Law against Domestic Violence and for the Protection of Women and Children

Article (1) — Definitions

For the purposes of this Law, the following terms have the meanings set out below:

1. Domestic violence: Any intentional act, omission or threat occurring within the family or because of a family relationship that causes, or is likely to cause, physical, sexual, serious psychological or abusive economic harm, or unlawful restriction of liberty, safety or autonomy. It includes repeated patterns of coercive control.
2. Family: Persons covered by Article (2) of this Law.
3. Child: Any person under eighteen years of age.
4. Victim: A person who has experienced domestic violence or faces a serious and specific risk of it, including a child directly subjected to violence or affected by it as specified in this Law.
5. Respondent: A person to whom an act of violence is attributed before liability is established by a final judgment.
6. Perpetrator of violence: A person whose liability has been established by a final judicial judgment.
7. Protection order: An emergency or regular judicial order containing one or more measures to prevent danger, contact, approach, assault, or interference with evidence, property or documents.
8. Risk assessment: A standardised professional process for assessing the likelihood of repeated or escalating violence, killing, serious injury, abduction, harm to a child, suicide or use of a weapon.
9. Safe centre: A licensed governmental or non-governmental facility providing confidential, secure temporary accommodation and protection and support services for victims and their children or dependants.
10. Coercive control: A repeated or continuing pattern of isolation, intimidation, surveillance, threats, or control of resources, movement or communication, intended to subordinate a person or deprive them of the practical ability to make essential decisions.

Article (2) — Scope of the family

For the purposes of this Law, the family includes:

1. Husband and wife, even when living separately, and former spouses where the violence is connected with a previous marital relationship or its consequences.
2. Ascendants, descendants, brothers, sisters and relatives of either spouse up to the fourth degree, in accordance with the law.
3. Children of either spouse from a previous marriage and persons lawfully living under the family’s care.
4. Persons under guardianship, custodianship, custody, placement or lawful care, and persons cared for by a family member because of age, illness or disability.
5. This Article does not extend to a casual or non-family relationship merely because the persons live together, without prejudice to protection provided by other laws.

Article (3) — Objectives of the Law

1. Preventing violence and abuse within the family and fulfilling the constitutional obligation to protect the family, motherhood, childhood and older people.
2. Providing a prompt response that preserves life and safety before harm escalates.
3. Establishing a clear pathway for reporting, protection, investigation, prosecution and recovery.
4. Protecting children from direct violence and its effects within the family environment.
5. Removing gaps that allow violence to be justified as discipline, defence of honour or a private family matter.
6. Coordinating the work of the judiciary, police, social, health and education services, and legal assistance.
7. Improving public data and preventing repeated violence while protecting privacy.

Article (4) — Governing principles

When applying this Law, the competent authorities shall observe legality, necessity, proportionality, promptness, human dignity, victim safety, accountability, confidentiality, non-discrimination and the needs of persons with disabilities and older people, and shall avoid retraumatisation during proceedings.

Protection of the family as an institution may not be interpreted as requiring a victim to remain in or return to a dangerous environment. Preserving the family is consistent with this Law when founded on safety, consent and mutual rights, rather than coercion.

Article (5) — Best interests of the child

1. The best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration in every decision concerning their protection, accommodation, interview or contact with either parent.
2. The child shall be heard in a manner appropriate to their age and maturity, without confrontation with the perpetrator unless the judge considers it necessary and safeguards are taken to prevent psychological harm.
3. Custody, visitation or maintenance may not be used to pressure the victim or circumvent a protection order.
4. A child shall not be separated from a non-abusive caregiver unless their best interests require it and the competent judicial authority orders it.

Article (6) — Wishes of the adult victim

The wishes of an adult victim with full legal capacity shall be respected when choosing services, a place of residence, or accepting or declining accommodation. They may not be detained in a safe centre or penal institution for their protection. Declining accommodation does not preclude other safety measures or investigation of an offence whose prosecution does not depend on a complaint.

Article (7) — Safeguards for the respondent

1. The presumption of innocence and rights of defence, access to information and appeal within statutory time limits shall be preserved.
2. A protection order is not a conviction and does not prevent an independent investigation and trial under the rules of evidence.
3. Protective restrictions shall be limited in duration and scope, proportionate to the level of risk, and subject to judicial review.
4. A public authority shall not disclose the identity of the respondent or victim except within the limits permitted by law and without harming the investigation or privacy.

