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
Cassation of decisions of the Court of Employees’ Judiciary
In briefA judgment of the Court of Employees’ Judiciary may be challenged in cassation before the Supreme Administrative Court within thirty days of notification or deemed notification. A judgment not challenged, and the Supreme Administrative Court’s decision, are final and binding, under Article 7(9) of Law No. 65 of 1979 as amended.
After a judgment of the Court of Employees’ Judiciary, the court of cassation is the Supreme Administrative Court, and the period is thirty days from notification of the judgment or from the date it is deemed notified.The grievance before the authority that imposed the penalty is on grievance and the claim before the Court of Employees’ Judiciary.
The wider framework is on State employee discipline in Iraq.
The court: the Supreme Administrative Court
The Fifth Amendment to State Shura Council Law No. 65 of 1979, enacted as Law No. 17 of 2013, created the Supreme Administrative Court, the Administrative Judiciary Courts, and the Courts of Employees’ Judiciary, as formations of the Council. State Council Law No. 71 of 2017 then made the Council an independent body under the name State Council. Article 2 of that law applies the provisions of Law No. 65 of 1979, as amended, to the State Council, and substitutes the name “State Council” for “State Shura Council”. Law No. 71 of 2017 is a short statute and does not itself fix appeal periods; the periods are read from Article 7 of Law No. 65 of 1979 as amended by Law No. 17 of 2013.
The Supreme Administrative Court sits in Baghdad. When it reviews decisions of the Administrative Judiciary Court and the Court of Employees’ Judiciary, it exercises the powers that the Federal Court of Cassation exercises under Civil Procedure Law No. 83 of 1969. It also determines conflicts of jurisdiction between those two courts, under Article 7 as amended and the corresponding provisions of amended Article 2.
Article 15 of the discipline law, in its 2008 wording, referred to a challenge against a decision of the “General Discipline Board” before the “General Body of the State Shura Council” within thirty days. After Law No. 17 of 2013, the Court of Employees’ Judiciary replaced the General Discipline Board, and the Supreme Administrative Court replaced that cassation path. The period and the court now applied are those in Article 7(9) as in force, not the older description of the cassation body.
The time limit: thirty days from notification
Article 7(9)(c) of Law No. 65 of 1979 as amended allows a cassation challenge before the Supreme Administrative Court against decisions of the Court of Employees’ Judiciary in civil-service rights claims and in challenges to disciplinary penalties, within thirty days of notification or deemed notification. A decision of the Court of Employees’ Judiciary that is not challenged, and the Supreme Administrative Court’s decision on the challenge, are final and binding (paragraph (d)).
The period runs from notification, or from the date the judgment is deemed notified, not from the date of pronouncement alone if notification comes later. The challenge should be filed early if the starting day is unclear. Filing a cassation challenge does not, by itself, stay execution of the judgment unless a stay is ordered under the procedures that apply where no special text exists. The Civil Procedure Law, the Evidence Law, the Criminal Procedure Law and the Judicial Fees Law apply to these courts’ procedures in matters not specially regulated, under Article 7(11).
A fixed fee is levied on a cassation challenge under Article 15, Seventh, of the discipline law, added by Law No. 51 of 2012. The amount of the fee is that stated in the text in force, and is collected at filing by the court clerk’s office. A cassation petition is drafted from the grounds and the time limit as they appear from the papers and from the procedural text in force.
What is reviewed before cassation is filed?
The judgment, the date of notification, whether the case concerned a disciplinary penalty or a civil-service right, and the points already taken before the Court of Employees’ Judiciary on formation, procedure or proof, are all read. Cassation is not a full retrial; the Supreme Administrative Court reviews the challenge with the cassation powers described above. A person who misses the thirty-day period faces the loss of this path, and an unchallenged judgment remains final.
Courts of Employees’ Judiciary are formed in wider regions (the Northern Region, based in Mosul; the Central Region, based in Baghdad; the Mid-Euphrates Region, based in Hilla; and the Southern Region, based in Basra). Further courts may be formed in governorate centres under the mechanism in the text as now in force, after the President of the State Council was substituted for the Minister of Justice in provisions relating to the Council’s work. Cassation, however, is brought before the Supreme Administrative Court in Baghdad, not before the court that gave the judgment.
The office checks the calculation of the period and the statement of grounds from the papers.
Legal basis and sources
- Law on the Discipline of State and Public Sector Employees No. 14 of 1991
- Second Amendment Law No. 51 of 2012
- 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
Is cassation still filed with the General Body of the State Shura Council?
No. The court now is the Supreme Administrative Court, after Law No. 17 of 2013, and with the amended Law No. 65 of 1979 applied to the State Council by Article 2 of Law No. 71 of 2017.
How long is the cassation period?
Thirty days from notification of the judgment or from the date it is deemed notified, under Article 7(9)(c).
If the judgment is not challenged in time, can it still be reviewed later by the Supreme Administrative Court?
The text makes an unchallenged decision of the Court of Employees’ Judiciary final and binding. Expiry of the period is a matter that closes this path.
Related topics and articles
- 01Grievance 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.
- 02The 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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 →