The Military Service Law versus the Military Service and Retirement Law

Many people confuse two similar names: the "Military Service Law" and the "Military Service and Retirement Law". The first speaks of a duty falling on young men by reason of age; the second of a profession a volunteer chooses by contract. The office of lawyer Ali Barakat, in al-Yarmouk, Baghdad, sets out the differences point by point.

Scope

The Military Service Law No. 65 of 1969 addresses every Iraqi male up to forty-five and places on him compulsory service and then reserve duty. The Military Service and Retirement Law No. 3 of 2010, published in Official Gazette No. 4143 of 8/2/2010, states in article 1 whom it covers: officers from second lieutenant upwards, students of military colleges, institutes and schools, army imams, and volunteers from private upwards. Article 2 sets its aims as organising their service and promotion, retirement or resignation, pension rights, and honouring sacrifice and injury.

Status in force

The first law remains published, but the compulsory service it governs is suspended indefinitely under Section 3 of CPA Order No. 2 of 2003. The second is in force and applied daily to army personnel. Its article 97 repealed the Military Service and Retirement Law No. 1 of 1975 and CPA Order No. 22 of 2003; it did not repeal the 1969 law.

Route of entry

Under the first law a person enters by call-up and enlistment once he reaches the age and has no impediment. Under the second he enters by contract. Article 30 accepts volunteers on conditions: Iraqi, aged eighteen to twenty-five for technical branches or thirty for others, of good conduct, medically fit, with no conviction for a felony, a dishonourable misdemeanour, terrorism or offences against state security, and holding at least a primary certificate. Article 4 requires a person commissioned as second lieutenant to be Iraqi born of Iraqi parents and aged between twenty and twenty-six, with a higher ceiling for army and Ministry of Defence personnel.

Duration

The first law measures service in months according to schooling. The second measures it in years: article 33 sets the volunteer term, including training and study, at twenty years, and lets the volunteer ask to renew it for five years at a time, ninety days before it ends. Article 7 sets an officer's contract at twenty years, extendable by five years at a time with the Minister's approval.

Leaving service

A conscript under the first law is discharged when he completes his period under article 57. A volunteer under the second may not leave before completing his term and receiving a discharge decision, unless the Minister or his delegate agrees, under article 33(3). Article 35 discharges him when the contract ends and he does not wish to renew, or when it is cancelled at his request, and allows his withdrawal to be accepted at forty.

Retirement

The first law does not set pensions; it only counts enlistment towards an employee's service for retirement in article 25. The second is also a pension law, and Law No. 41 of 2013 replaced its article 54 so that a member who has spent eight years or more in his rank has his pension calculated on the salary of a higher rank, if he is entitled to a pension. Article 98 refers matters without a specific provision to the Civil Service Law, the Unified Retirement Law No. 27 of 2006 and the State Employees Salaries Law. See does the Unified Pension Law apply to military personnel?.

Penalties

Both share the Military Penal Code No. 19 of 2007 once a person is serving, with its provisions on absence, desertion and malingering. Only the first law has the offences of failing to report for enlistment or for the reserve. See absence from service.

Links between the two laws

The 1969 law also defines a "volunteer" and exempts from compulsory service anyone who volunteered and served an equivalent period. If compulsory service were ever reinstated, volunteer service performed under the 2010 law would be a route to exemption under article 7 of the 1969 law on its conditions.

Legal basis and sources

1. Military Service Law No. 65 of 1969 (Official Gazette No. 1728 of 13/5/1969) — Articles 1, 7, 25 and 57
2. Military Service and Retirement Law No. 3 of 2010 (Official Gazette No. 4143 of 8/2/2010) — Articles 1, 2, 4, 7, 30, 33, 35, 97 and 98
3. Law No. 41 of 2013, First Amendment to the Military Service and Retirement Law (Official Gazette No. 4294 of 21/10/2013) — Article 2
4. Military Penal Code No. 19 of 2007 (Official Gazette No. 4040 of 9/5/2007)
5. Coalition Provisional Authority Order No. 2 of 2003, Dissolution of Entities (Official Gazette No. 3977 of 17/6/2003)

Frequently asked questions

Related topics and articles

• 01The Military Service Law: Who Is CoveredWho the Iraqi Military Service Law No. 65 of 1969 addresses: males up to forty-five, the invitee and the conscript, the age of liability, civil register ages, naturalised Iraqis, and the effect of the 2003 suspension.
• 02Absence from Service: Legal Description and EffectsThe difference between failing to report under the Military Service Law and absence or desertion under the Military Penal Code No. 19 of 2007: periods, penalties, surrender, and the volunteer who leaves his unit.
• 03Does the Unified Pension Law apply to military personnel?The Unified Pension Law treats a military person as an employee. Law No. 3 of 2010 organises referral and remains the basis for legal age after 2019.
• 04Study Deferment from Military ServiceHow the Military Service Law No. 65 of 1969 regulated student deferment: article 8, failing two years, postgraduate study up to thirty, studying abroad, the service booklet, and the annual review of deferred persons.
• 05Exemption from Military Service under the Statutory GroundsThe difference between exception, exemption and deferment in the Military Service Law No. 65 of 1969: articles 6, 7, 8, 9 and 63, medical unfitness, the youngest son, the supporter, and the exemption document.

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

To ask about your matter