Article (8) — Non-discrimination and accessibility

Protection and services shall be provided to every person covered by this Law without unlawful discrimination, with reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities and due regard to language, health, age, remoteness of residence, poverty, displacement, and the need for an interpreter or alternative means of communication.

Article (9) — Relationship with other laws

1. The more severe penalty under the Penal Code or any other law shall apply where the act constitutes an offence carrying a more severe penalty than those provided in this Law.
2. The protection procedures provided here are independent of criminal proceedings and personal status cases, and do not require a criminal judgment to be initiated.
3. Within the scope of urgent procedural protection, this Law shall temporarily take precedence over any conflicting procedure until the competent court determines the substantive right.
4. This Law shall not affect financial, family or civil rights established by other laws except as expressly provided.

Article (10) — Federal scope and the Kurdistan Region

This Law shall apply in federal Iraq. In the Kurdistan Region, constitutional provisions on the division of powers and regional legislation in force, particularly the Region’s domestic violence law, shall be respected. The safeguard providing wider protection shall apply where the matter does not concern an exclusive federal power. Jurisdictional disputes shall be referred to the competent constitutional judicial authority.

Article (11) — Forms of violence

Subject to the limits and definitions in the following Articles, domestic violence includes physical, psychological, sexual and economic violence, threats, stalking, unlawful restriction of liberty, gross neglect of dependants, and technology-facilitated violence. Protection does not require more than one form to occur.

Article (12) — Physical violence

Physical violence means any intentional use of force or physical means that causes or is likely to cause injury, pain, disability, suffocation, burns, poisoning, harmful deprivation of medicine or food, or other bodily harm. Beating or harming a wife, husband or child is not a lawful means of discipline.

Article (13) — Psychological violence and coercive control

Psychological violence means severe or repeated conduct involving serious threats, systematic humiliation, isolation, coercive surveillance, blackmail or coercive control, where it creates reasonable fear for safety, materially harms mental health, or restricts the victim’s ability to manage essential affairs. Temporary family disagreements, criticism or disputes unaccompanied by coercion or significant harm do not constitute an offence under this Article.

Article (14) — Economic violence

Economic violence means intentional, repeated conduct intended to subordinate a victim through arbitrary deprivation of their money, documents or lawful livelihood; force or threats preventing lawful work or education; compelled debt or financial transactions; or coercive refusal to fulfil an established legal financial obligation. Ordinary financial disputes or disagreements over family spending do not fall within this definition unless accompanied by coercion or deprivation of a legally established right.

Article (15) — Sexual violence within the family

Any sexual act constituting an offence under the laws in force shall, when committed within the family, be domestic violence for the purposes of protection under this Law. Marriage or kinship does not in itself provide a justification where the elements of the offence and lack of consent are established in accordance with the law.

Article (16) — Threats, stalking and restraint

Domestic violence includes serious threats to commit an offence against a person, child or relative; repeated stalking causing reasonable fear; unlawful confinement or prevention from leaving a place; and withholding documents or means of communication to prevent assistance or escape, where the elements of the offence or specific conditions under this Law are met.

Article (17) — Gross neglect of dependants

Domestic violence includes the intentional, gross failure to provide essential care, medicine, food or assistance to a person legally dependent on the actor because of childhood, older age, disability or illness, where this creates a serious risk to life or health and the actor could fulfil the obligation or seek specialised assistance.

Article (18) — Technology-facilitated violence

1. Protection covers the use of phones, platforms, location systems, digital accounts or artificial intelligence technologies for stalking, threats, impersonation, disclosure of private information, or publication or threatened publication of intimate images or material without the person’s consent, where intended to coerce, retaliate, humiliate or intimidate.
2. The judge may order digital contact to cease, evidence to be preserved, and republication to be prohibited, and may require the competent authority to contact the service provider in accordance with the law to remove unlawful content or preserve data needed for the investigation.
3. This Article shall not be interpreted as restricting lawful criticism, freedom of expression, documentation of an offence, or submission of evidence to the competent authorities.

Article (19) — Children’s exposure to domestic violence

A child witnessing serious domestic violence or repeatedly being present in a threatening and violent environment is an independent factor in assessing risk and the child’s best interests, even where the child is not directly beaten. It requires a child protection assessment and safety plan. A child’s presence during a serious violent offence is an aggravating circumstance under Article (84).

