What replaced Government Contracts Execution Instructions No. 2 of 2014?
An older file may still refer to "Government Contracts Execution Instructions No. 2 of 2014". Those Instructions were published in Official Gazette issue 4325 on 16 June 2014, and for a long time they were the working reference for tenders and awards. In the Iraqi Legislation Database they are now recorded as repealed. The reason is an express provision in the later Instructions.
The Instructions now in force
The Ministry of Planning issued Public Contracts Execution Instructions No. 1 of 2025, published in issue 4849 on 17 November 2025. Article 42 provides for publication in the official journal and for commencement ninety days after the date of publication. From that commencement date they are the text that governs new contracting falling within their scope.
Article 41 has two paragraphs. The first: the 2014 Instructions and the controls annexed to them apply to contracts concluded under them. The second: the 2014 Instructions and those annexed controls are repealed from the date the new Instructions come into force. In practice, a contract concluded under the 2014 Instructions is read under those Instructions and their controls, unless a different rule is agreed or provided for within what the law allows. A tender announced, or a contract concluded, after the 2025 Instructions came into force is read under the new Instructions.
The 2014 Instructions are not treated as the general rule still in force. Anyone who wishes to compare the two texts returns to them in the Legislation Database, after confirming the date the contract was concluded or the date of the announcement.
What changed in the overall structure?
The new instrument is titled "Public Contracts Execution Instructions". It expands the definitions: the contracting authority, public contracts and their types, initial and final bonds, the tender documents, and the closing date. The Ministry of Planning remains "the Ministry" as defined in article 1, and the Minister of Planning remains "the Minister".
On methods of contracting, the public tender remains the starting point, with other methods that the head of the contracting authority may choose in the cases listed in article 6. On award, the title "Central Committee for Ratification of the Award" and its powers are set out in article 16, including ratification of the analysis recommendations, decisions on certain extension requests and on objections to extension decisions, and other powers to be read from the text. Objection to an award decision is organised in article 19, with a time limit counted in working days; that is the subject of the related page.
Article 40 allows the Ministry to issue controls to facilitate the application of these Instructions. Any control mentioned in a file is reviewed in its own text and date. It is not assumed that the 2014 controls apply to later contracting after the repeal, except within the limits article 41 preserves for earlier contracts.
What does the office do when the two references differ?
The dates of the announcement and of conclusion of the contract are established first. If the contract is an earlier one concluded under the 2014 Instructions, those Instructions and their controls are read within what article 41 preserves. If the path is later than the commencement of the 2025 Instructions, the new Instructions are read, and the 2014 Instructions are cited only for historical comparison or for what article 41 itself preserves.
The office is in Baghdad, Yarmouk; following a contracting file in another governorate does not mean that there is a branch there.
Legal basis and sources
- Public Contracts Execution Instructions No. 1 of 2025 (Official Gazette No. 4849 of 17/11/2025)
- Government Contracts Execution Instructions No. 2 of 2014 — repealed from the commencement of the 2025 Instructions (Official Gazette No. 4325 of 16/6/2014)
- Ministry of Planning
Frequently asked questions
When did the 2025 Instructions come into force?
Ninety days after the date of their publication in Official Gazette issue 4849 of 17 November 2025, under article 42. The date is counted from that provision, not from a later assumed date.
A contract was signed in 2024. Which Instructions are read today?
Article 41 keeps the 2014 Instructions and the controls annexed to them in force for contracts concluded under them. The date of conclusion and the text itself are reviewed before any conclusion is reached on a particular file.