Properties covered and properties outside jurisdiction
Before any step in a case before the Property Claims Commission, or before a civil court applying its law, the coverage question arises: is this property one the law covers? The office of lawyer Ali Barakat, in Baghdad, al-Yarmouk, follows article 3 of the Property Claims Commission Law No. 13 of 2010 and Instructions No. 5 of 2010 to answer it.
The time frame
Article 3(1) limits the law to covered property during 17/7/1968 to 9/4/2003. The decisive date is the date of the taking, not the date of the claim. Article 24 adds committees for claims about property during 14/7/1958 to 16/7/1968, under an annex to the law.
Category one: confiscation and seizure for particular reasons
Paragraph (a) covers property confiscated or seized whose ownership was taken for political, ethnic, religious or sectarian reasons. Confiscation alone is not enough; its reason matters. Article 17 restores to their prior state places of worship, religious schools, husseiniyas, takiyas, charitable societies and offices of political parties opposed to the former regime that were confiscated or appropriated.
Category two: appropriation without compensation and unlawful expropriation
Paragraph (b) covers property appropriated without compensation and property expropriated contrary to legal procedure. An expropriation carried out by the proper procedure with compensation paid is not covered; one contrary to procedure is. Article 5 of the instructions treats a cancellation of title made contrary to lawful dealings as an expropriation under article 7(XI).
Category three: transfers of State property
Paragraph (c) covers State property transferred free or for a token sum to associates of the former regime, or allocated to them. Here there is usually no private original owner; the State itself is the owner, and the aim is protecting public funds.
Category four: decisions under the earlier law
Paragraph (d) covers expropriation cases decided by judicial committees under the Real Property Dispute Resolution Commission Law No. 2 of 2006. Article 25 gives anyone treated unfairly as to compensation under that law the right to bring a new case with retroactive effect.
Category five: orders of the former regime
Paragraph (e) covers property taken under orders of the former regime or decisions of the dissolved Revolutionary Command Council contrary to law. Article 20 cancels those orders and decisions, and their effects, where they conflict with the law and concerned specific areas of Iraq. Article 21 allows anyone whose claim was dismissed because a cancellation of title was made under Law No. 53 of 1976 to bring it again.
What falls outside jurisdiction
Article 3(2) excludes from paragraph (b) land appropriated under the Agrarian Reform Law and in-kind compensation cases in the governorates concerned. Article 2 of the instructions explains the exclusion: property appropriated under Agrarian Reform Law No. 117 of 1970 and its amendments, and in-kind compensation decisions under dissolved RCC Decision No. 103 of 11/8/1997 in Baghdad, Diyala and Wasit governorates for 1992 to 1995, issued under dissolved RCC Decision No. 222 of 26/2/1977. Also outside are disputes between persons that do not rest on a taking by an act of authority, and takings outside the stated period. See the commission claim versus an ownership case in the court of first instance.
After coverage
Once coverage is established, the question becomes what the committee can decide, which article 7 sets according to the property's present state. See compensation instead of return, and for the forum, the commission: who goes to it and the limits of its jurisdiction.
Legal basis and sources
- Property Claims Commission Law No. 13 of 2010 (Official Gazette No. 4147 of 9/3/2010) — Articles 3, 7, 17, 20, 21, 24 and 25
- Instructions No. 5 of 2010 facilitating the implementation of the Property Claims Commission Law (Official Gazette No. 4163 of 6/9/2010) — Articles 2 and 5
Frequently asked questions
Does the law cover land appropriated under agrarian reform?
No. Article 3(2) excludes it from the paragraph on appropriation without compensation, and article 2 of the instructions ties this to Agrarian Reform Law No. 117 of 1970.
Is every expropriation before 2003 covered?
No. What is covered is expropriation contrary to legal procedure, under article 3(1)(b).
Are confiscated mosques and husseiniyas returned?
Yes. Article 17 restores their ownership to its state before confiscation or appropriation.
What about property taken between 1958 and 1968?
Special committees in the commission hear those claims under article 24 and the annex to the law.
Related topics and articles
- 01The 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.
- 02The commission claim versus an ownership case in the court of first instanceWhen a property dispute falls under the Property Claims Commission Law No. 13 of 2010 and when it is an ordinary ownership case before the court of first instance: subject, period, forum, remedies and appeal.
- 03Compensation instead of return: when it arisesWhen a Property Claims Commission committee awards compensation instead of returning property under article 7 of Law No. 13 of 2010: public use, sale to third parties, substantial changes, demolition and rebuilding, and the date of the last inspection.
- 04Filing 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.
- 05Documents needed for a property claim before the commissionThe documents a claim for return of property or compensation rests on under the Property Claims Commission Law: the register entry, the taking decision, the inheritance deed, and proof under the Evidence Law.