Article (20) — High-risk situations

Indicative, non-exhaustive signs of high risk include threats of killing or suicide; strangulation or attempted strangulation; use or possession of a weapon in a threatening context; rapid escalation; repeated assault; stalking; pregnancy; the presence of a young child or person unable to protect themselves; recent separation accompanied by threats; confinement of the victim; a previous breach of a protection order; or attempts to prevent access to the police or courts.

Article (21) — National Committee for Protection from Domestic Violence

A permanent National Committee for Protection from Domestic Violence shall be established within the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers. It shall be chaired by an official of undersecretary rank or equivalent, with representatives of at least director-general rank from the Ministries of Interior, Labour and Social Affairs, Health, Justice, Education and Planning; the competent national body for women’s affairs; the Child Welfare Commission; and a representative of governorates not incorporated into a region. The Supreme Judicial Council, Public Prosecution Service and High Commission for Human Rights shall participate as observers, respecting their constitutional independence.

Article (22) — Functions of the National Committee

1. Approving the national implementation plan, performance indicators, and standardised referral and risk assessment standards.
2. Resolving administrative overlap between authorities without encroaching on judicial jurisdiction.
3. Proposing the annual cross-sectoral budget and monitoring implementation.
4. Approving safe-centre and licensing standards in coordination with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
5. Reviewing the annual national report and proposing legislative and implementing amendments.
6. Establishing a non-binding advisory council comprising experts, universities, licensed civil society organisations, and representatives of disability and child protection interests.

Article (23) — Family and Child Protection Directorate within the Ministry of Interior

The Ministry of Interior’s Directorate for the Protection of the Family and Child from Domestic Violence, through its existing structure and additions within it, shall provide specialised police responses, record reports, execute protection orders and judicial arrest warrants, conduct initial risk assessments, refer people to services, preserve evidence and operate the national response hotline. This Law does not establish a parallel police service.

Article (24) — Local access points

1. The Ministry of Interior shall progressively ensure a specialised reception point or accredited domestic violence personnel in every district within no more than three years.
2. No police station may refuse to record a report because it lacks a specialised division. It must take urgent action and then refer the file electronically or through formal procedures to the specialised authority.
3. Priority shall be given to recruiting and training female investigators and staff to receive victims who prefer this, without their absence delaying protection.

Article (25) — Functions of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs

1. Establishing, operating and funding the network of safe centres, social services and recovery programmes.
2. Managing the licensing system for non-governmental centres and monitoring quality.
3. Providing social workers for case management, safety plans and referral.
4. Providing emergency social assistance under existing laws and programmes, and proposing dedicated assistance channels for victims where needed.
5. Preparing a professional accreditation programme for staff working in accommodation and domestic violence case management.

Article (26) — Child welfare units

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs’ central and subsidiary child welfare units shall be integrated into the child referral pathway. They shall manage cases, assess needs, undertake family follow-up and provide preventive services, coordinating as appropriate with the investigating judge, juvenile court or competent judicial authority.

Article (27) — Functions of the Ministry of Health

1. Adopting a national protocol for examination, treatment, medical documentation and forensic medicine in domestic violence cases.
2. Providing necessary emergency treatment without requiring a prior complaint.
3. Training staff to identify risk indicators, make safe referrals and maintain confidentiality.
4. Establishing pathways for psychological support and mental healthcare, prioritising children and survivors of sexual violence, strangulation and attempted killing.

Article (28) — Functions of the Ministry of Education

The Ministry of Education shall adopt a school protection policy with confidential mechanisms for reporting violence against children within the family. It shall train counsellors and staff in the reporting duty in Article (34) and in not returning a child to a source of imminent danger without coordinating with the competent authorities.

Article (29) — Functions of the Ministry of Justice and legal assistance

Within its powers, the Ministry of Justice shall coordinate with the Legal Assistance Centre established under Legal Assistance Law No. (7) of 2024, judicial authorities and the Bar Association to refer victims unable to afford assistance to free or subsidised legal aid, without creating a pathway parallel to the law in force.

Article (30) — Judicial specialisation

1. Within its structures and powers, the Supreme Judicial Council shall designate investigating judges, specialised panels or courts, or work divisions to hear domestic violence cases and protection order applications, ensuring access in every governorate.
2. A judicial duty system shall be provided to handle urgent protection applications outside office hours.
3. The Public Prosecution Service shall participate in overseeing the legality of procedures and protecting minors and the public interest in accordance with its governing law.

