Revista Cultura Científica - web logo
Submit Your Research
  • Research Article

Effectiveness of Institutional Guarantees in the Allocation of Public Funds: A Comparative Legal Analysis of Governance and Political Structures in Iraq and Lebanon

Qabas Hasan Awad Albadrani1, Zena Tariq Saddallah1
1College of Law, University of Mosul, Mosul, Iraq
DOI: https://doi.org/10.70517/revcc2624126
Published: 23/09/2026
: Qabas Hasan Awad Albadrani, Zena Tariq Saddallah. Effectiveness of Institutional Guarantees in the Allocation of Public Funds: A Comparative Legal Analysis of Governance and Political Structures in Iraq and Lebanon. Revista Cultura Científica, 2026 Issue 24. pg. 1523-1542.

Abstract

Institutional guarantees are essential to ensuring that public funds are allocated and managed in accordance with the purposes established by law. This comparative legal study examines two distinct mechanisms for managing resource-related public revenues: the Regional Development Account in Iraq and the Lebanese Sovereign Wealth Fund. Although the Iraqi mechanism is embedded in annual budget legislation and the decentralized development framework, the Lebanese model is established by a dedicated statutory regime for the management and investment of future petroleum revenues. The study asks whether the effectiveness of these arrangements depends primarily on the constitutional and political structure of the state or, instead, on the quality of legal design, governance, transparency, institutional independence, and oversight. A comparative doctrinal and analytical method is used to examine constitutional provisions, budget and public-finance legislation, petroleum legislation, sovereign-wealth-fund rules, governance standards, transparency requirements, and selected international benchmarks, including the Santiago Principles and the Truman framework. The analysis shows that the Iraqi Regional Development Account is operational but remains closely dependent on annual budget appropriations, volatile oil revenues, central transfers, implementation capacity, and political bargaining. Lebanon, by contrast, has adopted a comparatively specialized legal framework through Law No. 320 of 2023, but the practical operation of the Sovereign Wealth Fund remains contingent on the realization of petroleum revenues and on effective implementation of the statutory governance and transparency safeguards. The comparison indicates that neither federalism nor centralization by itself determines the quality of public-fund allocation. Institutional effectiveness depends more directly on legal clarity, stable funding rules, operational independence, transparent disclosure, effective audit and accountability, and protection against diversion of allocated funds from their legally defined purposes. The study concludes that both models require stronger institutional safeguards, although the nature of the required reforms differs because one mechanism is already embedded in recurrent public expenditure while the other is principally a forward-looking framework for future resource revenues.

Keywords: public funds, institutional guarantees, Regional Development Account, sovereign wealth fund, Iraq, Lebanon, governance, transparency, fiscal decentralization, petroleum revenues

Abstract

Institutional guarantees are essential to ensuring that public funds are allocated and managed in accordance with the purposes established by law. This comparative legal study examines two distinct mechanisms for managing resource-related public revenues: the Regional Development Account in Iraq and the Lebanese Sovereign Wealth Fund. Although the Iraqi mechanism is embedded in annual budget legislation and the decentralized development framework, the Lebanese model is established by a dedicated statutory regime for the management and investment of future petroleum revenues. The study asks whether the effectiveness of these arrangements depends primarily on the constitutional and political structure of the state or, instead, on the quality of legal design, governance, transparency, institutional independence, and oversight. A comparative doctrinal and analytical method is used to examine constitutional provisions, budget and public-finance legislation, petroleum legislation, sovereign-wealth-fund rules, governance standards, transparency requirements, and selected international benchmarks, including the Santiago Principles and the Truman framework. The analysis shows that the Iraqi Regional Development Account is operational but remains closely dependent on annual budget appropriations, volatile oil revenues, central transfers, implementation capacity, and political bargaining. Lebanon, by contrast, has adopted a comparatively specialized legal framework through Law No. 320 of 2023, but the practical operation of the Sovereign Wealth Fund remains contingent on the realization of petroleum revenues and on effective implementation of the statutory governance and transparency safeguards. The comparison indicates that neither federalism nor centralization by itself determines the quality of public-fund allocation. Institutional effectiveness depends more directly on legal clarity, stable funding rules, operational independence, transparent disclosure, effective audit and accountability, and protection against diversion of allocated funds from their legally defined purposes. The study concludes that both models require stronger institutional safeguards, although the nature of the required reforms differs because one mechanism is already embedded in recurrent public expenditure while the other is principally a forward-looking framework for future resource revenues.

Keywords: public funds, institutional guarantees, Regional Development Account, sovereign wealth fund, Iraq, Lebanon, governance, transparency, fiscal decentralization, petroleum revenues

References

  1. International Monetary Fund. Iraq: Selected Issues. IMF Country Report No. 2019/249, International Monetary Fund, 26 July 2019.
  2. Republic of Iraq. Constitution of the Republic of Iraq. 15 Oct. 2005.

