LAND LAWS

: Land
Dr. Eng. Shireen Y. Ismael
5th lecture

Land Laws – Dr.Eng. Shireen,2018

LAND LAWS

Land expropriation

Overview:
What do we mean by land expropriation?
Land expropriation types
Land expropriation in the context of Iraqi and KR laws

Land Laws – Dr.Eng. Shireen,2018

Land Expropriation : is the process of taking private
property (land) for a purpose of public interest, and this
process is managed by the government related agency
for example Municipality
In Iraq, the law first enacted by the British government in 1824

The types of land may been expropriated

• Land owned by people (the owners)
• Land owned by the government (government
agencies)
 “Land expropriation”
There are three types of expropriation:

1- Land Acquisition
2- Extinguishing the Right to Dispose in Agricultural
Land (Ending the right to dispose)
3- Land Grabbing
 Land Acquisition: Refers to the acquisition of privately owned land by an
individual (owner) or any public entity in return of a fair compensation under the
law.

Iraqi Acquisition law

Article 23 of Iraqi Constitution of 2005, states that:
1- “Personal property is protected, the owner shall have the right to use, benefit,
exploit and utilize his/her property within the limits of the law”.
2- “No property may be taken away except for the purposes of public benefit in
return of fair compensation and this will be organized by law”.

This article refers to the following points:

1- The protection of private property
2- Do not take the owner property (land and building) without his/her acceptance
3- It is permissible, taking away property (land and building) for the public use in
certain circumstances decided by the law
4- Compensate the owner.
Public interest: the welfare or well
being of the general public
• development of the existing area for e.g. city centre in term of
land use, to insure all have the access to the basic needs such as
health centres, schools…
• To develop infrastructure, such as roads and power stations,
governments may need to acquire land to place these property

When the government taking away the property (land/building) a

compensation should be adequate and effective.
Law of Acquisition
No. 12 of 1981
Section One
(Principals)
Chapter 1

This law aims at:

First: regulating property acquisition and relevant specified rights of the

Directorates and the social and joint sectors to achieve purposes and to
implement plans and projects.

Second: setting combined rules and basics of fair compensation for

possessed properties for their owners’ worth without prejudice to the public
interest.

Third: facilitating ownership to ensure quickness and safety.

Before After
 Acquisition Law No. 12 of 1981

Types & Procedures of Acquisition

Consensual/Agreement Acquisition
Article 4 Article 5
First: After having agreed on the
Directorates and social and joint sectors agreement acquisition, the holder shall
which have the right to possess property request the Estimation Commission to
can agree with the property owner or define the compensation according to the
the land owner to possess the property rules of this law. The holder shall inform
by agreement either in kind or in cash the Land Registry Office to issue a note
depending on the price estimated by the prohibiting trading of the property.
commission established according to this Second: The Chair of the Estimation
law. If the property is a public property, Commission shall inform the holder, the
all partners shall approve this. property owner, and the Land Registry
Office of the Commission decision as soon
it is issued.
 Land Acquisition can be classified to the following:

Juridical Acquisition
Article 9
This article has been cancelled under Item • This kind done through
3 from Acquisition Law Amendment Law
No. 12, year 1981, number 6 issued at
judgment and the
January, 1, 1998, and replaced by the compensation will be
following text: determined.
in order to implement their projects and
achieve their goals, government
departments and social and common
sectors which have the right to legally
possess a property can request to possess
any property, part of it, or its relevant
original property rights, according to the
rules of this law..
Law of Acquisition
No. 12 of 1981

Administrative Acquisition
Article 22
This article was canceled under Article 4 of
the Acquisition Law Amendment Law No.
12 of 1981, number 6, issued on January
1, 1998, and replaced by the following text:
If the property or the real estate right
requested for acquisition is owned by
government departments or the social or Duhok city center master plan
common sectors (except entailed
properties, the property shall be possessed
administratively and the compensation is
determined by the parties' agreement.
 Acquisition Law No. 12 of 1981
Compensation
Chapter One
Real Compensation
Article 29
Article 30
First: If the property requested for acquisition is
First: The Estimation Commission shall evaluate the
land or an orchard, the holder can, in consultation
value of the two properties or other real right in rem
with the Ministry of Finance or the Ministry of
requested for acquisition as of the date of inspection
Agriculture & Agriculture Reform, compensate the
and estimation. The difference between the two
property owner for the land or orchard at the same
values, if any, shall be offset by money payment.
value of the Administrative Unit of the land or
Second: The property owner can make installment
orchard requested for acquisition. With property
payments for the rest of the difference in an amount
owner agreement, the holder can compensate
up to 5 annual payments; in this case the exchange
him/her with land or orchard outside the
procedures should be registered in the Land Registry
Administrative Unit boundaries.
Office provided that the compensating property shall
Second: If the property requested for acquisition is
be charged with the privilege of the holder until all
not land or an orchard, the holder can, by agreement
installment payments have been made.
with the property owner, offer him/her a property or
other real estate as compensation for the property
requested for acquisition.
Compensation in case of acquisition
• The Iraqi Acquisition Law of 1981 in
Article (29) states the types of
compensations that given to the
owner in the case of an acquisition as
the following:
• 1- Property compensation, the owner
take a land in exchange of land (land
value) that has been acquired.
(land –Land) compensation, this type is
mostly applied by the municipality

