Retirement file papers and common reasons for delay
The papers a State employee retirement file rests on, and why some files are delayed: age mismatches, unrecorded service, unpaid contributions.
Read →Retirement transactions
When a pension is stopped or cut
In briefUnified Pension Law No. 9 of 2014 does not contain a general article headed as a stop of the original pensioner’s own pension. The express cut in Article 27 is of the share of a wife, daughter or sister on marriage or appointment, and the share is restored on divorce, widowhood or leaving employment if the conditions of Article 26 remain. A pensioner or a successor must tell the National Pension Authority of every material change within one hundred and twenty days, under Article 35, Second.
This page gathers what the law writes on cutting, notification and attachment, and keeps it separate from a transfer of the pension after death, which is on transferring a pension after death or between banks.
The framework of rights after death is on a deceased person’s pension.
What is cut by an express text?
Article 27, after it was replaced by Article 8 of First Amendment Law No. 26 of 2019, cuts the pension share of a wife, daughter or sister on marriage or appointment, and restores it on divorce, widowhood or leaving employment, subject to the conditions of entitlement in Article 26. The cut here is a successor’s share, not the original pensioner’s own pension. Restoration is not automatic on the event alone; the file is read against Article 26 after divorce, widowhood or leaving the post.
This text is not widened into a cut of every pensioner’s pension on marriage, or on any appointment. A person reappointed to a pensionable post after referral is governed by Article 24 after the 2019 amendment, and by work after retirement, not by Article 27.
After a pensioner dies, the pension is no longer paid in that person’s name. Article 25, Second, gives Iraqi successors who are entitled to the pension the right to ask for allocation of the pension rights the deceased had on the date of death. That is an allocation to successors, not an administrative stop without a basis, and the shares are on the survivors’ page.
Article 10 of Law No. 26 of 2019 cancelled texts that allowed more than one pension to be combined, with the written exception there. Where more than one pension was being paid on a basis that was then cancelled, the position is read from that cancellation and from the decision of the National Pension Authority (هيأة التقاعد الوطنية) in the file, not from a general cutting article. The detail is on May two pensions be combined?.
The duty to notify, attachment, and rights that do not lapse
Article 35, Second, requires a pensioner or a successor to tell the Authority in writing of every change in employment, occupation or family position, and of everything that affects rights in service and pension, within one hundred and twenty days from the date of the change. If the person does not notify and receives sums without a legal basis, a fine of five per cent of the sums paid is imposed and is recorded as revenue of the State Employees’ Pension Fund. Notification is a duty in its own right; the fine is added if sums were received without a basis and notice was not given in time, and it does not replace recovery of what was paid without a basis.
Article 33, First: pension rights do not lapse by prescription for so long as the pensioner, or an entitled person who has not lost the conditions of entitlement, is alive. Article 33, Second, bars assignment of pension rights to natural or legal persons, and any such assignment is void. Attachment of pension rights for a debt owed by the pensioner is allowed only in two cases: a debt for legal maintenance (nafaqa), or a debt owed to the public treasury, under Article 33, Third. No more than fifty per cent of pension rights may be attached for any reason, under Article 33, Fourth. Attachment is a limit on payment for a written debt, not a cut of a share or of a pension in the sense of Article 27.
Any administrative step to confirm that entitlement continues is read from the Authority’s instructions in force, not from a general cutting text that the law does not write. A person who disputes a decision to cut or to recover objects before the Pensioners’ Cases Audit Council within ninety days of actual or constructive notification of the Authority’s decision, then may appeal the Council’s decision before the Federal Court of Cassation within sixty days of notification, under Article 30. The time limits are on the Pensioners’ Cases Audit Council.
The office follows a decision to cut or to recover, and its legal basis.
| Issue | Period or rate | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Telling the Authority of a change | 120 days from the change | Article 35, Second |
| Fine for receiving sums without a basis and without notice | 5% of the sums paid | Article 35, Second |
| Upper limit on attachment of pension rights | 50% for any reason | Article 33, Fourth |
| Objection before the Pensioners’ Cases Audit Council | 90 days from actual or constructive notification of the Authority’s decision | Article 30, First |
| Appeal against the Council’s decision before the Federal Court of Cassation | 60 days from notification | Article 30, Third |
Legal basis and sources
Frequently asked questions
Is a pensioner’s pension cut if a daughter marries?
Article 27 cuts the daughter’s share on her marriage or appointment, not the original pensioner’s own pension while that person is alive and entitled. After death, successors’ shares are read from the survivors’ articles, not from this sentence alone.
If a wife is appointed to a post, is her share lost for good?
Article 27 restores the share on leaving the post, if the conditions of Article 26 remain. The cut is not a closed end in every case.
Does stopping payment on the pensioner’s death mean successors lose their right?
No. Article 25, Second, allows entitled successors to ask for allocation of what the deceased was entitled to on the date of death, under the conditions of entitlement in the law.
Related topics and articles
- 01A deceased employee's pension: survivors' rights after the death of an employee or pensionerWho receives a deceased employee's pension in Iraq, each survivor group's conditions, the distribution shares, and when a share stops or returns.
- 02May two pensions be combined?Article 10 of Law No. 26 of 2019 cancels texts that allow two or more pensions to be combined, with a written exception for named categories.
- 03Work after retirement and reappointment of a pensionerArticle 24 after the 2019 amendment adds later service to earlier service. The last pension must not fall below the pension at reappointment, or a peer's.
- 04Objecting to a National Pension Authority decision before the Pensioners' Cases Audit CouncilObjecting to a National Pension Authority decision before the Pensioners' Cases Audit Council in 90 days, then appealing to the Court of Cassation.
- 05Early retirement in Iraq: when can a State employee request retirement?Conditions for requesting retirement before the statutory age in Iraq under Article 12 of the Unified Retirement Law: age or service, mothers, timing.
Pension contributions and the deduction from a civil servant’s salary
Article 17 deducts 25% of salary (10% employee, 15% treasury) into the Fund. Self-funded bodies late over 6 months face a 3% monthly fine.
Read →Transferring a pension after death or between banks
After death, successors request allocation under Article 25. Shares follow Article 28. A bank change follows the Authority’s instructions, not a statute.
Read →