Medical report and disability percentage in a terrorism injury compensation file

In the file of a person injured in a terrorist operation, the disability percentage is the figure on which most of what is due to the injured person is built. This percentage is not estimated by the injured person, the treating doctor or the sub-committee. It is set by a decision of the official medical committee, which states that the injury caused by the operation resulted in partial or total disability and fixes its extent. So in every injury file the office starts with one question: do you have a medical committee report, and what exactly does it say?

The general framework is on the Compensation for People Injured in Terrorist Operations page.

Why is the medical report the foundation of the file?

Article 2 of Law No. 20 of 2009 lists among compensable damage "total or partial disability on the basis of a report of an official medical committee", and "injuries and other conditions requiring temporary treatment", also on the medical committee's report. Physical harm therefore enters the file only through this report. Other reports, such as that of the hospital that first received the injured person, are valuable in proving the date and nature of the injury, but they do not replace the medical committee's decision on the percentage.

Instructions No. 4 of 2018 set out what this decision must say: the medical committee issues a decision for the injured citizen stating that the injury caused by war operations, military errors or terrorist operations resulted in partial or total disability, and fixing the disability percentage.

What does the office read in the report?

Before the report is submitted to the sub-committee or the ministry committee, the office checks:

• Link to the event: does the report state that the injury resulted from the covered incident, or does it describe a health condition in the abstract?
• Issuing body: was it issued by an official medical committee, not by a clinic or an individual doctor?
• Percentage and description of the disability: is an express percentage stated, and is the disability described as permanent or temporary?
• Consistency with the investigation papers: do the date and type of injury match the investigation papers?

A conflict between the medical report and the investigation papers is one of the most common causes of delay, because the committee will not build on documents that contradict each other.

How does the disability percentage affect entitlement?

The Law ties kinds of entitlement to the degree of disability, and as a general rule a higher percentage opens wider rights. Examples from the 2020 amendment:

• a person whose disability is 29% or less receives an injury bonus calculated by a formula linked to the degree of disability, paid through the National Pension Authority;
• an employee retired because of an injury with a disability rated at 75% or above receives a pension under the special rule set by the text;
• for persons who are not State employees, total or partial incapacity for work leads to an allowance proportionate to the degree of disability, under Article 12 of the Law as amended.

Turning the percentage into an amount is read from the article applicable to the injured person's status, and the calculation has changed with successive amendments to Law No. 20 of 2009.

Can the disability percentage change after the decision?

Yes, in two situations:

1. Periodic re-examination: the National Pension Authority requests that the injured person covered by the Law be re-examined by the medical committees every five years, to reassess pension entitlements in light of the disability percentage. This review is triggered by the text, and it may raise, lower or keep the percentage.
2. Worsening of the condition: if the injured person's condition gets worse as a result of the terrorist act, he or she may request reconsideration of the decision on the basis of a recent medical report, and the file is referred to the medical committees to set a new percentage. This route is explained in the article Injury worsened after the decision.

Objecting to the medical committee's decision

Many applicants ask how to "object to the medical committee's decision". A challenge to the medical report itself follows a route set by the legislation on medical committees in the Ministry of Health, such as referral to an appellate medical committee where applicable, and it is separate from the objection to the compensation decision before the Central Committee. The office keeps the two apart because confusing them wastes time: the objection to a sub-committee decision before the Central Committee must be filed within sixty days from the day after notification and rests on new documents, and a new medical report may be one of them. Time limits are gathered in Time limits in compensation files.

What the office does

The office reviews the medical report and the investigation papers together before filing, determines whether the file is complete with them or calls for a further report, follows the file before the sub-committee or the ministry committee, and studies the decision once issued to see whether the percentage it adopted matches the report. Determination of the disability percentage is a medical question for the official medical committee under the law and the instructions in force.

Legal basis and sources

1. Law No. 20 of 2009, Article 2 — Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya, issue 4140
2. Second Amendment Law No. 2 of 2020 (Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya, issue 4571)
3. Instructions No. 4 of 2018, Articles 5 and 8 (Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya, issue 4516)
4. Law No. 20 of 2009, Article 2 (Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya, issue 4140).

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.
• 02Time 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.
• 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.

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

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