Article (31) — Role of the Commission and civil society

Within its powers, the High Commission for Human Rights may monitor protection conditions and receive complaints about rights violations by public authorities. Licensed civil society organisations may provide advice and support and manage safe centres under this Law and its standards, without replacing the police or judiciary in investigations or restrictions on liberty.

Article (32) — Reporting channels

A victim, their legal representative or any person aware of a dangerous incident may report it to a police station, the Family and Child Protection Directorate, the Public Prosecution Service, an investigating judge, the national response hotline or the official reporting platform. The report shall immediately be entered in a unified register, and the person reporting shall receive a reference number where disclosure is safe.

Article (33) — Territorial jurisdiction shall not restrict reporting

A report or urgent protection request may not be refused on territorial jurisdiction grounds. The receiving authority shall take immediate measures and subsequently refer it to the competent authority. The victim shall not bear the burden of moving between offices before the incident is recorded and risk assessed.

Article (34) — Professional duty to report

1. Public officials, persons entrusted with public service, and health, education and social workers shall report without delay where reasonable grounds indicate imminent danger of death or serious harm, or where the victim is a child, lacks legal capacity, or is practically unable to protect themselves.
2. For an adult victim with full legal capacity, where there is no imminent danger or offence subject to mandatory reporting, professional confidentiality and the victim’s wishes shall be respected under the laws in force. Protection options shall be offered and this shall be documented.
3. Implementing instructions shall establish a unified protocol balancing the duty of protection with medical and professional confidentiality.

Article (35) — Confidentiality of reports

The identities of the reporter and victim, contact details, residence and safe centre shall be held in a confidential register tier, accessible only to an authority legally requiring them to carry out a measure. The judge may withhold the reporter’s details from the respondent where disclosure would endanger the reporter or victim, while preserving essential defence rights.

Article (36) — Protection of good-faith reporters and witnesses

A person who reports in good faith on reasonable grounds shall incur no civil, criminal or administrative liability if the incident is subsequently unproven. Reporters, witnesses and workers who provide assistance shall be protected against retaliation and threats. Criminal and witness protection laws shall apply where their conditions are met.

Article (37) — Risk assessment

1. The competent authority shall conduct an initial risk assessment as soon as possible, urgently in cases classified as high risk.
2. Assessment shall be repeated upon separation, issuance or breach of a protection order, emergence of a weapon or death threat, change of residence, or release of the respondent.
3. The assessment form does not replace judicial or professional judgment, and a low score alone may not justify refusing to register a complaint.

Article (38) — Immediate police duties

1. Reaching the location of danger and rescuing people where entry is authorised by law or judicial order.
2. Separating the parties where necessary, stopping an ongoing assault, and seizing weapons or implements under legal or judicial authority.
3. Requesting an ambulance, providing an interpreter or means of communication, and enabling the victim to collect documents, medicines and essential belongings where safe.
4. Documenting injuries, damage, initial statements and digital evidence, and referring urgent protection requests to the duty judge.
5. Providing the victim, in writing or electronically, with concise information about their rights, the hotline, safe centres and legal assistance.

Article (39) — Medical care and documentation

Emergency treatment shall not require a complaint. A victim may request a medical report under the applicable rules. The healthcare facility shall take necessary measures to preserve samples and documentation that may constitute evidence, respecting informed consent and the specific rules for children and sexual assaults.

Article (40) — Special response for children

1. The child shall be interviewed in an appropriate setting, with questioning repeated as few times as possible.
2. Where the guardian or caregiver is the source of danger, the Public Prosecution Service and competent judicial authority shall be notified so that a representative of the child’s interests can be appointed where necessary.
3. In coordination with the police, a child welfare unit may urgently secure a safe place for a child facing imminent danger, provided the measure is submitted to the competent judge within no more than twenty-four hours.

Article (41) — Preservation of digital evidence

At the investigating authority’s request, the judge may issue an urgent order to preserve relevant communications data, recordings, messages, access logs or location material for an appropriate period under procedural and communications laws. The request shall be confined to what the investigation requires and shall not extend to unrelated data.

