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The Iraqi Criminal Procedure Code No. 23 of 1971 replaced the Baghdad Procedure Code of 1919. It was modelled on the Egyptian Criminal Procedure Code No. 150 of 1950, which itself was based upon the Napoleonic Codes adopted in Egypt in the late 19th Century.
It has been amended on a number of occasions. For example, the Public Prosecutor Law No. 159 of 1979 replaced paragraphs 30 to 38 of the Criminal Procedure Code and made other amendments. In the period up to 2003, there were over a dozen laws specifically entitled ‘Amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code’. There were also over 20 Revolutionary Command Council Resolutions which amended some aspect of criminal procedure often without specifically amending the original text – most prominently RCC Resolution No. 104 of 1988 which altered the mechanism of appeal in misdemeanour cases. Most of these RCC Resolutions are still in effect.