The College of Law at the University of Baghdad discussed a master’s thesis in the field of public law by student (Zainab Ahmed Baroud) titled “The Legal System of Workers’ Rights in the Context of the Privatization of Economic Facilities.” This took place on Thursday, December 19, 2024, in the college’s conference hall.
The discussion committee consisted of the following members:
Dr. Imad Hassan Salman (Chairman)
Dr. Ban Salah Abdul Qadir (Member)
Dr. Taghreed Mohammed Qudouri (Member)
Dr. Saba Naaman Rashid (Member and Supervisor)
The thesis aimed to assess the adequacy of legal provisions for protecting workers from the effects of the privatization of public economic facilities by providing legal guarantees to safeguard their rights and to limit the employer’s authority in making decisions that may affect the stability of the worker’s employment, while also achieving a balance between the interests of workers and the institution being privatized, so that the privatization system does not become biased in favor of the institution’s interests alone.
The thesis included three chapters: the first chapter addressed the legal system of privatization of economic facilities, the second chapter discussed the legal effects of privatization on workers’ rights, and the third chapter focused on the legal guarantees for workers in facilities subject to privatization.
The thesis concluded with several recommendations, the most important of which are:
1. A recommendation for the Iraqi legislator to assign the decision-making authority for privatization to a specific entity, such as the Minister of Finance, with the assistance of a committee of experts formed from members knowledgeable in financial, legal, economic, and social matters.
2. A return to amending Article 165 of the current Labor Law concerning the formation of labor courts, suggesting that the tripartite court structure be maintained due to the specificity of the cases.
3. The need to legislate specific laws to regulate privatization, similar to the approaches taken by Egyptian and French legislators, and prior to that, to prepare public opinion and work on convincing the public, especially when there is opposition from labor unions and federations, as this could be a major factor leading to the failure of privatization.
