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
Grievance against a disciplinary penalty and appeal to the Court of Employees’ Judiciary
In briefAn appeal against a disciplinary penalty is not filed in court on the same day. The law requires a grievance to the issuing authority, then an appeal to the Court of Employees’ Judiciary (Mahkamat Qada’ al-Muwazzafin) within a written time limit.
If a disciplinary penalty is imposed on a State employee, an appeal is not filed with the court on the same day. The Law on the Discipline of State and Public Sector Employees No. 14 of 1991, after the 2008 amendment, requires a grievance to the authority that issued the decision, then an appeal to the Court of Employees’ Judiciary within a written time limit. Missing either limit makes the decision final, within the terms of the text.
Read this with State employee discipline in Iraq and Disciplinary penalties.
The grievance: thirty days to the issuing authority
Article 15, as amended by Law No. 5 of 2008, requires the employee to file a grievance against the penalty decision with the authority that issued it, within thirty days running from the date the decision is served on the employee. That authority must decide the grievance within thirty days of filing. If the period ends with no decision, the silence is treated as a refusal by operation of the law.
Service of the decision is the key to the time limit. A decision that has not been served does not start the period correctly, and service whose date cannot be proved turns the file into a formal dispute before the merits are reached. The notice of service, or whatever stands in its place, should be kept.
In practice the grievance identifies the decision, the date of service, and the grounds of objection, and it is filed with the same authority that imposed the penalty, not with another body by mistake.
The appeal to the Court of Employees’ Judiciary
After an express refusal, or a refusal that the law implies from silence, the appeal is filed within thirty days of the employee being served with that refusal. The thirty-day (inside Iraq) and sixty-day (outside Iraq) limit in Article 7(9)(b) of the State Shura Council Law, as amended, applies to claims for rights arising under the Civil Service Law, not to claims against disciplinary penalties. The body named “the General Discipline Council” in the 2008 text was replaced by the Court of Employees’ Judiciary under the Fifth Amendment to the State Shura Council Law, Law No. 17 of 2013. The State Council Law No. 71 of 2017 then transferred those courts to the State Council after the change of name.
The court hears objections to Article 8 penalties after the grievance has been completed. It may uphold the decision, reduce the penalty, or set it aside. In this path the court has regard to the Code of Criminal Procedure insofar as it is compatible with the discipline law, and the sittings are in private, as the text provides.
A decision that is not the subject of a grievance, or is not appealed within the time limits, is final. A 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 is final and binding (Article 7(9) 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).
What the court usually examines
The court generally begins with form: the time limit, the appellant’s standing, whether the grievance was completed, whether the official who imposed the penalty had power to do so, and whether the investigative committee was properly formed if the decision rests on it. It then turns to the alleged breach and whether the penalty is proportionate to what was proved.
This path is not a criminal case before an investigating judge, a misdemeanour court or a felony court. It is also not a general action to annul an administrative decision before the Administrative Judiciary Court (Mahkamat al-Qada’ al-Idari), unless the decision falls outside a disciplinary penalty. The distinction is on The Court of Employees’ Judiciary and the Administrative Judiciary Court. Defence rights before the decision is issued are on The investigative committee.
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
- State Shura Council Law No. 65 of 1979, as amended
Frequently asked questions
Do public holidays count in the thirty days?
How time is counted is a matter of applying the text and the practice that has settled before the Court of Employees’ Judiciary. The date is counted from the notice of service and is shown to a lawyer together with the calendar.
If the grievance is refused after the thirtieth day, is the appeal lost?
The text treats silence during the thirty days as a deemed refusal and opens the appeal period from that date. A later express refusal may overlap with that deemed refusal; the dates of filing and of service of the later refusal are what settle the point.
Does every penalty admit of an appeal?
Article 15 speaks of an objection to decisions imposing the penalties set out in Article 8, after the grievance. What falls within the court’s jurisdiction is read from the text in force and from the approach of the Court of Employees’ Judiciary, not from an unofficial list.
The office follows the calculation of time and the proper forum from the papers of service and grievance under Article 15 of Law No. 14 of 1991: a grievance before the issuing authority, then an appeal to the Court of Employees’ Judiciary within its time limit.
Related topics and articles
- 01Disciplinary 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.
- 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.
- 03The 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.
- 04Suspension 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.
- 05Service 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.
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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