The Shia Endowment Office: jurisdiction and property transactions
One body manages or supervises the Jaafari endowments of Iraq: the Shia Endowment Office, set up by Law No. 57 of 2012, which appeared in the Gazette issue of 15/10/2012 (No. 4254). The office of lawyer Ali Barakat, in Baghdad, al-Yarmouk, follows this law for people who hold property under a Jaafari endowment, rent property belonging to one, or descend from a founder and have a question about trusteeship.
What the office manages and what it supervises
The defining text is article 2: the office manages endowments that have no private trustee. Article 13 completes the picture. The office runs endowments without a trustee, supervises and audits those with one, takes over management when a trustee dies, is removed or resigns until a successor is appointed, and goes to court when endowed property is being claimed as private property. Article 3 makes the prevailing opinion of Shia jurisprudence the framework of the office's work, which clearly affects how founders' conditions are read.
Appointing and removing a trustee
Under article 14, who becomes or stops being trustee follows the dominant view among Imami jurists; if that view cannot be identified, the question goes to the highest religious authority. Article 10 gives the office's Scholarly Council the ratification of trustee appointments. Alongside this, article 300(4) of the Civil Procedure Law No. 83 of 1969 still leaves trusteeship disputes over family endowments, and the appointment, removal and audit of trustees, to the Personal Status Court. A person disputing the trusteeship of a Jaafari family endowment therefore reads both texts together. See appointing and removing a trustee.
The council and property decisions
Article 7 lists the council's powers. Paragraph V: hearing objections to decisions of the trustee-audit committees. Paragraph VIII: requests to buy for the endowment, develop it or build on it. Paragraph IX: selling an endowment and substituting another for it in accordance with Sharia and law. Any asset leaving the endowment therefore passes through a council decision. See substitution of endowed property.
Formations
Its structure, set out in article 9, includes a directorate for governorate endowments, a legal directorate, and a dedicated authority that administers and invests Shia endowment funds. The office's Formations Regulation No. 8 of 2018 was published in Official Gazette No. 4515 on 29/10/2018. A lease in a governorate usually starts at the endowment directorate there, and an investment project passes through the authority.
The seminary and the shrines
Article 15 bars the office from involvement in the affairs of the religious schools of the seminary (hawza) without the approval of the religious authority. Article 24 gives the holy shrines and Shia sanctuaries legal personality. Property belonging to a shrine therefore has its own representation, and it is sensible to check the owning or managing body on the title before any transaction.
Exemption and resources
Under article 16, endowment assets do not bear taxes and duties, within the limits the article draws. Expropriation or substitution proceeds that come into the endowment are spent for its benefit under article 9 of the Endowments Administration Law No. 64 of 1966, which still applies where the special law is silent.
The difference from the Sunni office
The structure of the two laws is similar, but Law No. 57 of 2012 expressly names the jurisprudential reference for trusteeship, speaks of sale and substitution rather than in-kind substitution alone, and preserves the independence of the seminary and the shrines. For comparison see the Sunni Endowment Office.
Legal basis and sources
- Shia Endowment Office Law No. 57 of 2012 (Official Gazette No. 4254 of 15/10/2012) — Articles 2, 3, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 24
- Shia Endowment Office Formations Regulation No. 8 of 2018 (Official Gazette No. 4515 of 29/10/2018)
- Endowments Administration Law No. 64 of 1966 (Official Gazette No. 1293 of 31/7/1966) — Article 9
- Civil Procedure Law No. 83 of 1969 (Official Gazette No. 1766 of 10/11/1969) — Article 300
Frequently asked questions
Does the Shia Endowment Office manage every Jaafari endowment?
It manages those with no private trustee and supervises and audits those that have one, under articles 2 and 13 of Law No. 57 of 2012.
On what basis is the trustee of a Jaafari endowment removed?
According to the prevailing opinion of Imami jurists, failing which by reference to the highest religious authority, under article 14.
Does a holy shrine have a legal personality separate from the office?
Yes. Article 24 grants the holy shrines and Shia sanctuaries legal personality.
Who decides the sale or substitution of an endowed asset?
The office council, under article 7(IX), in accordance with Sharia and law.
Related topics and articles
- 01The Sunni Endowment Office: jurisdiction and property transactionsThe jurisdiction of the Sunni Endowment Office under Law No. 56 of 2012: its council, its investment authority, controlled and attached endowments, and property transactions.
- 02Trusteeship of an endowment and removal of the trusteeWho appoints, removes and audits a waqf trustee in Iraq: the Personal Status Court, the endowment offices and trustee-audit committees, and the time to object.
- 03Substitution of endowed property and its considerationSubstitution of endowed property under article 6 of the Endowments Administration Law: council decision, property or cash consideration, instalments and mortgage, and cassation review of substitution deeds.
- 04The Office of Endowments of the Christian, Yazidi and Sabean Mandaean ReligionsThe Office of Endowments of the Christian, Yazidi and Sabean Mandaean Religions under Law No. 58 of 2012: attachment, council, a directorate for each faith, and support for trustees.
- 05Leasing endowed property: the competent body and the form of the contractLeasing endowed property under article 8 of the Endowments Administration Law No. 64 of 1966: who leases, leases over three years, and what follows a tenant breach or the end of the term.