Iraqi Bar Association files complaint over expansion of law faculties

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The president of the Iraqi Bar Association, Ahlam al-Lami, has filed a formal complaint with the country's Council for Competition and Monopoly Prevention over the unregulated expansion of law faculties at investment-oriented universities. The complaint, submitted during a meeting with council head Ahmed Younus Qasim, seeks a reassessment of the regulations governing the opening of new law departments. Legal circles have noted that the number of law graduates has risen sharply in recent years, particularly from faculties established at private investment universities, creating an imbalance in the labor market. The association says the move is intended to channel concerns about professional standards and the future of the legal profession into a formal institutional and legal process. Separately, land and investment disputes along Baghdad's Trade Unions Street remain in the news, with the Federal Commission of Integrity opening an investigation into related properties. Al-Lami has previously warned against the takeover of union lands under the guise of investment and said irregularities requiring investigation had been found in some property files. No further details were immediately available.