Legal Profession and Foreign Lawyers

Who may give legal advice in Iraq? Who can act for another person before a court or an investigative office? Can a foreign company bring in its own lawyer from abroad? The answers lie in Advocacy Law No. 173 of 1965, published in Official Gazette issue 1213 on 22/12/1965. In this section the office of lawyer Ali Barakat in Baghdad, al-Yarmouk, offers an educational reading of those provisions, helping clients choose counsel and understand what counsel owes them, and helping foreign lawyers and international companies understand the limits of work in Iraq.

The roll as the gateway to practice

Article 1 makes membership of the Iraqi Bar optional for anyone wishing to practise, achieved by entering one's name on the roll of advocates. Article 2 sets admission conditions, including Iraqi nationality or Palestinian nationality with residence in Iraq, full civil capacity, a law degree from an Iraqi university or from a recognised Arab or foreign university with an additional Iraqi law exam run by the Bar Council, good conduct, and no conviction for a felony or dishonouring misdemeanour unless the stated period has passed. Details are in admission to the roll and foreign lawyers.

Oath and training

Before any professional work, a newly registered advocate swears the oath at the Court of Appeal in the presence of the head of the Bar or a deputy under article 11, undertaking to work with integrity and honour, respect the law and keep professional secrets. Training then follows one of two routes under article 18: two years in the office of an advocate with at least five years' practice, or staged powers over at least three years. The text exempts those with two years in the judiciary, public prosecution, law faculty teaching and other listed legal roles. Articles 19 and 20 set what a trainee handles alone or with the supervising advocate each year. At the end, under article 21, the Bar Council registers the advocate with full rights of audience or extends training by a year with reasons.

This staging matters to clients: a first-year trainee does not handle every case, and full rights come after training. A client instructing counsel in a serious criminal or appellate case should confirm the advocate's rights in that matter.

Advice and representation are reserved

Article 22 reserves to registered advocates the giving of legal advice and acting for others to claim and defend rights before general and special courts, investigative offices, police and committees with investigative or adjudicative functions. Limited exceptions include a litigant appointing a first- or second-degree relative in certain case types such as small-claims and personal status matters, and a guardian or custodian acting for a ward. The text also allows a minister or head of a non-ministerial body to delegate a law-graduate employee or instruct an advocate in that body's cases.

So the protected activity of legal advising is closed to an unregistered "consultant", and a foreign company relies on a registered advocate for representation before judicial bodies.

What cannot be combined with practice

Article 4 bars combining practice with heading the legislature, ministerial office, public employment in official or semi-official bodies for salary or reward, or paid employment with commercial companies and companies founded under a special state concession. It excepts a company's board chair or member, or its lawyer or legal adviser, provided there is no other paid role in the company. A company wanting in-house counsel reads this exception when structuring the relationship.

Office and address for service

Article 40 requires every advocate other than a trainee to keep a dedicated office at the place of work. The office is the address for legal service, and the advocate must notify the Bar of the office address and any change of residence. For clients this means notices in their case may arrive at counsel's office, so agree how they will be passed on promptly.

Duties to the client

The Law sets clear duties:

• Loyalty and diligence: article 43 requires the advocate to defend the client faithfully and makes the advocate liable for exceeding the mandate or gross fault.
• Conflicts of interest: article 44 bars acting for the client's opponent in the same case, or advising the opponent in it or a related case even after the mandate ends, and generally bars representing conflicting interests, extending to colleagues in the same office.
• Confidentiality: article 46 bars disclosing secrets entrusted or learned through the profession, even after the mandate ends, except to prevent a crime, and bars testifying against the client in the case.
• Kinship with the judge: article 48 bars accepting a case before a judge or official related by blood or marriage to the fourth degree, even with the opponent's consent.
• Former ministers: article 47 bars a former minister or public council member from acting against that ministry or council for two years after leaving.

These provisions give clients a yardstick for counsel's conduct and a basis for complaint where breached.

Legal aid

Under article 67 the Bar's legal aid committee grants assistance where a party is insolvent, cannot find counsel, or a court asks for counsel for an accused or juvenile without one. The committee's appointment letter stands in for a power of attorney under article 69, and the appointed advocate defends the insolvent client without charge to that client under article 71.

Arab and foreign lawyers

Article 3(a) allows a member of an Arab bar to plead specific cases before Iraqi courts at the equivalent level, subject to reciprocity and the approval of the head of the Bar, with Syrian bar members exempt from those two conditions. Article 3(b) allows an Iraqi advocate to associate, in a specific case, a lawyer not belonging to an Arab bar, with permission from the head of the Bar and the Justice Minister's consent, after confirming continued practice. Both rules operate without prejudice to special agreements between Iraq and other states.

The practical route for a foreign company is to instruct a registered Iraqi advocate, then seek to associate its foreign counsel in the specific case if needed. A power executed abroad is made at an Iraqi consulate; see powers of attorney before a notary or consul. In international arbitration, enforcement in Iraq still goes before the courts; see the New York Convention and Iraq's reservations.

Practising law in the Kurdistan Region

The Region has its own statute, the Kurdistan Region Advocacy Law No. 17 of 1999. Appearing before the Region's courts is therefore read against that law alongside the federal statute.

How to check your advocate

• Ask for proof of entry on the roll and rights of audience in your type of case.
• Read the power of attorney before signing and define its scope precisely.
• Ask for the office address where notices will arrive.
• Disclose any prior relationship between the advocate and your opponent, since article 44 bars conflicting representation.

In company matters, the advocate's power is read with the signatory's authority for the company; see company powers of attorney.

Legal basis and sources

1. Advocacy Law No. 173 of 1965, as amended
2. Kurdistan Region Advocacy Law No. 17 of 1999

Frequently asked questions

Topics in this area

• 01Admission to the Iraqi roll of advocates and appearances by foreign lawyersIraqi advocate admission under Advocacy Law 173/1965: conditions, foreign degrees and the extra exam, oath and training, Arab lawyers pleading and foreign lawyers joining a specific case.

Always check the text in force and its amendments in the official source.

To ask about your matter