Objecting to and appealing commission decisions

A judicial committee's decision in a property claim is not the end of the road for the original owner, the last owner or a State department. The law opened routes of challenge and set up a special body to hear them. The office of lawyer Ali Barakat, in Baghdad, al-Yarmouk, follows these routes under the Property Claims Commission Law No. 13 of 2010, for those who won and want to know when the decision becomes final, and for those who lost and want to know their options.

Routes of challenge

Article 9(1) allows committee decisions to be challenged by the following routes, following the procedure in the Civil Procedure Law No. 83 of 1969: objection to a default judgment, third-party objection, retrial, cassation, and correction of a cassation decision. Article 9(2) adds an appeal in the interest of the law under the Public Prosecution Law; the text refers to Law No. 159 of 1979, which has been replaced by Public Prosecution Law No. 49 of 2017.

The appeal panel

Article 8 forms the appeal panel of nine judges nominated by the Supreme Judicial Council from first-class judges known for competence and integrity, two of them nominated by the Kurdistan Region Judicial Council, with three alternates. It sits in three sub-panels, each chaired by the panel's president or one of the two deputies with two other judges, deciding by majority. Each sub-panel hears appeals against committee decisions, requests to transfer a case to another committee, the recusal of a committee head, challenges to judges, and requests for advisory opinions. Cases are distributed among the sub-panels by subject on the order of the panel's president, under article 7 of Instructions No. 5 of 2010.

Effect of the appeal panel's decision

Article 8(4) provides that the panel upholds, amends or annuls the decision appealed; a decision to amend or annul must be followed, and the decision is final where it upholds or amends. An upheld decision does not go back to the committee, while an annulled one returns to it to follow what the panel decided.

When the State is a party

Article 8(5) makes appeal against committee decisions to which the State is a party mandatory. Article 10 subjects committee decisions obliging State departments to compensate or return property to automatic cassation. Article 8 of the instructions requires committees to send such cases to the appeal panel within ten days after the period for appeal ends. A decision binding the State is therefore not enforced before the panel reviews it, even if no one appeals.

Time limits

The commission law does not set its own period for each route; it refers to the Civil Procedure Law. Article 171 of that law treats every challenge period as binding: once it passes, the right is gone, and a court will throw out a late petition even if nobody raises the point. Article 172 starts the clock on the day following service, actual or deemed. The period to object to a default judgment is ten days under article 177; a retrial request must be made within fifteen days of the ground appearing under article 198; and article 204 sets thirty days for cassation of judgments of the courts of first instance. See time limits in property claims.

Third-party objection

Third-party objection matters in this field, because property may have passed through several hands after the taking, so that a decision affects the rights of someone who was not a party. Article 224 of the Civil Procedure Law allows this route for someone who was neither a party, nor represented, nor a third party in the case, where the judgment extends to them or affects their rights. For the general rules on time limits see time limits, appeals, warnings and limitation, and for enforcement after the decision becomes final, enforcing a commission decision at the land registry.

Legal basis and sources

1. Property Claims Commission Law No. 13 of 2010 (Official Gazette No. 4147 of 9/3/2010) — Articles 8, 9 and 10
2. Instructions No. 5 of 2010 facilitating the implementation of the Property Claims Commission Law (Official Gazette No. 4163 of 6/9/2010) — Articles 7 and 8
3. Civil Procedure Law No. 83 of 1969 (Official Gazette No. 1766 of 10/11/1969) — Articles 171, 172, 177, 198, 204 and 224
4. Public Prosecution Law No. 49 of 2017 (Official Gazette No. 4437 of 6/3/2017)

Frequently asked questions

Related topics and articles

• 01Time limits in real property claimsThe key periods and dates in the Property Claims Commission Law No. 13 of 2010: the covered era, the last date for applications on 30/6/2011, the expropriating body's sixty days, and appeal periods.
• 02Enforcing a commission decision at the land registryEnforcing Property Claims Commission decisions once final: re-registration in the original owner's name, release from mortgage, exemption from taxes and duties, and payment of compensation by the Ministry of Finance.
• 03Time-limits for appeals, warnings and the passage of time in IraqPeriods for objection, appeal, retrial, cassation and correction under Civil Procedure Law 83/1969, unlike a warning or a Civil Code time bar.
• 04The Property Claims Commission: who goes to it and the limits of its jurisdictionWho goes to the Property Claims Commission and the limits of its jurisdiction under Law No. 13 of 2010: independence and attachment to parliament, the covered period, judicial committees, and referral to the civil courts.
• 05Filing a claim for return of property or compensationHow a claim for return of property or compensation is filed under the Property Claims Commission Law No. 13 of 2010: the form, the detailed register statement, and referral to the civil courts after 30/6/2011.

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

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