• 2- Cash compensation ,the owner

take money in exchange of land (land
value) or residential and commercial
real estate that has been acquired.
(Land-Money) Compensation
 Acquisition Law No. 12 of 1981
Cash Compensation
Compensation for Farmlands
Article 31
First: The value of the land is estimated by
dunum (unit of measurement) and with the prices of
1973 by referring to the selling procedures of the Land
Registry Office as a basis to fairly compensate as
follows:
A. If the land is an absolute property and has been
transferred to the property owner in or before 1973, the
compensation is determined according to the prices of
1973, adding 4% amount for each year till the date of
inspection and estimation. The compensation should
not exceed the prevailing price. And part of the year
considered as a year, if it is more than six months.
B. If the land is transferred to the property owner after
1973, the compensation is determined according to the
price registered in the property record adding to it the
percentage mentioned in Item A / First and the
prevailing price during the inspection and estimation.
Compensating Orchards & Planted
Article 32
First: The value of trees planted on the land
is estimated in the same way mentioned in
Article 31 of this law as it is considered an
orchard. The utilities are estimated according
to the rules mentioned in Article 33 of this
law.
Second: The value of trees is estimated
according to the prevailing prices in the area
as of the date of inspection and estimation
taking into consideration the tree species, its
age and whether it is fruitful or not and other
known qualifications.
 LAND LAWS
Property Compensation
Article 33
The values of residential, industrial, commercial properties and land for
constructing buildings are estimated according to the prevailing prices during
inspection and estimation regardless of their value after implementing the
project according to the following rules:
First: Taking into account the location of the property, its level of construction,
area, assets, type of construction materials and its income are considered when
estimating the compensation.
Second: The property value estimated by the Land Registry Office and the
values of neighboring or equivalent properties, or their selling prices, or their
annual lease whether actual lease, or property tax estimated lease could be
referred to when estimating.
Third: The value of land and the value of buildings and other utilities and
property (if any) are estimated separately.
Fourth: The estimation is by the cubic meter or by the standard measurement
unit. The Estimation Commission can estimate by a previous decision the
compensation as a whole or by any other normally accepted method as an
estimate to get the fair compensation.

Land Laws – Dr.Eng. Shireen,2018

Duhok city centre before development plan
Development plan for Duhok city centre
LAND LAWS

Article 34
First: If the property requested for acquisition is a temple,
religious institute or a graveyard, the estimation amount
should be equal to the land value added to the
construction value of utilities. These utilities could be
compensated also by building equivalent ones by the
holder in a location approved by the property owner. If the
property owner does not agree, the Head of Administrative
Unit where the property is located shall identify the
appropriate location.

Land Laws – Dr.Eng. Shireen,2018

Property Improvement
Chapter One
Improve the Possessed Property’s Remaining Parts
Article 37
If no more than one-quarter of a property is taken (used) by the government without compensation and
government provided improvements benefit the remainder of the property, the Estimation Commission
shall verify these improvements. The compensation in this case shall be for what is in the taken area, such
as utilities and plants.
Article 38
If the possessed area (without compensation) is smaller than one-quarter of the general property area and
the Estimation Commission verifies that the acquisition leads to improving the area or utility of the
remaining portion of property and increases its value, the property owner shall pay the value of one-quarter
of the general land area prior to acquisition.
Article 39
The taken area’s value and the increase in value shall be determined by the Estimation Commission as
mentioned in Articles 37 and 38 under this law.
Article 40
It is not permissible to take one-quarter of the property without price (more than one time) and the
aforementioned percentage shall not be collected if it has already been collected from possessed property
according to other legislations
Property Improved without Acquisition
Article 41
If the value of property located within the boundaries of the Amanat or Municipality
increased because of its proximity to improvements such as nearby streets, squares,
parks, bridges or roads; or because its frontage is expanded or the street or square or
park where the property is located is expanded, without the taking of any part of it, the
property owner shall pay a fee to the Amanat or Municipality equal to a quarter of the
difference between the value of the land area (without utilities and plants) before
implementing the project and the value of land after implementation of the project.
Article 42
The Amanat or the competent Municipality shall identify the location which has been
improved by the implemented project, and mark the properties which have been
improved on a map for citizens’ review. This map shall be announced for advertisement
before starting project implementation.
Article 43
The Amanat or the competent Municipality, after implementing the project, shall request
the Estimation Commission to estimate the change in value of each property located
within the improvement area following project implementation.
Duhok city center

