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
Ending a State employee’s service
In briefA State employee’s service does not end under a single label. The law distinguishes resignation, deemed resignation if an absence exceeds ten days without a lawful excuse under Article 37 of Civil Service Law No. 24 of 1960, discharge during probation, dismissal and removal, and cancellation of the appointment order if the employee does not start work.
Not every ending is a disciplinary penalty, and not every absence is a written resignation. Each description of ending service has its own legal basis; detail is on absence, leaving the post and resignation.
The wider framework is on State employee discipline in Iraq.
Deemed resignation under Article 37
Civil Service Law No. 24 of 1960 as amended sets out, in Article 37, three situations in which the employee is deemed to have resigned if he or she fails to take up the post without a lawful excuse.
Article 37(1): an employee notified of a transfer must take up the post within a period not exceeding five days, not counting the usual travel days, unless the transfer order itself allows a longer period. If the employee is late and does not put forward a lawful excuse, he or she is deemed to have resigned.
Article 37(2): the employee must take up the post as soon as leave ends. If the employee does not do so, without a lawful excuse, within a period of no more than ten days from the date the leave ended, he or she is deemed to have resigned.
Article 37(3): an employee who is absent from the post is deemed to have resigned if the absence exceeds ten days and no lawful excuse is put forward to justify it.
What is kept here: attendance records, leave applications, transfer orders and proof of notification, any warning letters, and any evidence of a lawful excuse. The disciplinary path in cases of absence is on the page devoted to that subject. This description should not be mixed with dismissal or removal under the Article 8 table of the Discipline Law.
Discharge during probation, and cancellation if the employee does not start work
If service is ended during the probationary period, the basis is Article 14 of the Civil Service Law: the employee is discharged if the department is satisfied that he or she is not fit for the post during probation. The employee may object before the Court of Employees’ Judiciary — which has taken the place of the former General Discipline Board — within thirty days of notification of the order. The detail is on the probationary period for a State employee. That discharge is not dismissal and is not removal.
Article 16(1) of the same law: the employee becomes entitled to the post’s pay, on appointment, from the date of starting work. If the employee does not start work within ten days of notification of the appointment, not counting the usual travel days, the appointment order is treated as cancelled. If a lawful excuse is put forward, the appointing authority may allow a period not exceeding thirty days from notification of the appointment for the employee to start work; when that period expires, the order is treated as cancelled. This ends the status before work has begun, and is not a penalty under the Discipline Law.
Dismissal and removal, a written resignation, and referral to retirement
Ending service by the penalties of dismissal or removal is read from Article 8 of the Law on the Discipline of State and Public Sector Employees No. 14 of 1991, and from the difference between dismissal and removal. The ending of service for any reason, or secondment or transfer, does not bar disciplinary proceedings, under Article 22 of the Discipline Law.
A written request to resign is a voluntary path submitted to the department. The effect of leaving before the request is accepted is discussed on the absence-and-resignation page. Referral to retirement — compulsory or on request — is a path under the Unified Pension Law, and is not mixed with a disciplinary ending; it is read on retirement matters.
Which of these descriptions applies is read from the written order: does it name a resignation, a deemed resignation, a discharge, a cancellation of appointment, a dismissal, a removal, or a referral to retirement? A change of name changes the legal basis, the time limit, and the body before which an objection is brought.
The office follows the description of the order from the text on which it was based.
| Description | Basis | What is checked in the file |
|---|---|---|
| Deemed resignation after a transfer | Article 37(1) | The transfer order, the date of notification, and travel time |
| Deemed resignation after leave | Article 37(2) | The date leave ended and the days allowed to return |
| Deemed resignation for absence | Article 37(3) | The length of the absence and evidence of a lawful excuse |
| Cancellation of appointment for not starting work | Article 16(1) | The date of notification of appointment and any start-work letter |
| Discharge during probation | Article 14 | The probation period and the finding of unfitness |
| Dismissal or removal | Article 8 of Law No. 14 of 1991 | The penalty order and the grievance path |
An objection to the order is brought according to its description: a discharge during probation is brought before the Court of Employees’ Judiciary within thirty days of notification, under Article 14. A disciplinary penalty follows Article 15 of the Discipline Law, then cassation before the Supreme Administrative Court. An order treating the employee as having resigned is read together with the civil-service rights that the Court of Employees’ Judiciary hears, under Article 7(9) of State Shura Council Law No. 65 of 1979 as amended. The time limits on these paths should not be mixed.
Legal basis and sources
- Civil Service Law No. 24 of 1960 as amended
- Law on the Discipline of State and Public Sector Employees No. 14 of 1991
- State Shura Council Law No. 65 of 1979 as amended by Law No. 17 of 2013
Frequently asked questions
Is ending service during probation the same as dismissal?
No. Discharge under Article 14 of the Civil Service Law is a separate description from the penalties of dismissal and removal in the Discipline Law.
How many days of absence lead to a deemed resignation?
Article 37(3): if the absence exceeds ten days and no lawful excuse is put forward. After a transfer the period is five days, not counting travel days, and after leave it is ten days, under paragraphs (1) and (2).
What if the employee does not start work after appointment?
Article 16(1) treats the appointment order as cancelled if the employee does not start work within ten days of notification, not counting the usual travel days, with a possible extension of no more than thirty days if a lawful excuse is put forward.
Related topics and articles
- 01Absence, abandonment of the post, and resignationAbsence from duty, abandonment of the post, and resignation of a State employee: how the three paths differ, and when an investigation may open.
- 02The probationary period for a State employeeProbation on first appointment under the Civil Service Law: one year, extendable by six months, discharge if the employee is not fit
- 03The difference between dismissal and removal under the State employee discipline lawWhat dismissal (fasl) and removal (azl) mean under Iraq’s discipline law, and how they differ in duration and return to public service.
- 04Conditions for appointing a State employeeConditions for a first appointment to a government post under Article 7 of the Civil Service Law: nationality, age, a medical examination, good conduct
- 05Disciplinary 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.
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.
Read →