The Supreme Administrative Court in Iraq: the challenge and the time limit
The Supreme Administrative Court hears cassation within 30 days of notification or deemed notification, under the amended Article 7.
Read →State employees and official discipline
Absence, abandonment of the post, and resignation
In briefAbsence from duty, abandonment of the post, and the filing of a resignation are three different legal characterisations. A file may move from a simple administrative step to an investigative committee if the days reach a point that has an official effect, or if the employee leaves before the request is accepted.
Everyday talk in State departments mixes three situations: absence from duty, abandonment of the post, and the filing of a resignation. Each has a different legal characterisation. A file may move from a simple administrative step to an investigative committee if the days reach a point that has an official effect, or if the employee leaves work before the request is accepted.
Read this with State employee discipline in Iraq and The investigative committee.
Absence from duty
Absence is a failure to attend work on one or more days without leave, or without an excuse the department accepts under the service rules. Recording absence is first a matter of the attendance register and an administrative order, before it is a penalty. If it is repeated or prolonged, it may call for a disciplinary question about the duty to perform the work, and the service rules may affect pay, leave and promotion.
Under Article 37(3) of Civil Service Law No. 24 of 1960 (as amended), an employee who stays away from the post for more than ten days without showing a lawful excuse is deemed to have resigned; Article 37(2) applies the same ten days after leave ends, and Article 37(1) five days after notice of a transfer (excluding normal travel days). What is kept: the attendance record, leave applications, any warning letters, proof that the employee was notified, and any evidence of a lawful excuse.
If the interruption was for illness, a medical report and a sick-leave letter are part of the defence before the facts are called abandonment. If it was for travel or a family event, a document contemporary with the event is stronger than a later statement. The committee weighs the excuse; the court weighs whether the administration allowed the employee to present it.
Abandonment of the post
Abandonment is a heavier description than a day’s absence, and it is read together with Article 37 of Civil Service Law No. 24 of 1960 as amended: an interruption from which it appears that the employee has broken the work relationship on a continuing basis, or has left the post without a lawful basis. The characterisation is precise and is not used lightly. If the administration considers that the facts reach this description, an investigative committee is often formed, and a penalty as heavy as dismissal may be proposed in cases where the text’s conditions are met.
It is not to be assumed that every interruption is abandonment of the post, or that every abandonment ends in removal (azl). What matters is what was proved in the minute and what Article 8, after a sound investigation, actually covers.
Resignation
Resignation is a written request to end the official relationship at the employee’s will. Acceptance, who may decide, and any time limits are read from the civil service law in force, not from the discipline law alone. While the request is under consideration, the starting point is that the employee remains bound by official duties until acceptance or refusal is served, unless a text provides otherwise.
Leaving work after filing the request and before acceptance is a common risk: it may be characterised as absence or abandonment, and an investigation may open, so that a request to leave and an allegation of breach sit in the same file. The dates of filing, of departure, and of the decision are therefore asked before any label is applied.
If a penalty is imposed because of absence or abandonment, the appeal is the grievance before the Court of Employees’ Judiciary (Mahkamat Qada’ al-Muwazzafin). If the dispute is about acceptance of the resignation or the later count of service, it may be closer to service disputes.
Legal basis and sources
- Law on the Discipline of State and Public Sector Employees No. 14 of 1991
- Iraqi Official Gazette, issue 3356, 3/6/1991
- First Amendment Law No. 5 of 2008
- Second Amendment Law No. 51 of 2012 (Official Gazette, issue 4250, 10/9/2012)
- Fifth Amendment to the State Shura Council Law, Law No. 17 of 2013
- State Council Law No. 71 of 2017
- Civil Service Law No. 24 of 1960, as amended
Frequently asked questions
Does a resignation cancel a pending disciplinary investigation?
Not necessarily. The end of service does not, within the limits of the discipline law, prevent accountability, including the provisions on continued accountability despite transfer, secondment or the end of service, as the text in force provides.
May the employee withdraw a resignation?
Withdrawal before the request is accepted is read from the service rules and from the department’s decision. After acceptance the position changes, and the employee is not restored by a later letter alone.
The office reviews the facts of absence and the resignation papers from the dates and the orders, and from the department’s record and its administrative notices, and then identifies whether the path is disciplinary or concerns the ending of the official relationship under the text.
Related topics and articles
- 01The investigative committee and the employee’s rights during the investigationHow an investigative committee is formed under Article 10 of Law No. 14 of 1991, the employee’s rights, and when referral to the courts is recommended.
- 02Grievance against a disciplinary penalty and appeal to the Court of Employees’ JudiciaryA disciplinary penalty is first challenged by grievance, then appealed to the Court of Employees’ Judiciary under Article 15 of Law No. 14 of 1991.
- 03Service disputes: promotion, increment and transferDisputes over promotion, increment and transfer of a State employee: when the matter is a service issue, not a disciplinary penalty.
- 04Disciplinary penalties under the State employee discipline lawDisciplinary penalties in Law No. 14 of 1991, from a written reminder to removal (azl), and how each penalty affects promotion.
- 05Suspension from duty (sahb al-yad): when it is ordered and how it affects paySuspension from duty (sahb al-yad) under Articles 16 to 19 of Law No. 14 of 1991: when it is ordered, how long it lasts, and half pay.
Grievance against an administrative decision in Iraq
A grievance is required before filing in the Administrative Judiciary Court: 30 days from notification, 30 days to decide, then 60 days to claim.
Read →When is a State employee referred to the courts under the discipline law?
Under the State employee discipline law, an investigation may stay in the department, or lead to referral if the act appears to be a job-related crime.
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