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
The State Employees’ Pension Fund
In briefThe State Employees’ Pension Fund is one of the formations of the National Pension Authority. It has legal personality, collects pension contributions, pays the pension rights of those referred after 1 January 2008, and invests its funds, under Unified Pension Law No. 9 of 2014. Its existence comes from the law. A system that organises its work may be amended or replaced without that meaning that the Fund itself is abolished.
Article 1, Third, defines the State Employees’ Pension Fund by this name, and Article 6, First, (a) makes it one of the formations of the National Pension Authority (هيأة التقاعد الوطنية), alongside the Directorate of Pensioners’ Affairs and the other directorates, including pension directorates in governorates not organised in a region.
The path of a transaction is on steps of a retirement transaction.
Establishment, legal personality and functions
Article 4, First, establishes an authority named the National Pension Authority, which has legal personality and is attached to the Ministry of Finance, with its seat in Baghdad. It is headed by an official of the rank of deputy minister, who is the highest chief of the Authority, and orders and decisions are issued in that person’s name, under Article 4, Second. The Director General of the Fund stands in for the head of the Authority in that person’s absence, under Article 4, Third.
Article 7, First: the Fund has legal personality and is represented by the Director General of the Fund or a person authorised by that Director General. The Fund is headed by an official with the title of director general, nominated by the head of the Authority and appointed in accordance with the law, and is assisted by a deputy director general, under Article 7, Second. The Authority may open one or more branches of the Fund in Baghdad and in governorates not organised in a region, and a branch is at the level of a section, under Article 7, Third.
Article 7, Fourth, assigns the Fund the following tasks: assessing and collecting pension contributions; paying pension rights to civil servants referred to retirement; and investing, developing and preserving the Fund’s assets. Collection, payment and investment are written functions, not an administrative description outside the text.
Article 8 forms a board of the Fund, chaired by the head of the National Pension Authority, with the Director General of the Fund as deputy chair, the Director General of the Legal Department at the Ministry of Finance, the Director General of the Budget Department there, representatives of the Ministries of Defence, Interior, Planning, and Labour and Social Affairs, and a representative of the Central Bank of Iraq, each representative being no lower than director general. The board draws the general policy of the Fund, sets its plans, follows their implementation, preserves and invests its assets in accordance with the law, prepares the final accounts and the annual report and submits them to the Ministry for approval, sets budgets, proposes amendments to its structure, and proposes the opening of branches in the governorates, under Article 8, Third.
Who bears payment, and how an internal system relates to the law
Article 32, First: the Authority has a separate budget that covers the operating expenses of its formations and is financed from the state general budget. Article 32, Second, the state general budget bears the pension rights of pensioners referred before 1 January 2008, pension rights due by way of exception from this law, and the end-of-service gratuity. Article 32, Third, the Fund bears the pensions of civil servants referred to retirement after 1 January 2008, and the retirement gratuity, the lump sum and the disability gratuity. The date 1 January 2008 is a dividing line for who bears payment, not a date on which the Fund is abolished.
A system may be issued to organise the Fund’s divisions, the meetings of its board, or some of its working procedures. Article 6, Third, refers the divisions of the formations and their tasks to an internal system issued by the Minister of Finance, and Article 8, Fifth, refers the board’s meetings, quorum and decision-making to an internal system issued by the Minister of Finance on a proposal of the head of the Authority. Regulation No. 8 of 2025 (Iraqi Official Gazette issue 4834 of 11 August 2025) repealed in its Article 1 the State Employees’ Pension Fund Regulation No. 4 of 2008 and its Instructions No. 1 of 2012, making its entry into force under Article 2 contingent on the entry into force of the internal system for the divisions and tasks of the National Pension Authority’s formations; thereafter Internal System No. 5 of 2026 for the meetings of the Fund’s board (Official Gazette issue 4878 of 24 August 2026) was issued under Article 8, Fifth, confirming the Fund’s continuity and the regulation of its board meetings. Repeal of a system that organises the work is not read as abolition of the Fund created by Articles 1, 6 and 7 of the law, for so long as the law itself remains in force.
The contribution rates the Fund collects are in Article 17, and they are explained on pension contributions. A person who disputes a decision connected with assessment or payment handled by the Authority or the Fund follows the objection path in Articles 29 and 30.
The office follows a dispute about which body bears payment, or about a payment decision.
| Item | Body that bears it | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Pensioners referred before 1 January 2008 | The state general budget | Article 32, Second, (a) |
| Rights due by way of exception from this law | The state general budget | Article 32, Second, (b) |
| End-of-service gratuity | The state general budget | Article 32, Second, (c) |
| Pensions of those referred after 1 January 2008, the retirement gratuity, the lump sum and the disability gratuity | The State Employees’ Pension Fund | Article 32, Third |
Legal basis and sources
Frequently asked questions
Does repeal of a system that organises the Fund’s work abolish the Fund?
No. The Fund is created in the law and has legal personality under Article 7. Repeal or replacement of an internal system is read from the text of that system, not as abolition of the legal formation.
Who pays the pension of a person referred after 2008?
Article 32, Third, makes the Fund the body that bears those pensions, after the assessment decision is issued.
May the Fund have branches outside Baghdad?
Article 7, Third, allows the Authority to open one or more branches in Baghdad and in governorates not organised in a region, at the level of a section.
Related topics and articles
- 01Calculating a pension in IraqHow a pension is calculated under the Unified Pension Law: a 36-month average, the 2.5% rate, 15 years of service, the age of payment, and the cap.
- 02Steps of a retirement transactionThe file goes from referral to the Authority’s assessment, then payment. Article 12 requests are decided in 45 days. Objections follow Articles 29 and 30.
- 03The retirement gratuity, the monthly lump sum and the end-of-service awardThe retirement gratuity, the monthly lump sum and the end-of-service award under Iraq's Unified Retirement Law: who gets each and how it is calculated.
- 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.
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