Before, street width 20m After, street width 30m

Constructing Shorash bridge
in Duhok city
 Part left form Acquisition
Acquisition Law No. 12 of 1981

Damage due to Acquisition

Chapter One

Property Owner Loss due to Acquisition

Article 49
In the case of partial acquisition, the property owner could
request repossession of the whole property if the part left did
not benefit from government improvement. The Court could
decide to return the whole property to the owner if the
Estimation Commission verifies the lack of benefit.
Article 50
If the partial acquisition leads to damages to the remaining
portion of the property, the property owner is entitled to
receive compensation for said damages.
Acquisition Law No. 12 of 1981

Chapter Two
Loss due to Acquisition
Article 51
If implementing the project results in damage to the property which has not
been taken, the property owner may request compensation for said
damage.
Article 52
The compensation case is prosecuted according to Articles 50 & 51 in the
Court of Property First Instance within one year as of the date of starting
project implementation. The request for compensation is cancelled if no
claim is made by the end of one-year period and the Court must reject the
case.
Article 53
If the implementation of project on land not acquired by the government
leads to a change in the property’s use, the property owner cannot request
compensation. The easements which are imposed by a public utility do not
entitle the property owner to compensation. However, if these easements
lead to a change in the situation of easing or to the eased properties which
results in damage, then the property owner shall be compensated
according to Article 51 of this Law.
The excution of the Solav bridge project results in damage to the property which has not
been taken, Hotels, shops, offices,,,

Duhok old Cemetery

(Waqef)area
Solav Bridge
Projects: constructing School in the old cemetery place, Solave and Shorash Bridges, and
Expanding Cenima street all needs to deal with different Land and property laws
Extinguishing the Right to Dispose in Agricultural Land (Ending the
right to dispose)
What is Extinguishment?

Extinguishment: This term is used legally in

particular with regard to the expropriation of
agricultural land, extinguishment refers to the
end of a thing. Here mostly means ending a
certain land use function(agriculture to
commercial , housing , industrial,parks,,)
Extinguishment laws
The National Council of Iraqi Kurdistan issued
(The law of extinguishing and separation lands)
No. (3) of 1998 and No.5 2007
Extinguishing the Right to Dispose in Agricultural Land laws
 Article 1 of law No. (3) of
1998 state that “It's
permissible to separation
the agricultural and non
agricultural land and
horticultural land that
absolute owned by the
government agencies
to(Construct buildings if
its in the phase of
implementing of master
plan of the city within the
law limitation)”.
 Article 2 of law No. (3) of 1998
- state that - “The right to
dispose of agricultural and
non-agricultural land will
extinguish by the state if it's
within the phase of the
implementation of the master
plan of the city”.
- The application of
extinguishing and separation
laws of the land should be
within the boundaries of the
municipality.
Compensation in Case of Extinguishing the Right to Dispose
The KR-I extinguish laws(No.5, 2007) of the
right to dispose in agricultural land compensate
owners as follows:
1- Absolute ownership (serph), In this case, the value of
the ownership (serph) of agricultural land is about 20%
and the remaining is for the state (Municipality).
2- The right to dispose, In this case, the owner of
agricultural land has the right to dispose 12% of the
value of the land and the remaining for the state
(Municipality).
3- Rented land (contract), this type is the result of a
contract between the person and the state (Directorate
of Agriculture), in this case the owner has 3% of the
value of the whole land.
LAND LAWS
3- Land Grabbing

 Land grabbing: Refers to the leasing of large

pieces of land by the governments entities.

 Temporary grabbing: It is a temporary

procedure required by the urgency
circumstances upon the other property.

Land Laws – Dr.Eng. Shireen,2018

 The Reasons and Procedures of Grabbing Land

 The reasons: There are some

reasons for grabbing land
which are as an exceptional
cases like war, flooding, fire,
diseases and any other disaster.
 The procedures: The state will
grab the land as a temporary
base for two years in return of
a fair compensation. After the
grabbing date is finished the
state have to return the Camp in Bardarash
property (land) to the owner
with compensations if there
are any damages.
Camps cover about 4,657
Donums- Duhok Gov.