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
Investigative papers in deaths covered by the compensation law
In briefParagraph Ninth was added to Article 6 by Law No. 2 of 2020: the bodies concerned are to facilitate the issue of investigative papers in cases of death that the family could not complete for reasons beyond their control. The Instructions make a copy of the police investigation a basic document in disappearance and martyrdom files. Facilitation is a duty of those bodies, not an exemption from producing what can be produced.
Many martyrdom or disappearance files stall at the “investigative papers”: the police-station record, and the investigation into the death or the disappearance. Law No. 2 of 2020 did not leave the family alone if they could not complete those papers for reasons beyond their control. Paragraph Ninth was added to Article 6: “the bodies concerned shall facilitate the issue of investigative papers in cases of death which their families were unable to complete for reasons beyond their control.”
What does an investigative paper mean in the file?
Instructions No. 4 of 2018 require a certified copy of the investigative papers drawn up by the police station in a missing or kidnapped person’s file, and require the investigation papers drawn up by the police station to be mentioned among what is sent to the National Pension Authority (Hay’at al-Taqa‘ud al-Wataniyya) after the decision, with the date and place of martyrdom, injury, disappearance or kidnapping. The record is not a secondary paper to be left to the last day; it is evidence linking the incident to the covered operations, alongside the medical report in an injury and title documents in a property file.
The “bodies concerned” in paragraph Ninth include — depending on the file — the police station, the investigating court and the bodies that hold the completion or certification of the record. The text does not name a single body exclusively, and does not set up an office that replaces the police station. The subcommittee receives the certified copy and, where required, requests confirmation of due issue; it is not the body that draws up the record in the first place.
Facilitation is conditional on the family’s being unable to complete the papers “for reasons beyond their control”. It is not read as dropping the record for a person who can still pursue it, and not as giving the family a right to ignore a request from the committee. If there is a security or administrative obstacle, or the file has been lost at the station, the obstacle is documented and the body concerned is asked to apply paragraph Ninth, and a copy of the approach letter is kept. Delay in the record does not stop the committee’s decision period from running except so far as the application remains incomplete; the file should therefore be completed, or the reason for the gap recorded, early.
How is the record tied to the other documents?
In a disappearance, the record is attached with the judicial announcement, the deed of absence and the file at the Department for the Care of Minors. In a proven death, it is attached with the death certificate and the legal inheritance deed. If the path is that of an employee in a ministry, the ministry committee may help prepare the file, without replacing a criminal or administrative investigation according to the incident. The list of documents is in Documents required.
If a decision of refusal is issued for insufficiency of the investigation, an objection runs for sixty days from the day after notification before the central committee, with the possibility of filing new documents, then a challenge for thirty days before the Administrative Judiciary Court, then thirty days before the Supreme Administrative Court.
Legal basis and sources
- Law No. 2 of 2020 — Article 4(2) (paragraph Ninth of Article 6)
- Instructions No. 4 of 2018 — Articles 2 and 4
- Law No. 2 of 2020 — addition of paragraph Ninth to Article 6
Frequently asked questions
Does the subcommittee issue the investigative papers?
No. The body concerned with the investigation facilitates their issue under paragraph Ninth, and the committee receives the certified copy.
What if the record has been lost at the station?
The loss is documented and a fresh record or an extract is requested under the facilitation the law requires, and the approaches are kept.
Are witness statements enough instead of the record?
Statements may support the file. The Instructions expressly require a copy of the police-station investigation; it is not replaced without a basis.
Related topics and articles
- 01Documents 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.
- 02The 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.
- 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.
- 04Steps 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.
- 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 →