When is a State decision challenged before the Administrative Judiciary Court?
Final administrative decisions, not disciplinary penalties, go to the Administrative Judiciary Court. Time limits: Article 7 of Law 65/1979 as amended.
Read →State employees and official discipline
Time limit for challenging a decision before the Administrative Judiciary Court
In briefBefore a claim is filed in the Administrative Judiciary Court, a grievance must be submitted within thirty days of notification, and the administrative body must decide it within thirty days. The claim is then filed within sixty days of actual or deemed refusal. The court’s judgment may be challenged before the Supreme Administrative Court within thirty days.
This page answers the time-limit question: when a challenge is filed in the Administrative Judiciary Court, and how the period is calculated. It does not ask which court to choose; that is in When is a State decision challenged before the Administrative Judiciary Court?. The periods are not taken from State Council Law No. 71 of 2017, which does not fix appeal time limits. They are read from Article 7 of State Shura Council Law No. 65 of 1979 as amended by Law No. 17 of 2013, applied to the State Council by Article 2 of Law No. 71 of 2017.
The wider framework is on State employee discipline in Iraq.
The grievance: thirty days, then thirty days to decide
Article 7(7)(a) requires, before a challenge is filed in the Administrative Judiciary Court, that the order or decision be the subject of a grievance to the administrative body that issued it, within thirty days of notification or deemed notification. That body must decide the grievance within thirty days of the date it is recorded with it.
The grievance should be submitted in writing, and proof of the recording date should be kept. If the thirty days end with no decision, the silence is treated as a deemed refusal, and the period for filing the claim then starts. An oral grievance with no written trace is a weak basis if the time limit is later disputed.
Under Article 7(6), a refusal by an official or a body to take an order or decision that they were legally bound to take, or an omission to take it, is treated as an order or decision. In that situation the starting day is read with care: when the refusal or omission occurred, and when the person concerned is treated as notified. The grievance should be filed early if the first day is unclear.
Filing the claim: sixty days from refusal of the grievance
If the grievance is not decided, or is refused, the person who submitted it must file the challenge in the Administrative Judiciary Court within sixty days of the refusal, whether actual or deemed, under Article 7(7)(b). The court records the challenge after the legal fee is paid. Loss of the right to challenge before that court does not prevent an ordinary civil claim for compensation for harm arising from the breach of the law, as the same paragraph provides.
This sixty-day period is the period for filing in the Administrative Judiciary Court. It is not the grievance period, and it is not the cassation period. Confusing thirty with sixty is a common reason for missing the path. If the decision is a civil-service or disciplinary matter that falls to the Court of Employees’ Judiciary, the sixty-day period is not the measure; that is a different path, with its periods in the discipline law and in Article 7(9).
| Step | Period | When it starts |
|---|---|---|
| Grievance to the administrative body that issued the decision | 30 days | Notification of the order or decision, or deemed notification |
| The body’s decision on the grievance | 30 days | Recording of the grievance with that body |
| Filing the challenge in the Administrative Judiciary Court | 60 days | Actual or deemed refusal of the grievance |
| Cassation before the Supreme Administrative Court | 30 days | Notification of the judgment, or deemed notification |
After the judgment: cassation within thirty days
Article 7(8) allows the Administrative Judiciary Court to dismiss the challenge, or to cancel or amend the order or decision, and to award compensation if that is justified and the claimant has asked for it. Its decision may be challenged in cassation before the Supreme Administrative Court within thirty days of notification or deemed notification. A decision of the court that is not challenged, and the Supreme Administrative Court’s decision on the challenge, are final and binding.
The Supreme Administrative Court sits in Baghdad. In this challenge it exercises the powers of the Federal Court of Cassation under the Civil Procedure Law. Cassation after a judgment of the Court of Employees’ Judiciary is explained on cassation of decisions of the Court of Employees’ Judiciary. This page records the same thirty-day period after a judgment of the Administrative Judiciary Court.
The office calculates the periods from the notification paper and from the date the grievance was recorded.
Legal basis and sources
- State Shura Council Law No. 65 of 1979 as amended by Law No. 17 of 2013
- State Council Law No. 71 of 2017
Frequently asked questions
Where are these periods written?
In Article 7 of State Shura Council Law No. 65 of 1979 as amended by Law No. 17 of 2013, applied to the State Council by Article 2 of Law No. 71 of 2017. Law No. 71 of 2017 does not itself state the figures.
What if the administration remains silent on the grievance?
Failure to decide within thirty days of recording the grievance is a deemed refusal, and the sixty-day period for filing in the Administrative Judiciary Court runs from that point.
Does filing the challenge automatically stay the decision?
Article 7 does not make the mere filing of a challenge a stay of execution. An application to stay execution is a separate step, discussed on stay of execution of an administrative decision.
Related topics and articles
- 01The Court of Employees’ Judiciary and the Administrative Judiciary CourtThe Court of Employees’ Judiciary hears disciplinary penalty appeals; the Administrative Judiciary Court hears other administrative decisions.
- 02Cassation of decisions of the Court of Employees’ JudiciaryHow a judgment of the Court of Employees’ Judiciary is challenged in cassation before the Supreme Administrative Court
- 03Disciplinary 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.
- 04The 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.
- 05Grievance 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.
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 →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 →