ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council approved the retirement of the president of the Federal Supreme Court on Sunday and nominated a new judge to replace him.

Judge Jassim Mohammed Aboud, head of the court, requested retirement due to health reasons, according to a statement by the judiciary’s media office. The council accepted his request and began the process of appointing a new chief justice.

The decision comes at a tense time for the court. Political and legal tensions have rocked the institution in recent weeks, leading to the resignation of nine judges earlier this month.

The council’s statement said a special committee met Sunday under Article 3 of the amended Federal Supreme Court Law No. 30 of 2005 and nominated Judge Mundher Ibrahim Hussein, the deputy president of the Federal Cassation Court, as the new head of the Federal Supreme Court.

The committee has sent an official request to the president of Iraq to issue a presidential decree confirming the appointment.

Judge Hussein was born in Baghdad in 1963. He earned a law degree from the University of Baghdad in 1989 and graduated from the Judicial Institute in 1998.

Since 2018, he has served in the Federal Cassation Court and is currently its deputy president. He also leads the court’s criminal chamber and serves as a reserve member of the Federal Supreme Court.