  3. Republic of Iraq. “Federal General Budget Law of the Republic of Iraq for Fiscal Year 2019, Law No. 1 of 2019.” Al-Waqa’i al-Iraqiya, no. 4529, 11 Feb. 2019. https://www.moj.gov.iq/view.4102/

  4. Republic of Iraq. “Emergency Support for Food Security and Development Law No. 2 of 2022.” Al-Waqa’i al-Iraqiya, no. 4681, 4 July 2022. https://www.moj.gov.iq/view.6468/

  5. Republic of Lebanon. Offshore Petroleum Resources Law No. 132 of 2010. Official Gazette, no. 41, 2 Sept. 2010, pp. 5144–5169.

  6. Republic of Lebanon. Law No. 320 of 2023: Lebanese Sovereign Wealth Fund. 22 Dec. 2023. Official Gazette, no. 53, 28 Dec. 2023. https://www.pcm.gov.lb/arabic/subpg.aspx?pageid=23668.

  7. World Bank. Governance and Development. World Bank, 1992.

  8. International Working Group of Sovereign Wealth Funds. Sovereign Wealth Funds: Generally Accepted Principles and Practices—Santiago Principles. Oct. 2008. International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds. https://www.ifswf.org/santiago-principles.

  9. Salti, Nisreen, and Jad Chaaban. “The Role of Sectarianism in the Allocation of Public Expenditure in Postwar Lebanon.” International Journal of Middle East Studies, vol. 42, no. 4, 2010, pp. 637–655.
  10. Truman, Edwin M. “A Scoreboard for Sovereign Wealth Funds.” Peterson Institute for International Economics, 19 Oct. 2007.

  11. Misconi, Humam. “Iraq’s Capital Budget and Regional Development Fund: Review and Comments on Execution Capacity and Implications.” International Journal of Contemporary Iraqi Studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 2008, pp. 271–291.

  12. Saleh, Nagham Mohammed. “Federalism in the Iraqi Constitution of 2005: Reality and Ambition.” Journal of International Studies, no. 41, 2009, pp. 47–68.

  13. Republic of Iraq. Law of Governorates Not Incorporated into a Region No. 21 of 2008, as Amended. Al-Waqa’i al-Iraqiya, no. 4070, Mar. 2008.

  14. Al-Khafaji, Salim Naeem, and Jaafar Abdul-Sada. “Financial Independence of the Governorates Not Organized in a Region under the Constitution of the Republic of Iraq for the Year 2005.” Al-Muhaqiq Al-Hilli Journal for Legal and Political Sciences, vol. 8, no. 3, 2016.

  15. Republic of Iraq, Ministry of Planning. Investment Budget Department. 2016.

  16. Republic of Iraq, Ministry of Planning. “Department of Regional and Local Development.” Ministry of Planning. https://mop.gov.iq/en/department-of-regional-and-local-development.

  17. Republic of Iraq. “Ministry of Planning Law No. 19 of 2009.” Al-Waqa’i al-Iraqiya, no. 4139, 19 Oct. 2009.

  18. Republic of Iraq, Ministry of Planning. Instructions for the Implementation of Government Contracts No. 2 of 2014. Al-Waqa’i al-Iraqiya, no. 4325, 16 June 2014. Rev. ed., July 2017.

  19. Republic of Iraq. Federal Financial Management Law No. 6 of 2019, as Amended. 2019.

  20. Al-Musawi, Najah Mohsen Farhan. The Reality of the Investment Budget in Iraq for the Period 2010–2015: A Case Study in the Ministry of Planning. 2016. University of Baghdad, Higher Diploma research.

  21. Al-Aboudi, Othman Salman Ghilan. Detailed Provisions in Explaining Government Contracts: A Comparative Study. 1st ed., Al-Simaa Press, 2015.

  22. Commission of Integrity, Republic of Iraq. “Nazaha Reports.” https://nazaha.iq/en_body.asp?id=3512.

  23. Iraqi Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Iraqi Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. https://www.ieiti.org.iq/.

  24. International Monetary Fund. “IMF Conditionality.” International Monetary Fund, updated Apr. 2025. https://www.imf.org/ar/about/factsheets/sheets/2023/imf-conditionality.

  25. Blundell-Wignall, Adrian, Yu-Wei Hu, and Juan Yermo. “Sovereign Wealth and Pension Fund Issues.” OECD Working Papers on Insurance and Private Pensions, no. 14, OECD Publishing, 2008.
  26. Das, Udaibir S., Yinqiu Lu, Christian B. Mulder, and Amadou N. Sy. Setting Up a Sovereign Wealth Fund: Some Policy and Operational Considerations. IMF Working Paper No. 2009/179, International Monetary Fund, 2009.
  27. Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute. Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute. https://www.swfinstitute.org/.

