The first and second central committees for compensation

Administrative practice often refers to “the first central committee” and “the second central committee”. Law No. 2 of 2020 does not give the committees those two numbers in Article 3, but it does provide expressly for “three central committees (one of them for the Kurdistan Region)”, based in Baghdad. In daily work the committees may be distinguished by numbers or by how files are allocated; the statutory point is that there are three, one of them deals with files of the Kurdistan Region, and they are attached to the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers.

The first application remains with the subcommittee.

Attachment, coordination and membership

The three central committees are attached to the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, and work in coordination with the Directorate of Martyrs of Victims of War Operations, Military Errors and Terrorist Operations in the Martyrs Foundation “only in respect of files of martyrs, kidnap victims, missing persons and the injured”. The Secretariat may issue the instructions needed for these committees’ work. Note: Instructions No. 6 of 2022 on the work of the central committees were issued (Iraqi Official Gazette issue 4665 of 24 January 2022); Article 1 forms three central committees based in Baghdad and attached to the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers: the first, the second, and the third for the Kurdistan Region.

Membership of a central committee was amended in Article 4 by Law No. 2 of 2020: the chair is a judge of the first or second class nominated by the President of the Supreme Judicial Council, and the members include a representative of the Ministry of Housing and Construction (the name used in the amending text), with the title of engineer, and a representative of the Martyrs Foundation. A meeting — under Article 5 after the same amendment — is held with the chair, or a person deputising for the chair, and two-thirds of the members present, and there are to be no fewer than three meetings a week. Decisions are issued by a simple majority of those present, and if the votes are equal the side for which the chair voted prevails.

Among the central committee’s functions — as they remain in the path of the law after the First Amendment — are ratifying property-compensation recommendations, or amending or cancelling them, after the challenge period in Article 7 has passed, and hearing objections to subcommittee and ministry-committee decisions. Some property-compensation decisions below the ceiling in Article 13 of Law No. 2 of 2020 are raised to the presidency of the governorate Court of Appeal for ratification, with a copy sent to the central committee for electronic archiving. The ceiling is that set by Article 13 of Law No. 2 of 2020.

Objecting to a central-committee decision and challenging it

An objection to subcommittee decisions reaches the central committee within sixty days from the day after the date of notification, under Article 7(1) after the 2020 amendment, and may rest on new documents. Those who may object include the injured person, their family, the Ministry of Finance, the Martyrs Foundation, the National Pension Authority (Hay’at al-Taqa‘ud al-Wataniyya) or any person with an interest.

A challenge to the central committee’s own decision is brought before the Administrative Judiciary Court. The period is thirty days from notification of the result of the decision, under Article 7(2) after Law No. 57 of 2015. The court’s decision may be challenged before the Supreme Administrative Court within thirty days from notification of the judgment or from its being deemed notified. The official wording “after (30) thirty days” calls for care in counting the first day, and for filing early. The route is set out in time limits and objection before the Administrative Judiciary Court. An administrative claim is not brought in place of an objection to the central committee while that objection is still open and is required before the court.

Legal basis and sources

1. Law No. 2 of 2020 — Articles 1, 3 and 5
2. Article 7(2) after Law 57 of 2015
3. Instructions No. 6 of 2022 on the work of the central committees (Iraqi Official Gazette issue 4665 of 24 January 2022) — Article 1
4. Law No. 2 of 2020 — amendment of Articles 3, 4, 5 and 7(1)
5. Law No. 57 of 2015 — Article 7(2)

Frequently asked questions

Related topics and articles

• 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.
• 02Where 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.
• 03Amendments 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.
• 04Objecting 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.
• 05Medical 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.

Always check the text in force and its amendments in the official source.

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