Grievance against an administrative decision in Iraq
This article stays with the grievance that Article 7(7) requires before a claim is filed in the Administrative Judiciary Court. It is not the grievance against a decision imposing a disciplinary penalty under Article 15 of the Law on the Discipline of State and Public Sector Employees No. 14 of 1991; that path is on grievance and the claim in the Court of Employees’ Judiciary.
The time limits for the claim after the grievance are on the time limit for a claim in the Administrative Judiciary Court, and when the Administrative Judiciary Court is the court that hears the matter is on When is a State decision challenged in the Administrative Judiciary Court?.
The requirement of a grievance and its time limit
Article 7(7)(a) of State Shura Council Law No. 65 of 1979, as amended by Law No. 17 of 2013, and applied to the State Council under Article 2 of State Council Law No. 71 of 2017, requires, before a challenge is submitted to the Administrative Judiciary Court, that a grievance be made to the administrative body that issued the order or decision — the text calls it “the competent administrative body” — within thirty days of the date the person concerned is notified of the administrative order or decision under challenge, or of the date it is deemed notified. That body must decide the grievance within thirty days of the date the grievance is registered with it.
The start of the period is tied to notification or to deemed notification. Proof of the date of notification — by an official letter, by a signature on a copy of the decision, or by whatever establishes knowledge under the notification rules that apply — is part of keeping the file. If the text is silent on how a decision is treated as notified, that is read from the notification papers and from the procedural rules in force.
Registering the grievance within the thirty days is not enough on its own if there is no proof of the date of registration. If a reply refusing the grievance is issued before the thirty days have ended, the period for filing the claim starts from that actual refusal, not from waiting until the thirty days have run. If the thirty days pass without a decision, that is treated as a deemed refusal, and the sixty-day period for filing the challenge starts from that date, under Article 7(7)(b).
After the grievance: sixty days, then cassation
Article 7(7)(b): if the grievance is not decided, or is refused, the person who made it must file the challenge in the Administrative Judiciary Court within sixty days of the date of the actual or deemed refusal. The court registers the challenge after collecting the legal fee provided for in the text in force. The loss of the right to challenge before this court does not prevent recourse to the ordinary courts to claim compensation for damage arising from the breach or violation of the law, as the same text provides.
The Administrative Judiciary Court decides the challenge, and may dismiss it or set aside or amend the order or decision, and may award compensation if that is warranted, on the claimant’s request, under Article 7(8)(a). Its judgment may be challenged in cassation before the Supreme Administrative Court within thirty days of notification or deemed notification, under Article 7(8)(b). The detail is on the Supreme Administrative Court in Iraq. Filing the claim or the cassation does not, of itself, stay execution, as on stay of execution of an administrative decision.
This grievance should not be mixed with the grievance in Article 15 of the Discipline Law: there, a grievance against a penalty decision is submitted within thirty days, decided within thirty days, and a claim is then filed in the Court of Employees’ Judiciary within thirty days of an actual or deemed refusal, not sixty. Transferring a time limit from one path to the other changes the calculation of the right to sue.
What should a grievance mention? The text of Article 7(7) does not provide a form, and does not list mandatory headings for the letter. In practice the order or decision under grievance is identified, the date of knowledge of it is stated, and what is sought — withdrawal, amendment or setting aside — is set out, with a copy attached if one is available. The grievance letter is read together with the text on which the decision was based, and with the time limit in Article 7(7).
If the decision is withdrawn or amended during the grievance period or after it, what remains of the original decision’s effect is read before a challenge is built on a subject-matter that no longer exists. A grievance does not, by itself, interrupt execution of the decision; waiting for a reply does not stay execution of itself.
The date of notification, the date of registration, and the body’s reply or the passing of thirty days without a reply, are kept, because those dates are the basis for calculating the grievance period and the period for filing a claim after it, under Article 7(7).
| Step | Period | When it starts |
|---|---|---|
| Submitting the grievance | 30 days | From notification of the order or decision, or deemed notification |
| A decision by the body that issued the decision | 30 days | From the date the grievance is registered with it |
| Filing the claim in the Administrative Judiciary Court | 60 days | From an actual or deemed refusal of the grievance |
| Cassation of the judgment before the Supreme Administrative Court | 30 days | From notification of the judgment or deemed notification |
| Item | Why it is kept |
|---|---|
| A copy of the order or decision | To identify the subject of the grievance |
| Proof of the date of notification or deemed notification | To start the thirty-day period |
| A copy of the grievance and proof of its registration | To show that it was made within time |
| The reply, or proof that thirty days have passed without a decision | To fix the start of the sixty-day period |
| Any later letter amending or withdrawing the decision | To know what remains open to challenge |
Legal basis and sources
- State Shura Council Law No. 65 of 1979 as amended by Law No. 17 of 2013
- State Council Law No. 71 of 2017
Frequently asked questions
May a claim be filed in the Administrative Judiciary Court without a grievance?
Article 7(7)(a) requires a grievance before a challenge is submitted to this court, on the path that this article sets out.
What if the body remains silent for thirty days and does not reply?
Failure to decide within thirty days of registration of the grievance is treated as a deemed refusal, and the sixty-day period for filing the challenge starts from that date, under Article 7(7)(b).
Is this grievance the same as a grievance against a disciplinary penalty?
No. A penalty grievance is based on Article 15 of the Discipline Law, and the claim is filed in the Court of Employees’ Judiciary within thirty days of a refusal, not sixty, and in a different court.