  28. Al-Dakhil, Ahmed Khalaf Hussain. Sovereign Wealth Funds between the Idealism of Presentation and the Requirements of Good Governance. 1st ed., Al-Dhakira for Publishing and Distribution, 2018.

  29. Hama Amin, Linje Saleh Hama Taher. Sovereign Wealth Funds: A Comparative Legal Study. 1st ed., Al-Rafidain Center for Dialogue, 2021.

  30. Republic of Lebanon. Law No. 57 of 2017: Tax Provisions Related to Petroleum Activities in Accordance with Law No. 132 of 2010. Official Gazette, no. 48, 12 Oct. 2017.

  31. Mansour, Manal. “The Curse of Natural Resources and Ways to Avoid It.” Dirassat, vol. 6, no. 3, 2015, pp. 179–214.

  32. Republic of Lebanon. Law No. 84 of 2018: Enhancing Transparency in the Petroleum Sector. Official Gazette, no. 45, 18 Oct. 2018.

  33. Lebanese Petroleum Administration. “Finance FAQ.” Lebanese Petroleum Administration. https://www.lpa.gov.lb/english/sub-pages/faq/finance.

  34. Al-Khudairi, Mohsen Ahmed. Corporate Governance. 1st ed., Arab Nile Group, 2005.

  35. Central Bank of Iraq. Central Bank of Iraq. https://cbi.iq/.

  36. Al-Obaidi, Nahed Najm Hamad, and Salem Awwad Hadi Al-Zubai. “Governance and Its Role in Increasing Tax Revenues in Iraq.” Journal of Accounting and Financial Studies, vol. 14, no. 49, 2019, pp. 46–56.

  37. Dudin, Ahmed Yousef. “The Importance of Institutional Governance in Enhancing Oversight and Combating Corruption: A Case Study of the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company.” Zarqa Journal for Research and Studies in Humanities, vol. 15, no. 3, 2015, pp. 68–79.

  38. Transparency International. Transparency International. https://www.transparency.org/.

  39. Mabrouk, Nazih Abdel-Maqsoud Mohamed. “Transparency of the State Budget: Its Importance and Mechanisms for Strengthening It.” Journal of the Faculty of Sharia and Law in Tanta, no. 30, pt. 3, 2015, pp. 737–828.

  40. Rahal, Fatima, and Hafiza Khudairawi. “The Role of Transparency in Reforming the State Budget and Achieving Sustainable Development in the Arab Countries.” National Forum on the Requirements for Establishing Governance Principles in Public Budget Management, Mohamed Khider University of Biskra, 2012.

  41. Abdel-Azzawi, Ahmed Faris. “Transparency of the General Budget in Iraqi Law.” Journal of Anbar University for Law and Political Sciences, vol. 10, no. 2, 2020, pp. 183–218.
  42. Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. “Iraq Has Achieved a Fairly Low Score in Implementing the 2019 EITI Standard.” Board Decision 2025-07 / BM-62, 13 Mar. 2025. https://eiti.org/board-decision/2025-07.

  43. Government of Iraq. White Paper on Economic Reform: Vision and Objectives. Oct. 2020.

  44. World Bank. Republic of Iraq Public Expenditure Review: Toward More Efficient Spending for Better Service Delivery. World Bank, 2014.

  45. Hamid, Hind Mahmoud, and Abeer Siham Mahdi. “Political Development and Its Role in Achieving Political Stability in Iraq after 2003.” Journal of the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the Iraqi University, no. 24, 2024, pp. 351–375.

  46. International Monetary Fund. Lebanon: Technical Assistance Report—Diagnostic Report Governance and Corruption. Technical Assistance Report No. 2026/047, International Monetary Fund, 1 June 2026.

Qabas Hasan Awad Albadrani
College of Law, University of Mosul, Mosul, Iraq
qabas.hasan@uomosul.edu.iq
Zena Tariq Saddallah
College of Law, University of Mosul, Mosul, Iraq

How to cite:

Qabas Hasan Awad Albadrani, Zena Tariq Saddallah. Effectiveness of Institutional Guarantees in the Allocation of Public Funds: A Comparative Legal Analysis of Governance and Political Structures in Iraq and Lebanon. Revista Cultura Científica, 2026 Issue 24. pg. 1523-1542.

Publication History

  • Received: 17/06/2026
  • Accepted: 18/09/2026
  • Published: 23/09/2026
Copyright © 2026, Qabas Hasan Awad Albadrani, Zena Tariq Saddallah. Published by Revista Cultura Científica. This article is published as open access under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Browse Advance Search