The legal protection for the acquired employment rights of the public officer in Iraq

Public officers are guaranteed several acquired employment rights, like annual salary increases, promotion, leave, and overtime pay. However, in Iraq, there is frequent issuance of revocation and cancellation decisions for previously acquired employment rights. These decisions are often conducted without due consideration of the potential violations of the previously granted acquired rights. The root of this issue may be traced back to deficiencies within the legal framework governing the revocation and cancellation in Iraq and the apparent shortfall in the expertise of the personnel responsible for issuing these revocation and cancellation decisions. By adopting doctrinal and non-doctrinal legal research methodology, this thesis examines the legal protection for the acquired employment rights of the public officer in Iraq. It examines the laws and regulations governing the acquired employment rights of the public officer in Iraq; determines judicial legal guarantees approved by the Iraqi Judiciary to protect acquired employment rights of the public officer in revocation and cancellation cases; analyses the extent to which the Iraqi judiciary applies these legal guarantees to protect the acquired employment rights of public officer in Iraq; recommends what strengthens the protection and stability of acquired employment rights of the public officer in Iraq in revocation and cancellation cases. The data was collected through the library-based approach and semi-structured interviews with judges, lawyers, public officers, jurists, and academics. Several methods of data analysis, such as critical, analytical, and content analysis, were employed in analysing the data. The findings reveal that the laws, such as Civil Service Act No. (24) and State Employees Discipline Law No. (41), governing acquired employment rights in Iraq are not sufficient, and there is legal uncertainty in the revocation and cancellation decisions issued by the administrative judiciary. This is due to the legal ambiguity in the applicable laws. Legal reforms are recommended to enhance clarity and specificity in the regulations governing study leave and promotions in the Iraqi public service. By amending Article 7 of Instruction No. (165) for study leave to detail cancellation reasons and revising Article 7 of Civil Service Act No. (24) to require Promotions Committee members to be experts in administrative and legal affairs, these changes aim to safeguard public officers' acquired employment rights, thereby improving legal certainty and fostering a creative work environment.