The compensation sub-committee and the Central Committee: who decides what?

Three bodies keep coming up in the file of a person injured in a terrorist operation: the sub-committee in the governorate, the ministry committee for State employees, and the Central Committee in Baghdad. An injured person who is not a State employee starts at the sub-committee; an employee starts at his or her ministry's committee; and the Central Committee comes in after the decision, when it is objected to. Confusing these bodies is the most common reason the office hears for time lost in these files.

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

The Sub-Committee for Compensation of Those Affected

Its full name under the Law is the "Sub-Committee for Compensation of Those Affected by War Operations, Military Errors and Terrorist Operations". Second Amendment Law No. 2 of 2020 reorganised it: there is now at least one sub-committee in Baghdad, in the Kurdistan Region and in each governorate not organised in a region, and three sub-committees in the governorates that witnessed or are witnessing operations.

These committees are attached to the Department of Martyrs of Those Harmed by War Operations, Military Errors and Terrorist Operations in the Martyrs Foundation, and they work in coordination with the governorate, which must provide what they require to operate. They may also open offices in districts and sub-districts as the workload requires. That is why people sometimes deal with a committee office close to home: it is a branch of the same committee, not a separate body.

Who chairs it and who sits on it?

A sub-committee is chaired by a judge nominated by the president of the appellate region, and includes representatives of several government bodies named in the Law. Each committee has a secretariat run by a Martyrs Foundation employee holding a first university degree, assisted by staff assigned by the governorate or the region. Having a judge in the chair means the decision is built on papers and supporting documents, not on a verbal account of the incident.

What does the sub-committee do?

The sub-committee's tasks under Article 6 of the Law revolve around four functions:

• receiving claims from the persons affected or their families;
• examining compensation files and the supporting documents attached;
• recording damage and assessing its severity under the bases that the Ministry of Finance issues;
• issuing compensation decisions in cases of martyrdom and injury, and notifying the persons concerned.

The 2020 amendment added an important obligation: the sub-committees must put their recommendations and decisions before the public prosecutor for an opinion on their legality. It also provided that property compensation decisions not exceeding a monetary ceiling set in the text are sent to the presidency of the governorate's Court of Appeal for approval, then referred to the Ministry of Finance, with copies sent to the Central Committee for electronic archiving.

The ministry committee for State employees

An employee of a ministry, or of an entity not attached to a ministry, does not as a rule go to the sub-committee. The Law in its amended form set up a committee in each ministry and each entity not attached to a ministry to hear claims from its own staff. This committee conducts an administrative inquiry to verify that the damage resulted from a terrorist act, a military error or a war operation, then submits its recommendations to the minister or head of the entity for approval.

Instructions No. 4 of 2018 confirm this division where an injury worsens: an employee files with his or her ministry's committee, and a non-employee with the sub-committee in the governorate.

The Central Committee for Compensation of Those Affected

Since the 2020 amendment there are three Central Committees, one of them for the Kurdistan Region. They are based in Baghdad, attached to the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, and work in coordination with the Department of Martyrs of Those Harmed by War Operations in the Martyrs Foundation on the files of martyrs, kidnapped and missing persons, and the injured.

A Central Committee is chaired by a judge of the first or second class nominated by the President of the Supreme Judicial Council. Its members include a representative of the Martyrs Foundation and a representative of the Ministry of Construction and Housing (the name as it appears in the amendment text) who must be an engineer. It meets with its chair or deputy and two thirds of its members present, at least three times a week, and decides by a simple majority of those present.

When does a case reach the Central Committee?

The Central Committee is not where claims are registered. A file reaches it in two main situations:

1. Objection: the person affected or the family, the Ministry of Finance, the Martyrs Foundation, the National Pension Authority or any party with an interest has the right to object to decisions of the sub-committees and ministry committees before the Central Committee within sixty days from the day after notification.
2. Approval: recommendations on certain kinds of compensation, particularly property, go to it for approval, amendment or cancellation once the objection period has passed.

The Central Committee's decision is not the end of the road either; it is open to challenge before the Administrative Judiciary Court. Details are in Objection and challenge before the Administrative Judiciary Court.

What the office checks at this stage

• Was the claim filed with the right committee: the sub-committee in the governorate or the ministry committee?
• Are the papers the decision rests on complete, such as the investigation papers and the medical report?
• Has a decision been issued and has the person concerned been notified, and when? The date of notification sets the start of the objection period.

The committees' time limits are gathered on the page Time limits in compensation files, and the role of the medical report in Medical report and disability percentage.

Legal basis and sources

1. Law No. 20 of 2009, Articles 3, 4, 5 and 6 — 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 (Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya, issue 4516)
4. Law No. 20 of 2009 on Compensation of Those Affected by Military Operations, Military Errors and Terrorist Operations (Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya, issue 4140).

Frequently asked questions

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.
• 02Objecting 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.
• 03Time 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.
• 04Compensation 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.
• 05Compensation 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.

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

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