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
Duration of suspension from duty and challenging the order
In briefIf suspension is ordered under Article 17, it may not exceed sixty days, after which the employee returns to the post unless there is an obstacle, in which case he or she is seconded. If the employee is detained by a body with authority to detain, suspension lasts for the period of detention under Article 16. Suspension is not a penalty in the Article 8 table.
The page suspension from duty: when it is decided and its effect on pay explains the grounds for the order and its effect on salary. The time ceiling, and how the order may be examined after it is issued, follow.
The wider framework is on State employee discipline in Iraq.
The sixty-day ceiling in Article 17
Article 17, First, allows the minister and the head of department to suspend an employee from duty for a period not exceeding sixty days, if it appears that remaining in the post would harm the public interest or might affect the course of the investigation into the act for which the employee was referred. The employee is returned to the same post when that period ends, unless there is an obstacle, in which case he or she is seconded to another post. The committee may recommend suspension at any stage of the investigation, under Article 17, Second.
The sixty days are a ceiling under that provision, not a deadline for ending the investigation; that is on the time limit for an administrative investigation. Extending suspension under this description beyond sixty days without another basis in the text is a point taken when the lawfulness of the order is examined. Return or secondment after the period ends does not necessarily mean the investigation is closed.
The suspended employee receives half pay during the period of suspension, under Article 18. What becomes of the withheld half after the investigation or trial ends is set out in Article 19, including that dismissal or removal extinguishes the right to the withheld pay.
Suspension for the whole period of detention
Article 16 states a different rule: if the employee is detained by a body with authority to detain, the department must suspend the employee from the post for the whole period of detention. Here the duration follows the detention, not the sixty-day ceiling in Article 17. In a criminal case, detention is decided by the Court of Investigation, or by the court hearing the case after referral, according to the stage of the file.
The two periods should not be mixed: sixty days for administrative suspension during an investigation under Article 17, and the period of detention if a criminal court has issued a detention order. The two paths may coincide if the employee is in detention and is at the same time referred to an investigative committee.
May a suspension order be challenged?
Suspension from duty is not one of the Article 8 penalties. The grievance path in Article 15 against “a decision imposing a penalty” is not therefore automatically applied to it as if the order were a dismissal or a reprimand. Suspension does, however, affect the employee’s status and pay, and it may be examined as an order affecting civil-service rights that the Court of Employees’ Judiciary hears, under Article 7(9)(a)(1) of State Shura Council Law No. 65 of 1979 as amended: claims brought by an employee in rights arising from the Civil Service Law or from the laws or regulations governing the employment relationship.
On that footing, a claim is not heard after thirty days from notification of the order if the employee is in Iraq, or sixty days if the employee is abroad, under Article 7(9)(b). 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. Whether a given order is treated as an Article 8 penalty or as a civil-service dispute is read from the description of the order and from its effect, and is left to the file, so that each order is characterised from its wording and from its effect.
The time limit for a challenge is calculated from the suspension order and the date of notification, and from any detention order, under the text that governs when time starts to run.
| Source | Period | What happens when it ends |
|---|---|---|
| Article 17, First | Not more than 60 days | Return to the same post, or secondment if there is an obstacle |
| Article 16 | The whole period of detention | Tied to the end of detention |
| A civil-service claim in the Court of Employees’ Judiciary | 30 days in Iraq, 60 days abroad | From notification of the order, under Article 7(9)(b) |
Legal basis and sources
- Law on the Discipline of State and Public Sector Employees No. 14 of 1991
- First Amendment Law No. 5 of 2008
- State Shura Council Law No. 65 of 1979 as amended by Law No. 17 of 2013
Frequently asked questions
May suspension continue for more than sixty days on the basis of Article 17 alone?
The text says: a period not exceeding sixty days. Anything beyond that under this provision is a question of lawfulness. The period of detention is governed by Article 16, and is separate.
Is suspension a penalty that is the subject of a grievance within thirty days, like a warning?
It is not a penalty in the Article 8 table. Article 15 was drawn for objections to decisions imposing those penalties. The effect of suspension on civil-service rights may be brought before the Court of Employees’ Judiciary within the period in Article 7(9)(b).
If the suspension period ends, does the investigation end?
Not necessarily. Return or secondment after the sixty days does not close the investigation unless a decision to that effect is issued.
Related topics and articles
- 01Suspension 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.
- 02Time limit for an administrative investigation of a State employeeWhether the State employee discipline law sets a deadline to complete an administrative investigation
- 03Grievance 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.
- 04Service 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.
- 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 →