Compensation for those injured in terrorist operations: who hears the claim, and what is examined?
Injury compensation under Law No. 20 of 2009: claims usually go to the sub-committee, which examines the incident link and the medical report.
Read →A claim for compensation after an injury in a terrorist operation
Transferring a compensation file from one governorate to another
In briefArticle 6 of the Instructions empowers the subcommittees in the governorate where the covered citizen lives to transfer the file, when necessary, to the governorate where the family of the martyr, missing person or kidnap victim lives, after obtaining the consent of the Directorate of Martyrs of Victims of War Operations, Military Errors and Terrorist Operations. Transfer is not an unrestricted right, and does not stop objection periods.
A file may be opened in the governorate of the incident, after which the family of the martyr, missing person or kidnap victim moves to live in another governorate. Article 6 of Instructions No. 4 of 2018 addresses that move: “the subcommittees in the governorate in which the citizen covered by the law lives are authorised to transfer the compensation file, when necessary, to the governorate in which the family of the martyr, missing person or kidnap victim lives, after obtaining the consent of the Directorate of Martyrs of Victims of War Operations, Military Errors and Terrorist Operations.”
When is a transfer allowed, and on what conditions?
The text sets clear limits. First: the body that decides the transfer is the subcommittee in the governorate where the covered citizen lives — not the applicant alone, by a letter to the new governorate. Second: the transfer is “when necessary”, not merely from a wish to change counters. Third: the destination is the governorate where the family of the martyr, missing person or kidnap victim lives; the wording does not automatically extend the transfer to every type of harm, including property or an injury whose family does not fall within this case, unless another basis exists. Fourth: the consent of the Directorate of Martyrs of Victims in the Martyrs Foundation is a condition. Without it the file remains where it is.
Consent is sought through the subcommittee or by an official approach to the Directorate of which a copy is kept, and the current office address is confirmed through the official site or the governorate diwan. After the transfer, the subcommittee in the new governorate continues the audit, serves the decision or processes the pension file, according to the stage the file had reached at the time of transfer. A decision already issued is not reopened merely because of the transfer, unless the stage still calls for completion or for an objection that remains in time.
What does a transfer not change?
Objection and challenge periods are counted from notification, not from the date the file arrives in the new governorate. Sixty days before the central committee from the day after notification, then thirty days before the Administrative Judiciary Court, then thirty days before the Supreme Administrative Court. Anyone who waits for the transfer to be completed until the last day of the period puts the right at risk of lapsing. If payment is made through the governorate under Article 16 of Law No. 2 of 2020, the financial follow-up path may change with a change of the governorate concerned once the decision is ready for payment; that is clarified with the Ministry of Finance and the governorate, and is not assumed automatically.
A transfer is not a substitute for knowing where to file in the first place, nor for the steps in the file. It is an administrative measure within the subcommittee path, not a challenge to a decision on the merits.
Legal basis and sources
- Instructions No. 4 of 2018 — Article 6 (Al-Waqa’i No. 4516 of 5/11/2018)
- Law No. 2 of 2020 — Article 16 on payment through the governorate
Frequently asked questions
May I take my file myself to the new governorate’s committee?
The Instructions empower the subcommittee to transfer the file after the Directorate of Martyrs of Victims consents. It is not enough to carry a bundle of documents without that path.
May an injury or property file be transferred under the same wording?
The text speaks of transferring the file to the governorate where the family of the martyr, missing person or kidnap victim lives. Anything outside that case needs another basis; the text is not widened without justification.
Does the objection period stop during the transfer?
The text does not provide for the period to be stayed. It is counted from notification, and care is taken to file the objection in time even if the file is in transit between two governorates.
Related topics and articles
- 01Where 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.
- 02Steps 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.
- 03Time 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.
- 04Priority 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.
- 05The 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.
Injury worsened after the decision: what are the options?
Injured in a terrorist operation and the injury worsened after the compensation decision? When to request reconsideration and what papers it takes.
Read →Practical scenarios in compensation files
General practical scenarios under Law 20 of 2009, as amended: missing documents, a deed of death, a timely objection, a transfer, and payment priority.
Read →