A claim for compensation after an injury in a terrorist operation

Compensation for people injured in terrorist operations in Iraq has its own statute: the Law on Compensation of Those Affected by Military Operations, Military Errors and Terrorist Operations No. 20 of 2009, as amended. The injured person files the claim with the sub-committee in the governorate or, if he or she is an employee of a State department, with the committee formed in that ministry or entity. The decision rests on the investigation papers and the report of the medical committee that sets the disability percentage. It may be objected to before the Central Committee, and the Central Committee's decision is then open to challenge before the Administrative Judiciary Court.

The Law Office of Ali Barakat in Baghdad handles these files for people injured in terrorist operations, for the families of martyrs, missing and kidnapped persons, and for owners of damaged property. The office reads each file against the current statutory text, not against what is passed around in the queues. This page is a general map of the route, and below it are detailed pages for each stage.

Who does Law No. 20 of 2009 cover?

The Law was issued in 2009 and published in Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya (the Official Gazette), issue 4140. It has been amended twice: by First Amendment Law No. 57 of 2015, and by Second Amendment Law No. 2 of 2020, published in issue 4571 on 13/1/2020. Instructions No. 4 of 2018, published in issue 4516, were issued to facilitate its implementation. Any amendment proposed in the Council of Representatives has no effect until it is passed and appears in the Official Gazette, which is why the office always asks about the published text, not the news.

As amended, the Law addresses every Iraqi, natural person or legal person such as a company, harmed by one of three kinds of event: terrorist operations, military (war) operations, and military errors. A person injured in a terrorist bombing, a person hit by shelling during military operations, and a person harmed by a military error all fall under the same Law, even though the papers proving each event differ.

The heads of compensable damage are listed in Article 2, chiefly:

• martyrdom, missing status, kidnapping and injury resulting from covered operations;
• total or partial disability established by the report of an official medical committee;
• injuries and conditions requiring temporary treatment, on the medical committee's report;
• damage to property;
• damage relating to employment and study.

Since the 2020 amendment, the Law excludes persons against whom judicial decisions were issued for terrorism crimes under Anti-Terrorism Law No. 13 of 2005 until their innocence is established, as well as other categories referred to in the Martyrs Foundation Law No. 2 of 2016. For members of the armed forces, the internal security forces and the security agencies, the families of martyrs and the injured receive the rights in this Law together with those in their own laws.

Where is an injury compensation claim filed?

The main body is the Sub-Committee for Compensation of Those Affected in the governorate. Since the 2020 amendment there is at least one sub-committee in Baghdad, in the Kurdistan Region and in each governorate not organised in a region, and three sub-committees in the governorates that witnessed or are witnessing operations. These committees are attached to the Department of Martyrs of Those Harmed by War Operations, Military Errors and Terrorist Operations in the Martyrs Foundation, work in coordination with the governorate, and may open offices in districts (aqdiya) and sub-districts (nawahi).

A sub-committee is chaired by a judge nominated by the president of the appellate region. If the injured person is an employee of a ministry or of an entity not attached to a ministry, the claim goes to a committee formed inside that ministry or entity, which verifies administratively that the damage resulted from a covered operation.

Above the sub-committees sit three Central Committees, one of them for the Kurdistan Region, based in Baghdad and attached to the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers. The Central Committee is not where the injured person first registers; it hears objections and approves certain recommendations. Details are on the page Sub-committee and Central Committee.

What is examined in an injured person's file?

An injured person's file rests on three pillars the office asks about before any step:

1. Proof of the event: that the injury resulted from a terrorist operation, a military operation or a military error. The main evidence is usually the investigation papers prepared by the police station or the investigation court.
2. Proof of the injury and its severity: the medical committee's report stating that the injury caused partial or total disability and setting the disability percentage. This percentage affects the kind of entitlement decided later.
3. The applicant's standing: the identity of the injured person, or the standing of a family member or an attorney acting under an official wakala (wakala).

Under the 2020 amendment, the sub-committees must put their recommendations and decisions before the public prosecutor for an opinion on their legality. The presence of the Public Prosecution (al-Idda'a al-'Amm) protects public funds, but it is also a reason an incomplete file comes back or is delayed. The disability percentage and the medical committee's role are explained on the page Medical report and disability percentage.

What follows from the decision?

