The Sunni Endowment Office: jurisdiction and property transactions
Anyone dealing with an endowment directorate in Baghdad or a governorate about property endowed for a Sunni purpose deals with the Sunni Endowment Office, which Law No. 56 of 2012 established (Gazette No. 4254, 15/10/2012). The office of lawyer Ali Barakat, in Baghdad, al-Yarmouk, follows this law for people with a property transaction before the office: a lease, a purchase for the endowment, a substitution, or a dispute over income.
The office's standing and aims
Under article 1 the office sits under the Council of Ministers as a legal person, which means it can bring and defend cases in its own name. It is headed by a president of ministerial rank under article 4. Article 2 sets its aims, among them organising the administration of endowments and investing their assets, carrying out founders' conditions in a way consistent with Sharia and law, and supervising attached endowments. Article 20 makes the office the successor to what used to be the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, taking over its rights and obligations, and article 22 repealed that ministry's Law No. 50 of 1981. Any contract or decision issued long ago in the ministry's name is therefore read today through the office.
The council and its property decisions
Article 6 forms a council for the office and article 7 lists its powers. Three paragraphs matter for property work. Paragraph V gives the council the hearing of objections to decisions of the trustee-audit committees. Paragraph VIII lets it decide trustees' requests to buy property for the endowment, to develop it or to build on it. Paragraph IX lets it decide in-kind substitution. So if a trustee wants to buy land with endowment income, or demolish an old building and rebuild, the route runs through the council.
Formations
Its units, listed in article 9, include the Legal Directorate, the Directorate of Religious and Charitable Institutions, the office's directorates in the governorates, and the Authority for the Administration and Investment of Sunni Endowment Funds. Regulation No. 7 of 2024 on the office's formations and tasks, published in Official Gazette No. 4798 on 21/10/2024, sets out the tasks of these units in detail. Article 10 forms a Scholarly Council that, among other things, recommends the appointment of trustees. In practice, a matter about property in a given governorate usually starts at the office's directorate there, while an investment contract passes through the authority.
Controlled and attached endowments
Article 13 is the core of the property jurisdiction. The office runs controlled endowments directly, supervises attached endowments that have a trustee, audits the trustee every year, and takes over an attached endowment when the trusteeship lapses or the trustee dies or is removed. It also brings a case where an endowment has been turned into free ownership. This meets the Endowments Administration Law No. 64 of 1966, which defines controlled and attached endowments in article 1 and organises the audit of trustees in article 4.
Finances
Article 12 lists the office's resources, including compensation for expropriation and the proceeds of substitution. What an expropriating body pays for endowed property therefore goes to the endowment itself, to be spent on buying a replacement or on development, as article 9 of the 1966 law also requires. Article 14 exempts endowment assets from taxes and duties within the stated limits.
Reading a file with the office
Before any step, first establish the kind of endowment from its deed and register entry: controlled or attached, charitable or family. Then establish who represents it: the office or a private trustee. Then identify the competent unit: the governorate directorate, the investment authority, or the council. That order spares a person visits to the wrong desk. For comparison with the other office see the Shia Endowment Office; for leases, leasing endowed property; and for substitution, substitution of endowed property.
Legal basis and sources
- Sunni Endowment Office Law No. 56 of 2012 (Official Gazette No. 4254 of 15/10/2012) — Articles 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 20 and 22
- Regulation No. 7 of 2024 on the formations and tasks of the Sunni Endowment Office (Official Gazette No. 4798 of 21/10/2024)
- Endowments Administration Law No. 64 of 1966 (Official Gazette No. 1293 of 31/7/1966) — Articles 1, 4 and 9
Frequently asked questions
Is the Sunni Endowment Office part of a ministry?
No. It is attached to the Council of Ministers and has legal personality under article 1 of Law No. 56 of 2012; it replaced the former Ministry of Endowments.
Who decides a trustee's request to build on endowed property?
The office council, under article 7(VIII), which covers buying for the endowment, developing it and building on it.
What happens to an attached endowment when its trustee dies?
The office manages it until a new trustee is appointed, under article 13 of the law.
Where does expropriation compensation for endowed property go?
To the office's resources listed in article 12, to be spent on purchases or building for the endowment under article 9 of the Endowments Administration Law.
Related topics and articles
- 01The Shia Endowment Office: jurisdiction and property transactionsThe jurisdiction of the Shia Endowment Office under Law No. 57 of 2012: endowments without a private trustee, appointing and removing trustees, sale and substitution, and the holy shrines.
- 02Leasing 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.
- 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.
- 05Trusteeship 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.