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
Compensation for a service member’s disability rating
In briefArticle 20 after Law No. 2 of 2020 grants the families of martyrs and the injured among internal-security, armed-forces and security-agency personnel the rights in this law and in the laws special to them. On referral to retirement for an injury with a disability rating of 75% or more, a salary is set by comparison with peers or at three times the minimum pension under the pension law in force.
A member of the armed forces, the internal security forces, the security agencies or the Popular Mobilization Forces (Hay’at al-Hashd al-Sha‘bi) who is injured as a result of operations covered by Law No. 20 of 2009, as amended, is not taken outside this law merely because of their service status. At the same time they — and their family in a case of martyrdom — have rights under the laws special to the service, which are read together with this law, not as a replacement for it without a text.
The disability rating, then the entitlement
The medical basis is the same: a report of the competent medical committee finds that the injury resulted from war operations, military errors or terrorist operations, and assesses the disability rating. The report is explained in The medical report and the disability rating, and the assessment schedule in The schedule for determining the disability rating. The rating is taken from the medical committee’s decision alone, not from a personal estimate or a report issued by anyone else.
Article 11 of the law — after paragraph (b) of clause Second was amended by Law No. 2 of 2020 — deals with referring a covered person to retirement because of an injury with a disability rating of 75% or more: they are granted a pension salary equal to the salary and allowances their peers were receiving, or a pension salary equal to three times the minimum pension salary provided for in Unified Pension Law No. 9 of 2014, as amended, or any law that replaces it. The comparison between the two paths is read from the text in force at the time of referral. An injury reward at lower disability ratings is calculated under a formula in the law as an amount for each degree of disability, and is handled by the National Pension Authority (Hay’at al-Taqa‘ud al-Wataniyya) when due.
What did the Second Amendment add for service and security personnel?
Article 20 as replaced in 2020: the families of martyrs and the injured among personnel of the internal security forces, the armed forces and the security agencies are granted the rights and privileges provided for in this law and in the laws in force that are special to them. A martyr, or an injured person referred to retirement because of the injury — among employees and personnel of the armed forces and the security forces in the Ministries of Defence and Interior and the Popular Mobilization Forces — is granted a service reward equal to the pension salary multiplied by twelve, if they have not received the end-of-service reward provided for in Unified Pension Law No. 9 of 2014, as amended. That service reward under Article 20 stands beside the pension salary calculated under Article 11 where the disability rating is 75 per cent or more.
The injury may have occurred in war operations or a military error, not in a terrorist operation in the narrow sense; coverage is the same if the incident falls within Article 1. The ministry committee in Defence or Interior may run alongside the subcommittee in some employment paths, but the rating remains a medical decision, and the compensation decision remains that of the subcommittee, or the committee of the ministry or body not attached to a ministry, under Article 3 of the Law. Objection and challenge follow the same periods: sixty days before the central committee, then thirty days before the Administrative Judiciary Court, then thirty days before the Supreme Administrative Court.
Legal basis and sources
Frequently asked questions
Is a service member’s disability rating assessed only in their unit?
The medical assessment is that of the competent medical committee. The unit or the ministry prepares the file; it does not replace the report.
What does a rating of 75% or more mean?
On referral to retirement at that rating, the salary rule in Article 11 after the 2020 amendment applies, by comparison with peers or at three times the minimum under the pension law in force.
Does the service reward replace compensation?
Article 20 adds a service reward, on its conditions, for a person who has not received the end-of-service reward. It is not combined with another compensation for the same harm contrary to Article 8, as explained on the page on combining compensation.
Related topics and articles
- 01Medical 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.
- 02Military 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.
- 03Rights 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.
- 04The 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.
- 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 →