Military errors and war operations: who else does the Law compensate besides victims of terrorism?

The popular name "law on compensating victims of terrorism" hides half the statute. Its official title is the Law on Compensation of Those Affected by Military Operations, Military Errors and Terrorist Operations No. 20 of 2009, and it compensates anyone harmed by any of these three causes. A person hit by a shell during military operations, or whose home was damaged by mistaken shelling, files with the same sub-committee as a bombing victim, under the same Law.

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

Three causes of harm, one Law

Article 1 of the Law, in its amended form, sets its purpose as compensating every Iraqi, natural or legal person, harmed as a result of:

• terrorist operations: bombings and armed attacks targeting civilians or facilities;
• military (war) operations: harm arising from fighting and military operations, as in the periods when cities were liberated;
• military errors: harm caused by a mistaken act in military activity, such as civilians or their property being hit unintentionally.

Article 1 in its amended form also refers to wounded members of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (al-Hashd al-Sha'bi) and the Peshmerga.

The compensable heads of damage are the same for all three causes: martyrdom, missing status, kidnapping and injury; total or partial disability; injuries requiring temporary treatment; damage to property; and damage related to employment and study.

Where does a military error file differ?

The body is the same and the decision comes from the same committee, but proof of the cause differs:

• for a terrorist operation, proof is usually the investigation papers prepared by the police station about the incident;
• for a military operation or a military error, the event may involve a military or security body, and may have occurred in an area of operations where no ordinary investigation took place at the time. Here the office looks for the documents available that prove the event, its date, its place and its link to the operations.

Under the Law as amended, the ministry committee conducts an administrative inquiry to verify that the harm resulted from a terrorist act, a military error or a military operation, which confirms that the three causes are handled on a single track, with differences only in how the cause is verified.

The legislature recognised the difficulty of obtaining papers in some events: the 2020 amendment provides that the relevant authorities must facilitate the issue of investigation papers for deaths that the family could not complete for reasons beyond their control.

Members of the armed forces and security agencies

The 2020 amendment rewrote Article 20. The families of martyrs and the injured among members of the internal security forces, the armed forces and the security agencies now receive the rights and privileges in this Law together with those in the laws in force that apply to them. It also provides a service bonus for a martyr, or an injured person retired because of the injury, among employees and personnel of the armed and security forces in the Ministries of Defence and Interior and the Popular Mobilisation Commission, who did not receive any end-of-service gratuity under the Unified Retirement Law.

That does not mean every member is treated the same way; each category has its own law, and the office reads the file in light of the injured person's employment status.

Who is excluded?

Article 17, in its 2020 wording, excludes from the Law persons against whom judicial decisions were issued for terrorism crimes under Anti-Terrorism Law No. 13 of 2005, until their innocence is established, and persons to whom items First and Second of Article 5 of the Martyrs Foundation Law No. 2 of 2016 apply.

No double compensation

If the harm has already been compensated under another law, Article 8 prohibits combining both compensations for the same harm, while paying the difference if what was received is less than the entitlement under this Law. This matters especially for military errors, because some bodies may have paid amounts or grants to those affected at the time.

How the office handles these files

• identifies the legal cause of the harm: terrorism, a military operation or a military error, because that determines the kind of proof required;
• gathers what proves the event, its place and its date, and follows the issue of investigation papers where they are hard to obtain;
• files the claim with the sub-committee or the ministry committee depending on the status of the person affected;
• studies the decision after notification and assesses whether an objection before the Central Committee is worthwhile.

Damage to homes and property in these events is covered in Compensation for property damage, and the rights of the families of those who died in Compensation for the families of martyrs and missing persons.

Legal basis and sources

1. Law No. 20 of 2009, Articles 1, 2 and 8 — Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya, issue 4140
2. First Amendment Law No. 57 of 2015 — Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya, issue 4395
3. Second Amendment Law No. 2 of 2020, amended Articles 17 and 20
4. Law No. 20 of 2009 on Compensation of Those Affected by Military Operations, Military Errors and Terrorist Operations, Articles 1, 2 and 8 (Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya, issue 4140).
5. Second Amendment Law No. 2 of 2020, including amended Articles 17 and 20 (Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya, issue 4571)

Frequently asked questions

Related topics and articles

• 01Compensation 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.
• 02Compensation 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.
• 03The 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.
• 04Medical 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.
• 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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