The Law is not limited to a one-off payment. Depending on the case, the disability percentage and the status of the injured person, the decision may lead to different kinds of rights: a grant or financial compensation; a pension processed through the National Pension Authority; an injury bonus for those with a low disability percentage, under a formula introduced by the 2020 amendment; and other rights the Law provides, such as a residential plot of land subject to its conditions.

The Law prohibits combining its compensation with compensation for the same damage under another law; if the person affected received less elsewhere, the difference is paid. Compensation is paid by the Ministry of Finance through the governorate concerned, with priority according to the order of decision dates and priority for martyrdom cases.

The entitlement rests on the applicable article and on the disability percentage established in the official medical committee's report and in the file.

Families of martyrs, missing and kidnapped persons

If a terrorist operation ends with the injured person dying, the file passes to the family. The Law defines the martyr's family and distributes grants among them according to Sharia inheritance shares, and a minor's share is paid to the guardian or curator. Missing and kidnapped persons have their own route of proof, which passes through a deed of missing status and then a death declaration before the Personal Status Court, or the Court of Personal Matters for non-Muslims. Details are on the page Compensation for the families of martyrs and missing persons.

Damage to homes and property

The Law also compensates damage to property, such as a house, shop or vehicle, if the damage resulted from a covered operation. The sub-committee records the damage and assesses its severity; some decisions are approved by the presidency of the governorate's Court of Appeal and others by the Central Committee, as the 2020 amendment provides. Details are on the page Compensation for property damage.

Objection and challenge: if you disagree with the decision

A decision is not final as soon as it is issued. The person affected or the family, the Ministry of Finance, the Martyrs Foundation, the National Pension Authority and any party with an interest has the right to object to decisions of the sub-committees and ministry committees before the Central Committee within sixty days from the day after notification, on the basis of new documents or papers. The Central Committee's decision is open to challenge before the Administrative Judiciary Court, and that court's judgment before the Supreme Administrative Court, within thirty days of notification (Article 7(2) as replaced by Law No. 57 of 2015). Details are on the pages Objection and challenge before the Administrative Judiciary Court and Time limits in compensation files.

If the injury worsens after the decision

An injury may get worse years later. The Law requires the committees to reconsider their decision at the request of an injured person whose condition has worsened as a result of the terrorist act, provided the injury is established by the first medical report and supported by a recent medical committee report. The 2018 Instructions set the route: the request goes to the ministry committee if the injured person is an employee, or to the sub-committee if not, and then to the medical committees to set the new disability percentage. The article Injury worsened after the decision: what are the options? explains this route.

Military errors and war operations

Many people do not know that the Law that compensates people injured by terrorism also compensates people harmed by military operations and military errors. The difference lies in proving the event, not in the body that decides. The page Military errors and war operations explains this.

The injured person's file at a glance

The papers vary with the event and the status of the injured person, but an injury file usually revolves around the following documents:

Consistency between these papers matters more than their number: the date of injury in the hospital report should match the date of the event in the investigation papers, and the type of injury in the medical committee's decision should match the first description.

Updating data after the decision

A decision does not close the file. An injured person receiving a pension or bonus goes through periodic re-examination requested by the National Pension Authority, and may be asked to update data or documents with the body paying the entitlement. The office advises the injured person to keep certified copies of all decisions and reports, because losing an old paper can delay any later review.

How the office follows a compensation file

The office's work in these files is a lawyer's work, not an errand-runner's:

• reading the papers before filing: is the event covered, do investigation papers exist, was the medical report issued by the medical committee?
• identifying the right body: the sub-committee in the governorate or the ministry committee, and transferring the file to the governorate where the martyr's family lives where necessary, with the approval of the Department of Martyrs of Those Harmed by War Operations, Military Errors and Terrorist Operations;
• following the file before the committee under an official wakala, and following the medical report's route;
• studying the decision after notification, assessing whether an objection before the Central Committee is worthwhile within its period, and filing a case before the Administrative Judiciary Court where called for.

The office is in Baghdad, Al-Yarmouk, and follows files before the committees of the governorates according to the competent body in each file, under Law No. 20 of 2009, as amended.

