Where is a labour claim filed in Nasiriyah and Dhi Qar?
The Law Office of Ali Barakat, from Baghdad, al-Yarmouk, sets out where a labour claim is filed when the employment relationship is in Nasiriyah or in Dhi Qar Governorate. The source is Labour Law No. 37 of 2015, especially articles 157 and 165 to 168. This is informational coverage about that governorate, and it does not mean that the office has a branch in Dhi Qar or in Nasiriyah.
The Court of Labor in the governorate
One or more Courts of Labor are formed in each governorate, composed of a judge nominated by the President of the Supreme Judicial Council on a proposal of the President of the Court of Appeal, under article 165. Under article 166, the Court of Labor has jurisdiction over the civil and criminal cases provided for in the Labour Law, in the Workers' Retirement and Social Security Law, and in other legislation; over interim decisions in cases within its jurisdiction — and, if there is no Court of Labor, the Court of First Instance has that jurisdiction; and over cases that other statutes assign to it. A worker who sues, or the worker's union organisation, is exempt from court fees at all stages, and labour cases are treated as expedited.
Dhi Qar is a governorate not organised in a region, and Nasiriyah is its centre. A labour claim arising from a relationship to which the federal Law applies is therefore heard by the Court of Labor formed in this governorate. The place at which the claim is brought is read from the place of work and from the rules of territorial jurisdiction in the file. Nasiriyah is not reduced to a geographical description that takes the place of identifying the court. If at some time there is no Court of Labor, the residual jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance is itself stated in article 166.
The Court of Labor does not have jurisdiction over a State employee's service dispute, because article 3 excludes public officials appointed under the Civil Service Law or a special text, and members of the armed forces and of the police and internal security. Those disputes follow official discipline or the administrative courts, not this claim.
What precedes the filing of the claim?
If a dispute arises over existing rights consisting in the application of the Labour Law, of other statutes on labour and workers, of a collective agreement in force, or of an arbitral decision, either party or both may refer the dispute to the Department of Employment and Loans for a decision within fourteen days of receiving written notice, whether the dispute is individual or collective and the collective agreement contains no mechanism for resolving it, under article 157. The Department's decision binds the parties. If no resolution is reached, or a party is not satisfied with the decision, either may resort to the Court of Labor. The Court of Labor is to decide the dispute within thirty days of the complaint being filed.
Article 157 describes the court's decision, in that setting, as final. Article 168 allows a Court of Labor judgment to be challenged by objection to a judgment in absentia within ten days beginning the day after service, by cassation before the Court of Cassation within thirty days beginning the day after service, and by retrial. The Court of Cassation may affirm the judgment, reverse it, or decide the merits of the case. The two texts are read together, and the kind of decision is followed in the file. The detail of the pre-court path is on the page Labour disputes before they reach the court, and the detail of cassation is on the page Cassation in labour disputes.
If the subject of the claim is the ending of service, article 46 opens two paths within thirty days of notification: the Service-Termination Committee, or the labour courts. Choosing one extinguishes the right to the other. A decision of the committee may be challenged before the Court of Labor within thirty days. The detail of termination is on the page Ending an employment contract.
What does the claim cover, and how is it followed from Baghdad?
Claims before the Court of Labor in Dhi Qar include what falls under article 166: delayed wages, termination, the end-of-service gratuity, working hours and leave, and what the Social Security Law assigns to this court within its limits. Each request is read from its basis in the statute, from the employment contract, and from what the file establishes.
If the work took place in Dhi Qar and the employer also has activity in another governorate, jurisdiction remains tied to the claim and to the place of work from which the dispute arose, not to the administrative address alone. Follow-up from the Baghdad office, al-Yarmouk, does not assume that the court moves to the capital, and it does not open a branch in Nasiriyah.
Legal basis and sources
Frequently asked questions
Where is a labour claim filed if the place of work is in Nasiriyah or in Dhi Qar?
Before the Court of Labor formed in Dhi Qar Governorate under article 165, and after referral of the dispute to the Department of Employment and Loans where article 157 so requires. If there is no Court of Labor, the Court of First Instance has the jurisdiction that article 166 states.
Is the claim filed in Baghdad because the office follows it from there?
No. Jurisdiction is read from the Law and from the place of work. Follow-up by the office from Baghdad, al-Yarmouk, is informational coverage. It does not mean that there is a branch in Dhi Qar, and it does not of itself transfer jurisdiction.
What is the time limit for challenging a Court of Labor judgment in cassation?
Thirty days beginning the day after service, before the Court of Cassation, under article 168. It is heard by the Labour Cases Panel, which is formed by a decision of the Supreme Judicial Council under article 167.
Does this path apply to a State employee's dispute in the governorate?
No. Article 3 takes public officials, and members of the armed forces and of the police and internal security, outside the Labour Law. Their path is not the Court of Labor.
Related topics and articles
- 01When a job ends in Iraq: who ends it, on what ground, and what followsA practical map of ending a private-sector employment contract in Iraq: what ends it automatically, when the employer or the worker may end it, barred grounds, and the challenge deadline.
- 02How is a labour dispute taken to the Department before the Court of Labor?Referring a labour dispute to the Department of Employment and Loans and then to the Court of Labor, reading articles 157 and 168 of Law 37/2015 together.
- 03The role of the Federal Court of Cassation and the Labour Cases Panel in labour disputesCassation of a Court of Labor judgment before the Labour Cases Panel of the Federal Court of Cassation, under articles 167 and 168 of Law 37/2015.
- 04End-of-service entitlements under Labour Law No. 37 of 2015The end-of-service gratuity under Labour Law 37/2015: the two-week formula, the statutory exceptions, and how it differs from benefits under Law 18/2023.
- 05Which labour and social-security rules apply in the governorates and in the Kurdistan Region?The reach of Labour Law 37/2015 and Law 18/2023 in the governorates not organised in a region, and how work is organised in the Kurdistan Region.