial judge is Judge Laith Abdul Samad.

His office has no air conditioning and with outside temperatures above 40C the open window clearly carries the noise from the builders.

There are no computers. Regularly there is not even electricity as soaring demand causes power cuts.

He explains that there has now been a formal separation of the judges from the state. He has been on a special programme along with 200 other Iraqi judges which gives them training and support in another country.

Judge Laith went to Prague for a two week course and his assessment is that it will take up to a decade for Iraq to be able to deliver a comparable modern justice system.

Rory Maclean's full report from Basra can be heard on PM on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday 20 July at 1700 BST.