Legal basis and sources

1. Law No. 20 of 2009 on Compensation of Those Affected by Military Operations, Military Errors and Terrorist Operations — Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya, issue 4140, 28/12/2009.
2. First Amendment Law No. 57 of 2015 — Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya, issue 4395, 25/1/2016
3. Second Amendment Law No. 2 of 2020 (Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya, issue 4571, 13/1/2020)
4. Instructions No. 4 of 2018 to facilitate implementation of the Law (Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya, issue 4516, 5/11/2018)
5. Instructions No. 6 of 2022 (work of the central committees), Iraqi Official Gazette, issue 4665, 24/1/2022

Frequently asked questions

Topics in this area

• 01The compensation sub-committee and the Central Committee: who decides what?The governorate compensation sub-committee, the Central Committee in Baghdad and ministry committees under Iraq's Law No. 20 of 2009.
• 02Medical report and disability percentage in a terrorism injury compensation fileHow the medical committee sets the disability percentage for terrorism injuries in Iraq, how it shapes entitlement, and the five-yearly re-examination.
• 03Compensation for the families of martyrs, missing and kidnapped persons under Law No. 20 of 2009Who counts as a martyr's family under Iraq's Law No. 20 of 2009, how grants are shared, and how a missing or kidnapped person's file proceeds.
• 04Compensation for property damaged by terrorist and military operationsCompensation for homes, shops and vehicles damaged by terrorism, war operations or military errors under Iraq's Law No. 20 of 2009.
• 05Objecting to a compensation committee decision and challenging it before the Administrative Judiciary CourtObjecting to an Iraqi compensation sub-committee decision before the Central Committee within sixty days, then challenging it in court.
• 06Time limits in compensation files for victims of terrorist operationsTime limits under Iraq's Law No. 20 of 2009: sub-committee decision, sixty-day objection period, and five-yearly disability re-examination.
• 07Military errors and war operations: who else does the Law compensate besides victims of terrorism?Iraq's Law No. 20 of 2009 also compensates people harmed by war operations and military errors, not only terrorism victims. How proof differs.
• 08Amendments to Compensation Law No. 20 of 2009Law 20 of 2009 on compensation was amended twice: Law 57 of 2015 and Law 2 of 2020 changed the committees, objection periods and court review.
• 09Where to file a compensation application: the subcommittee in the governorateFile a compensation application with the subcommittee in the governorate, Baghdad or the Kurdistan Region, not first with the central committees.
• 10The first and second central committees for compensationAfter Law 2 of 2020 there are three central compensation committees in Baghdad, one of them for the Kurdistan Region.
• 11Steps in a file for compensation of those harmed by terrorist and war operationsA compensation file starts with a complete application to the subcommittee, then a decision or recommendation, objection or ratification, and payment.
• 12The deed of absence of a missing or kidnapped person in a compensation fileA deed of absence and appointment of a guardian is a document in a missing or kidnapped person’s file, issued by the Personal Status Court.
• 13A declaration of death of a missing person, and the deed of death, in the compensation lawAfter death is established in fact or by judgment, a deed of death is issued, then the subcommittee decides on martyr status.
• 14Compensation for a service member’s disability ratingA service member covered by Law 20 of 2009, as amended, is compensated according to the medical committee’s disability rating.
• 15Rights of those wounded as victims of terrorism and war operationsA person wounded in a terrorist or war operation, or by a military error, and covered by Law 20 of 2009, has compensation based on the disability rating.
• 16The medical committee and the schedule for determining the disability ratingThe disability rating under the compensation law is set in the medical committee’s report, applying the rules in force.
• 17Documents required in a compensation fileDocuments in a compensation file differ for injury, martyrdom, disappearance and property, under Law 20 of 2009 as amended and Instructions 4 of 2018.
• 18Priority of payment of compensation under Article 16 of Law No. 2 of 2020The Ministry of Finance pays compensation through the governorate by decision date, with priority for martyrdom, under Article 16 of Law 2 of 2020.
• 19Investigative papers in deaths covered by the compensation lawLaw 2 of 2020 requires the bodies concerned to facilitate investigative papers in deaths the family could not complete for reasons beyond their control.
• 20Transferring a compensation file from one governorate to anotherInstructions 4 of 2018 allow a subcommittee to transfer a compensation file, when necessary, to the governorate where the family lives.
• 21Medical re-examination of an injured person every five yearsThe National Pension Authority requests a re-examination of a covered injured person every five years to reassess the pension, distinct from worsening.
• 22May compensation under Law 20 of 2009 be combined with another compensation for the same harm?Article 8 of Law 20 of 2009 bars combining this law’s compensation with compensation for the same harm under another law, and grants any shortfall.

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