Article (42) — Urgent transport and accommodation

Where a victim cannot safely remain where they are, the police or social authority shall provide safe transport to a health facility, safe centre or a place chosen by the victim and shown to be suitable. A willing adult victim’s admission to a licensed safe centre shall not require a judicial order; children and persons lacking legal capacity remain subject to their specific judicial safeguards.

Article (43) — Types of protection orders

Protection orders shall be:

1. An emergency order: Issued urgently where danger is imminent, including in the respondent’s absence, for an initial period of no more than seven days.
2. A regular order: Issued after the parties have been given an opportunity to be heard in accordance with due procedure, for no more than thirty days, renewable under Article (54).

Neither type depends on the filing of divorce, maintenance or criminal proceedings.

Article (44) — Emergency order

1. The duty investigating judge shall issue an emergency order by the fastest available official means, no later than twelve hours after receiving an application containing the minimum necessary risk information.
2. It may be issued without the respondent present where delay would endanger a person. The respondent shall be notified as soon as execution is possible.
3. At this stage, serious and reasonable grounds for believing danger to be imminent are sufficient; this does not determine the substance of the accusation.
4. The judge shall set a review date before the order expires if either party requests it or continued protection requires it.

Article (45) — Regular order

The judge shall determine a regular protection order application promptly after hearing the necessary statements and evidence. The decision may rely on the history of violence, medical reports, previous reports, testimony, messages, digital evidence and risk assessment. An order may be issued during investigation or trial, or independently of either.

Article (46) — Applicants for protection orders

An application may be submitted by the victim, their legal representative, the Public Prosecution Service or the competent child protection authority where the child cannot apply. The police may submit an urgent recommendation to the judge. Protection applications shall be exempt from fees, and simplified paper and electronic forms shall be provided.

Article (47) — Protection order measures

Depending on the risk, the judge may order one or more of the following measures:

1. Prohibiting harassment, threats, incitement, stalking, or direct and indirect contact.
2. Prohibiting approach to the victim, children, home, workplace, school or safe centre within a distance specified in the decision.
3. Temporarily removing the respondent from the shared home where necessary for safety, without determining ownership or final rights of use.
4. Enabling the victim to enter the home accompanied by police to collect documents, medicines and essential belongings.
5. Prohibiting disposal or destruction of the victim’s documents or personal property, and suspending use of a power of attorney issued by the victim to the extent determined judicially under the law.
6. Withdrawing or depositing weapons under Article (50).
7. Regulating temporary contact with children under Article (49).
8. Any non-custodial measure necessary and proportionate to prevent a specific danger.

Article (48) — The home and ownership

Temporary removal from the home shall not depend on whether the respondent is its owner or tenant where a less restrictive measure cannot avert the danger. The order shall not transfer ownership or extinguish a civil right. The judge may regulate limited access to collect belongings under police supervision.

Article (49) — Children and temporary contact

1. A protection order may temporarily suspend, restrict or require supervision of the respondent’s contact with children where contact creates danger, without determining substantive custody rights.
2. Where proceedings are pending, the Personal Status Court or other competent court shall be informed of any temporary decision concerning the child.
3. Visitation shall not be used to convey messages or threats to the victim. A neutral handover point or professionally supervised visits may be arranged.

Article (50) — Weapons

1. The judge may order licensed weapons to be deposited or unlicensed weapons to be seized where connected with the danger. The licensing authority shall be notified.
2. Where the respondent belongs to the armed forces, security forces or another body authorised to carry service weapons, their command or competent superior shall be notified to implement temporary withdrawal of the service weapon under the judge’s order and service regulations.
3. Licensed weapons shall be returned when the reason for restriction ceases, by decision of the competent authority following a risk assessment.

Article (51) — Urgent financial measures

Within their jurisdiction and without determining substantive maintenance or ownership rights, the judge may temporarily require the respondent not to discontinue medicine, a service or maintenance already established as obligatory; to meet emergency treatment costs shown to arise from the act; or to refrain from dissipating shared property or the victim’s own property. Substantive matters shall be referred to the competent court.

Article (52) — Notification and execution

A protection order shall be executed upon issue and communicated to the Family Protection Directorate and competent police station. It shall be entered in a secure electronic register accessible to executing authorities around the clock. Its terms and the penalty for breach shall be explained to the respondent. An appeal shall not stay execution unless the court decides otherwise for an exceptional reason recorded in writing.

