Time limits in real property claims
Dates in the Property Claims Commission Law are not minor details. Some decide whether a property is covered at all, some decide where the case is brought, and some forfeit the right of appeal if missed. The office of lawyer Ali Barakat, in Baghdad, al-Yarmouk, gathers these periods in one place under Law No. 13 of 2010, its instructions, and the Civil Procedure Law to which it refers.
The covered era
The first period in this field is not a procedural deadline but an era: from the coup of July 1968 to the fall of the regime in April 2003, under article 3(1). What matters is when the taking decision was issued; it makes no difference that the family learned of it years later. The decade before that, from summer 1958 to summer 1968, has its own committees working under the annex to the law by virtue of article 24. See properties covered and properties outside jurisdiction.
The last date for applications to the commission
Article 22 provides that applications could be made to the commission until 30/6/2011, and that later applications are referred to the civil courts, to be decided under the law. Article 17 of Instructions No. 5 of 2010 bars the commission from accepting applications after that date. The date does not extinguish the right; it changes the forum. See filing a claim for return or compensation.
The expropriating body's period
Article 7(XI)(b) requires the expropriating body, in a case of expropriation contrary to procedure, to state its need for the property within sixty days; if it does not, the property is returned to the original owner, who must return the expropriation compensation valued in gold. The administrative body's silence here directly shapes the outcome.
The period for sending State cases
Article 8 of the instructions requires committees to send cases in which they have decided and the State is a party to the appeal panel within ten days after the appeal period ends. This links to mandatory appeal under article 8(5) of the law and automatic cassation under article 10.
Appeal periods
Article 9 of the law refers to the Civil Procedure Law No. 83 of 1969 for routes of challenge. Under that law:
- Periods are mandatory; missing them forfeits the right, and the court rejects a late petition on its own motion, under article 171.
- The period runs from the day after the judgment is served or deemed served, and an appeal may be made before service, under article 172.
- Objection to a default judgment: ten days, under article 177.
- Retrial: fifteen days from the day after its ground appears, under article 198.
- Cassation: thirty days for judgments of the courts of first instance, under article 204, subject to special periods in other laws.
See objecting to and appealing commission decisions, and for the general rules, time limits, appeals, warnings and limitation.
Rights arising from earlier decisions
Some files were closed in the past and then reopened by the law. A person who received compensation out of proportion to his right under the 2006 dispute resolution law may, under article 25, return with a claim under the new law even though his decision predates it. A person who lost an earlier claim because his title was cancelled on the basis of the 1976 land law may, under article 21, bring it again. What counts is not that a decision was made, but the ground on which it rested.
The date of the last inspection
It is not an appeal date, but it affects the money. Article 4 of the instructions defines it as the date of assessing compensation that the committee head adopts as the basis of the decision where it differs from the filing date, and most paragraphs of article 7 base compensation on it.
Legal basis and sources
- Property Claims Commission Law No. 13 of 2010 (Official Gazette No. 4147 of 9/3/2010) — Articles 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 21, 22, 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 4, 8 and 17
- Civil Procedure Law No. 83 of 1969 (Official Gazette No. 1766 of 10/11/1969) — Articles 171, 172, 177, 198 and 204
Frequently asked questions
Was the right lost after 30/6/2011?
No. That date ended applications to the commission, and article 22 referred later applications to the civil courts to be decided under the same law.
How long does an expropriating body have to state its need for the property?
Sixty days, failing which the property is returned to the original owner, under article 7(XI).
From when does the period to appeal a committee decision run?
From the day after the decision is served or deemed served, under article 172 of the Civil Procedure Law.
Does the law cover property confiscated in 1965?
It falls outside article 3, but article 24 forms committees for claims about 14/7/1958 to 16/7/1968.
Related topics and articles
- 01Objecting to and appealing commission decisionsHow decisions of Property Claims Commission judicial committees are challenged: the appeal panel, objection to default judgments, third-party objection, retrial, cassation, and automatic cassation where the State is ordered to pay or return.
- 02Filing 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.
- 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.
- 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.