The Iraqi members of parliament are not allowed to work during their 60-day recess, since it would be against the constitution, according to law experts.

Parliament went into recess earlier this week, but several MPs demanded to continue working on a number of laws.

"Article 57 of the constitution is very clear, when it sets a legislative recess of 60 days every four months," said legal expert Tareq Harb. "Holidays cannot be canceled except through constitutional amendments. But this would be very difficult."

Article 57 says that the Council of Representatives has one annual term of two legislative sessions of eight months in total. Thus, Article 57 indeed implies that there is a 2-month recess between each legislative term.

However, article 57 is not as explicit as Harb claims.


RN/CU/AKnews