Real Estate Registration Departments in Baghdad, Karkh and Rusafa
The office of lawyer Ali Barakat in Baghdad sets out the framework drawn by Real Estate Registration Law No. 43 of 1971 for applying to Real Estate Registration Departments in the capital, as published in the Iraqi Official Gazette, issue 1995, of 10/5/1971. The page explains how the department to be approached is identified.
How an immovable disposition is concluded
An immovable disposition does not conclude except by registration at the Real Estate Registration Department, under article 3 of the Real Estate Registration Law. That rule meets article 508 of Civil Code No. 40 of 1951, which states that a sale of immovable property does not conclude unless it is registered and the form required by law is fulfilled. Under article 2 of the Registration Law, the Department registers immovable dispositions, final court judgments and what is treated as such, affecting original and accessory immovable rights, and the transmission of those rights to general successors.
In this law the Minister is the Minister of Justice, the Director General is the Director General of Real Estate Registration, and the head of a Real Estate Registration Department is the director in Real Estate Registration Directorates and the registrar in registration offices, under article 1. The General Directorate of Real Estate Registration performs central functions, including functions connected with the registers, under the opening articles of the law. That structure identifies the bodies involved. It does not replace the need to identify the department in whose area of work the property lies.
A department's area of work in Baghdad
The law organises the work of each Real Estate Registration Department on the basis of its area of work. Article 14 refers to each department's area of work when base registers and preliminary survey are organised. Under article 36, the Minister may, by statement, open a Real Estate Registration Department in villages, towns and cities, or attach an area to another department within municipal limits. A single city may therefore have more than one department when the distribution of work so requires.
In Baghdad, the Karkh and Rusafa sides are used in daily practice to describe where a property sits. Real Estate Registration Law No. 43 of 1971 does not set out a fixed table of Real Estate Registration Directorate names in Karkh or Rusafa. Venue is identified by the department's area of work, the property's location and its register entry, not by a general description of one side of the city. The filing is made at the Real Estate Registration Department in whose area of work the property lies.
If a step is needed outside that department's area, the original rule remains that the right is entered where the property is registered. Deputising between Enforcement Directorates is a separate matter from entering an immovable right at the Real Estate Registration Department, and the two are not to be confused.
What is attached to a registration application
A registration application must be accompanied by the title deed or a copy of the real estate register, and by the legal documents on which the transaction is based, such as a power of attorney, a certificate of heirs, sharia instruments and final court judgments, under article 83. The real estate registers, certified copies of them and the deeds issued from them are the basis for proving ownership and other immovable rights. They are evidence against all persons as to what is recorded in them unless they are challenged as forgeries, and a challenge of simulation is not heard against dispositions registered in them, under article 10.
These rules apply in Baghdad as they apply in the other governorates not organised in a region, because they are rules of a federal statute. How a filing is completed in Basrah is explained on the page Real estate registration filings in Basrah, as general legal information about that governorate, and not as meaning that the office has a branch outside Baghdad.
Legal basis and sources
- Real Estate Registration Law No. 43 of 1971 (Iraqi Official Gazette, issue 1995 of 10/5/1971)
- Civil Code No. 40 of 1951 (Iraqi Official Gazette, issue 3015 of 8/9/1951) — Article 508
Frequently asked questions
Is a written sale agreement enough to transfer ownership of a property in Baghdad?
No. A sale of immovable property does not conclude except by registration at the Real Estate Registration Department and fulfilment of the form required by law, under article 508 of the Civil Code and article 3 of the Real Estate Registration Law. A written agreement alone does not take the place of that registration.
How is the Real Estate Registration Department to be approached in Baghdad, between Karkh and Rusafa, identified?
The department in whose area of work the property lies is the one to be approached. The Karkh and Rusafa sides describe where the property sits in the capital. They are not an official table of directorate names in Law 43 of 1971, and that law does not set out a fixed list of those directorates.
What is attached to a registration application?
The title deed or a copy of the real estate register is attached, together with the legal documents on which the transaction is based, such as a power of attorney, a certificate of heirs, sharia instruments and final court judgments, under article 83 of the Real Estate Registration Law.
Related topics and articles
- 01Real estate registration filings in BasrahHow real estate registration filings in Basrah are completed under federal Law 43/1971, followed from Baghdad.
- 02Sale or mortgage and the real-estate tax step in governorates not organised in a regionSale or mortgage and the real-estate tax step in governorates not organised in a region, under Law 162/1959 and Land Registration Law 43/1971.
- 03A promise to sell and how it differs from a completed saleA preliminary agreement under Civil Code article 91, and a completed sale of land that concludes only by registration under articles 90 and 508.
- 04What a landlord reviews before and after a lease in BaghdadWhat a Baghdad landlord reviews before and after a lease under Rent Law 87/1979 and the Civil Code.
- 05Ending co-ownership of shared propertyHow co-ownership of property ends under the Civil Code: agreed partition by registration, a First Instance claim, or sale if it cannot be divided.