Maliki also strongly criticised of the lack of "adequate planning" by the United States and United Kingdom for the period after Saddam was deposed when coalition troops invaded in 2003.
"We are waiting for the decision of the appeals court and if it confirms the sentence, it will be the government's responsibility to carry it out.
"We would like the whole world to respect Iraq's judicial will.
"I expect the execution to happen before the end of this year," he said in the interview.
He added that he had believed the United States and United Kingdom would have had "a clear understanding about Iraq, socially, politically and security-wise".
"But there was no adequate planning for the period after regime change.
"The leaders on the ground had no knowledge of understanding of the situation in Iraq," he told the BBC.
He told the BBC that Iraqi police and security forces would be ready to take the lead in fighting insurgents "within a matter of months".
Maliki added in the interview that he did not think the execution would be hindered if President Jalal Talibani or one of Iraq's vice-presidents refused to sign the necessary legal instruments.
Saddam was sentenced to death for ordering the killing of 148 Shia villagers from the village of Dujail and is now back in court for a second trial facing genocide charges relating to the deaths of Iraqi Kurds.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2006