Objecting to a compensation committee decision and challenging it before the Administrative Judiciary Court

If a compensation decision is issued and you consider it unfair, the route has two stages: an objection before the Central Committee against the decision of the sub-committee or ministry committee, within sixty days from the day after notification; then a challenge against the Central Committee's decision before the Administrative Judiciary Court. Skipping the first stage, or missing its deadline, is what most often costs people their chance.

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

Stage one: objection before the Central Committee

The Second Amendment Law No. 2 of 2020 rewrote Article 7, First, so that the objection now works as follows:

• Who may object? The person affected, the family, the Ministry of Finance, the Martyrs Foundation, the National Pension Authority, or any interested party.
• Against what? Decisions and recommendations of the sub-committees, and decisions of the committees formed in ministries and entities not attached to a ministry.
• Before whom? The Central Committee.
• Within what period? Sixty days from the day after the date of notification.
• On what basis? On the basis of new documents or papers that have come to light.

Two practical points the office stresses:

1. The right to object is not limited to the person affected. The Ministry of Finance, the Martyrs Foundation and the National Pension Authority may object too. A decision in your favour may therefore be objected to by a government body, so it should not be treated as final before the period has passed.
2. A new document is the backbone of an objection. The text ties the objection to new documents or papers. An objection that repeats what is already in the file is weaker than one that brings a more recent medical report or an investigation paper that was not attached before.

The amendment added another rule: the committee formed under Article 9, First, of the Martyrs Foundation Law No. 2 of 2016 audits the files of persons covered by Law No. 20 of 2009 using its own mechanism. A file may therefore face a later audit from that body as well.

The Central Committee decides objections within a period set by the Law from their registration in its records. That is why the office follows the registration date, not only the filing date.

Stage two: challenge before the Administrative Judiciary Court

The Central Committee's decision is an administrative decision that is open to challenge before the Administrative Judiciary Court, one of the courts of the State Council (Majlis al-Dawla). That court's judgment is in turn open to challenge before the Supreme Administrative Court, within thirty days of notification for each challenge (Article 7(2) as replaced by Law No. 57 of 2015). The office counts each period from the day the decision or judgment is notified and checks it against the current statutory text before filing, because a case filed out of time is dismissed on form without examination of its merits.

What is argued before the court differs from what is argued before the committee:

• Before the Central Committee, the file is examined again on the papers and supporting documents, and the assessment may be amended.
• Before the Administrative Judiciary Court, the question is the legality of the Central Committee's decision: was it issued by the Central Committee within its jurisdiction, did it breach an express provision of the Law or its Instructions, did it ignore a document that was actually submitted, were its reasons adequate?

This route should not be confused with challenges in State employee disciplinary cases before the Court of Employees’ Judiciary; each goes to a different court. The difference is explained on the page Court of Employees’ Judiciary or Administrative Judiciary Court.

An objection to the medical report is not an objection to the decision

If your disagreement is about the disability percentage, the issue is medical at root. A request to review the medical report itself follows its own route before the medical committees, separate from the objection to the compensation decision. But a new medical report, if issued, may be one of the new papers on which an objection before the Central Committee is based within its period. If the injury worsens after the decision, the route is different and is explained in the article Injury worsened after the decision.

What the office does in objections and challenges

• fixes the date of notification precisely and counts the period from it;
• reads the decision and its reasons, and identifies whether there is something genuinely open to objection;
• gathers the new documents and papers on which the objection rests;
• files the objection under an official wakala and follows it before the Central Committee;
• assesses whether a challenge before the Administrative Judiciary Court is worthwhile after the Central Committee decides, and files the case within its period if it has a basis.

The Central Compensation Committee or the Administrative Judiciary Court decides on the papers and on the text in force: the decision may be upheld, amended or set aside, according to what the file establishes.

Legal basis and sources

1. Second Amendment Law No. 2 of 2020, amended Article 7, First
2. Law No. 20 of 2009, Articles 5 and 7 — Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya, issue 4140
3. First Amendment Law No. 57 of 2015 — Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya, issue 4395
4. Instructions No. 6 of 2022 (work of the central committees), Iraqi Official Gazette, issue 4665, 24/1/2022
5. Law No. 20 of 2009 on Compensation of Those Affected by Military Operations, Military Errors and Terrorist Operations (Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya, issue 4140).
6. Second Amendment Law No. 2 of 2020 (Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya, issue 4571)

Frequently asked questions

Related topics and articles

• 01Time 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.
• 02The 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.
• 03The Court of Employees’ Judiciary and the Administrative Judiciary CourtThe Court of Employees’ Judiciary hears disciplinary penalty appeals; the Administrative Judiciary Court hears other administrative decisions.
• 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.
• 05Compensation 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.

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

To ask about your matter