Article 65: the Federation Council and the Role of the Second Chamber in Devolved Democracies

Article 65 of the Iraqi Constitution provides for the establishment of a second chamber, or “Federation Council”, designed to represent regional interests at the national level.
No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) and the International Alliance for Justice (IAJ) aim to assist the process of instituting the Federation Council by organising a high-level meeting involving the broadest spectrum of Iraqi decision-makers, with particular attention to members of the Constitutional Review Committee of the Iraqi Parliament, and the participation of foreign experts who will provide insight into practical examples of the variety of structures and functions of second chambers worldwide.
 
Through an intense exchange of views and opinions about existing second chamber systems, the project aims to encourage a debate that encompasses the interests and concerns of all the institutional and political actors involved in the process, at both the national and the regional level. The wide spectrum of views and opinions expressed in an open and inclusive debate will contribute to define the political expectations that the representative mechanism of the Federation Council is intended to address.