Coming from an attorney...
Iraq has a sort of "appeals" court, where this death penalty case will be sent. If the panel of judges on the appeals court agrees with the sentence, he has to be hung within 30 days. However, the appeals panel has an unlimited amount of time to review the case, so it might be held up for years in appeals. In the meantime, Saddam will be attending another trial, this time for the deaths of Kurds. If the appeals panel approves his death sentence, the Kurd trial will stop and he will be hung within the 30 day time limit. Who knows what the appeal panel will do...they may immediately approve his sentence, or review it. I agree though, a death by hanging is not justice to all of the people he tortured. However, if he is allowed to live in a cell, there is always the possibility of his escaping and possibly coming back to power, so his death would probably be the best thing for Iraq at the moment. It would silence his supporters and let Iraq move on.