The repealed Martyrs Foundation Law No. 3 of 2006: what replaced it?
That law was the Foundation’s first statute, and was then replaced by Martyrs Foundation Law No. 2 of 2016. The repeal is express: Article 23 of Law No. 2 of 2016 provides that Martyrs Foundation Law No. 3 of 2006 is repealed, and that instructions issued under it remain in force, so far as they do not conflict with the new law, until what replaces or repeals them is issued.
A file today is read under Law No. 2 of 2016, as amended by Law No. 23 of 2024. Repeal does not, however, erase every practical effect: some periods are still counted from the date Law No. 3 of 2006 entered into force, and some decisions issued under it may be reconsidered under Article 9.
What does the repeal mean in practice?
After Law No. 2 of 2016 entered into force, Law No. 3 of 2006 is no longer a standing basis for a new coverage application. An application is filed as explained in A martyr's file, with the Committee for Reviewing the Applications of Martyrs' Families formed under Article 9 of the law in force, and the categories of a martyr and of the family are those in Articles 1 and 4 after the 2024 amendment, not those in the repealed text if they differ.
That said, a decision issued under the repealed law is not treated as if it had never existed merely because of the repeal. An acquired right is read with the law in force and with the possibility of reconsideration. Paragraph Ninth of Article 9 allows the committee to reconsider its decisions, and earlier committees’ decisions issued under this law and under the repealed Martyrs Foundation Law No. 3 of 2006, and court decisions, on the request of any person with an interest and with the consent of the head of the Foundation, if facts and supporting documents show that the decision was contrary to the law now in force. Paragraph Tenth gives any person with an interest the right to request reconsideration of decisions issued under Law No. 3 of 2006, as amended, that were contrary to the present law.
Reconsideration is therefore conditional: a request, an interest, the consent of the head of the Foundation in the case paragraph Ninth mentions, and documents showing that the decision conflicts with the law in force. It is not an automatic retrial of every old file, and not a collective cancellation of earlier coverage.
Why does the year 2006 still appear in the salary rules?
Article 11(2)(a) allows this law’s salary to be combined with any functional or pension salary, a social-care grant, a pension share or any other salary, for twenty-five years “from the date the repealed Law No. 3 of 2006 entered into force”. Law No. 23 of 2024 retained that wording. The repeal does not move the starting point of the combining period to 2016. A person who counts the period only from the date of the new law misplaces the start of the count. The exceptions after the period ends are explained in The Martyrs Foundation salary and Combining entitlements.
In other places the law in force refers to the date the repealed law entered into force when counting salaries or periods of service, including some rules in Article 20 on a person who had reached the legal pension age before that date. Those references are read in their place, and are not extended to every entitlement.
Instructions issued under the repealed law
Article 23 does not drop the old instructions at once. They remain in force so far as they do not conflict with Law No. 2 of 2016, until they are replaced or repealed. An old instruction may therefore still be cited in administrative work, provided it does not conflict with the law in force and the 2024 amendment. If an old instruction conflicts with an article now in force, the law governs. Instructions under the repealed law are not used to revive a rule that has been expressly repealed.
The main features of the law now in force — after its amendment in 2024 — are gathered in What Law No. 23 of 2024 changed, and in the pages on categories, land and study.
How is a file submitted before 2016 handled?
The first question is whether a decision granting or refusing coverage was issued under the repealed law. If it was, the decision and its supporting documents are kept, and the entitlement today is read from Law No. 2 of 2016, as amended, with the possibility of requesting reconsideration under Article 9 where there is a ground of non-conformity. If an application was submitted but not decided before the new law entered into force, it is completed under the provisions in force at the time of decision, not under repealed articles, unless the law sets a special transitional rule on that point. This distinction prevents a valid old decision from being ignored, and at the same time prevents repealed procedures from being revived for a pending application.
The repeal is not to be confused with the current categories page: who counts as a martyr today is whoever falls within Article 1 as amended, including those added in 2024 from the Peshmerga and the security agencies outside the Region. The repealed law is not used to narrow a category added by the law in force, or to widen a category it removed.
Legal basis and sources
- Martyrs Foundation Law No. 3 of 2006 (repealed) — Al-Waqa’i Al-Iraqiya No. 4018 of 6/3/2006
- Martyrs Foundation Law No. 2 of 2016 (Al-Waqa’i Al-Iraqiya No. 4395 of 25/1/2016) — Articles 9, 11, 20 and 23
- Law No. 23 of 2024, the First Amendment
Frequently asked questions
Is Law No. 3 of 2006 still in force?
No. It was repealed by Article 23 of Law No. 2 of 2016. Some remaining effects are themselves stated in the law now in force, including the start of the combining period and reconsideration of old decisions.
Should a new application be filed under the 2006 law?
No. A new application is filed under Law No. 2 of 2016, as amended.
What about a decision issued in, for example, 2010?
It does not lapse merely because of the repeal. Reconsideration may be requested if the decision is contrary to the present law, under Article 9 and the conditions it sets out.
Why is 2006 mentioned in the combining period?
Because Article 11 counts the twenty-five years from the date the repealed law entered into force, not from the date of the 2016 law.
Are all the old instructions still in force?
They remain in force so far as they do not conflict with the law now in force, until they are replaced or repealed.