Prior to the adoption of this law, political parties had been banned since 1954.
The law came into force on 6 January 1960 (Army Day).
[1][2] Under this law, a party applying for legal status at the Ministry of Interior should have at least ten members (all Iraqi citizens) and at least 50 supporters.
Article 4 of the law stated that an association registered under the law could not have goals that were incompatible with the independence and national unity of Iraq or the republican and democratic character of the state.
The mainstream communists, Hizb ut-Tahrir and the Republican Party remained illegal entities.