Powers of attorney and attestation before an Iraqi notary or consul
A power of attorney is the document a lawyer's office, government department or bank asks for when the person concerned cannot attend. In Iraq an official power usually passes through the notary department, or through an Iraqi consulate for those living abroad. The office of lawyer Ali Barakat in Baghdad, al-Yarmouk, explains what Notaries Law No. 33 of 1998 requires for this transaction and what happens on error or a wish to cancel.
What does the notary do?
Article 11 lists the notary's tasks, including drafting and authenticating legal transactions, attesting powers of attorney, certifying translations after the translator swears to their accuracy, registering transactions in machinery, and certifying a guarantor's financial capacity. It distinguishes two acts:
- drafting: the notary writes the document directly on prepared forms at the parties' request;
- authentication: the notary certifies the parties' signatures or thumbprints on a document they prepared and their acknowledgment of its content.
Someone bringing a text prepared by their lawyer seeks authentication; someone asking the office to write it seeks drafting.
Attendance, identity and capacity
Under article 22 the notary drafts or authenticates a document only after the parties attend in person or through a lawful representative, and after confirming each person's identity, capacity, standing and authority and recording this in the document. Article 18 requires the three-part name, family name and residence, and article 19 identification by approved documents. Where the principal acts for a company, documents proving authority are produced and the notary keeps a copy after viewing the original under article 26.
Reading, signing and dating
Article 23 requires the notary to read the document to the parties and explain its content, then certify it after their approval and signature, stamp it and write the date in words and figures once the legally set charges are paid. Articles 24 and 25 deal with a deaf or mute party who understands only through signs, and with a party unable to sign, each with two witnesses signing. Article 21 requires clear writing without erasure, insertion, deletion or blanks, and article 43 voids a document not signed by its parties on the same day.
What falls outside the notary's work
Article 15 bars the notary from drafting or authenticating contracts on real estate dispositions, or any act for which the law prescribes a particular form. The sale of land itself takes place at the land registry. A power authorising an agent to sell is made before the notary, with special rules where it is irrevocable; see sale by irrevocable power of attorney. The same article bars documents contrary to law, public order or morals, and documents concerning the notary or relatives to the third degree.
Iraqis abroad and foreign documents
Article 10 provides that an Iraqi consul counts as a notary for the purposes of the Law. A person living outside Iraq can therefore execute a power at the consulate with the same standing as one made before a notary. For a document in a foreign language, Arabic is the official language for submitting and authenticating documents under article 16, and the notary may authenticate a foreign-language document after learning its content through a sworn translator. This matters to anyone managing property for an owner abroad, as in managing property for a non-resident owner.
Errors, cancellation and force
A purely material error, clerical or arithmetical, does not affect validity, and the notary corrects it in the manner article 41 sets out. Before drafting or authentication, the parties may ask to void the document under article 44. Afterwards, article 45 permits cancellation only by court judgment or agreement of the parties, subject to the rules on revoking an agent. Article 46 gives drafted or authenticated documents executory force unless challenged for forgery.
Revocation of an agent is governed by the agency provisions of the Civil Code, articles 927 to 947. Powers in company matters are covered in company powers of attorney.
Legal basis and sources
Frequently asked questions
Can a power of attorney be made at an Iraqi consulate?
Yes. Article 10 treats the Iraqi consul as a notary for the Law's purposes.
Does the notary transfer land?
No. Article 15 excludes real estate dispositions; sales take place at the land registry.
How is an authenticated power cancelled?
By court judgment or agreement of the parties, subject to the rules on revoking an agent, under article 45.
Related topics and articles
- 01Sale of property under an irrevocable power of attorneyA power of attorney with a third-party right attached (Civil Code art. 947; Registration Law arts. 199 and 205); the sale concludes only by registration.
- 02Powers of attorney and delegation in company dealingsA power of attorney in company dealings is read from the Civil Code and article 91 for assembly meetings.
- 03Managing Iraqi property for an owner living abroadManaging an Iraqi property from abroad: the mandate, reporting, records, delegated powers and handover under the Civil Code.