Article (53) — Appeal and review

A regular protection order or its renewal may be challenged before the competent cassation authority within seven days of notification. The respondent may request review of an emergency order immediately upon notification, and the court shall schedule an urgent hearing. The request shall not automatically stay execution.

Article (54) — Renewal and termination

1. A regular protection order may be renewed for periods totalling no more than six months where the danger persists.
2. In high-risk cases, it may be extended by a reasoned decision to a total period not exceeding one year, with review every three months.
3. The victim may request amendment or cancellation. The judge may refuse cancellation where the order protects a child or person lacking legal capacity, or where a serious danger requires an independent measure.

Article (55) — Reconciliation and mediation

1. Reconciliation or mediation shall not be a condition for registering a complaint, providing protection or investigating. The parties shall not be compelled to participate.
2. Family counselling or mediation may be offered only at an adult victim’s free and informed request, following risk assessment and through specialists. It shall not take place in cases of sexual violence, high risk or child abuse where it could endanger safety.
3. Settlement shall not extinguish the public right of prosecution or halt proceedings for an offence where the law does not permit this.
4. Settlement, custom or tribal resolution shall not be used to compel a victim to withdraw a claim or return to a dangerous environment.

Article (56) — Right to safe accommodation

Every victim needing a safe place has the right to suitable accommodation without discrimination or a requirement to file a criminal complaint. Admission shall be voluntary for an adult with full legal capacity. Neither the respondent nor another relative may challenge the mere decision to admit the victim to the centre.

Article (57) — Government network of safe centres

1. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs shall establish or designate government facilities ensuring a safe accommodation pathway operating around the clock in every governorate.
2. The network may comprise regional centres, smaller facilities and transitional apartments where a needs assessment shows this to be more efficient, provided remote areas are not denied access.
3. Separate, safe arrangements shall be made as needed for women with their children, male victims, older people and persons with disabilities, preserving privacy and security.

Article (58) — Non-governmental centres

1. A licensed Iraqi non-governmental organisation or qualifying non-profit body may establish and manage a safe centre with a Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs licence under published standards.
2. Licensing shall not require discretionary security approval based on unspecified criteria. The Ministry of Interior’s role shall be confined to safety requirements and security checks provided by law.
3. Implementing instructions shall establish a transitional process for regularising existing centres within six months of the Law’s entry into force. A centre providing actual protection shall not be closed before a safe alternative is secured for residents, except in cases of serious danger.

Article (59) — Safe-centre standards

Licensing standards shall include, at minimum: confidentiality of the location where necessary; building safety and emergency exits; proportionate security; privacy; freedom from arbitrary restrictions on liberty; clear admission and departure procedures; child protection; prevention of exploitation and harassment; medication management; disability access; recordkeeping; an independent complaints mechanism; background checks for staff in sensitive posts; and a medical, psychological and legal response plan.

Article (60) — Confidentiality of accommodation locations

The confidential location of a centre, residents’ names and their files are protected information. They shall not be published or leaked except where legally necessary and to the narrowest extent possible. The operator’s administrative address may differ from the actual accommodation location.

Article (61) — Service package

According to needs and resources, the protection system shall ensure access to emergency care, healthcare and mental healthcare; social work; legal assistance; child support and temporary education; identity documents; safe transport and communication; social support; referral to economic empowerment and transitional housing programmes; and a departure safety plan.

Article (62) — Persons with disabilities and older people

Centres and services shall provide reasonable accommodation and assistance with communication, mobility and personal care. Lack of legal capacity shall not be presumed solely because of disability or age. Where a caregiver is the source of danger, the social authority shall arrange a safe alternative without leaving the person without care.

Article (63) — Accompanying children

A safe centre shall accommodate a victim’s children with them where this serves their interests, providing suitable space, education or its continuation, psychological services and data protection. Separation of a child from a non-abusive mother or father shall not be a condition of accommodation except under a judicial decision based on the child’s interests.

Article (64) — Behaviour-change programmes

In addition to punishment, or as a condition of a measure where legally permitted, the court may require a perpetrator to attend an accredited behaviour-change, addiction treatment, anger management or counselling programme. Completion shall not replace criminal liability or automatically justify lifting a protection order.

Article (65) — Departure and long-term recovery

Departure planning shall begin upon admission and cover housing, income, children’s safety, education or employment, documents, safe communication, health and psychological follow-up, and any protection order. A victim shall not be discharged merely because an administrative period expires if this would immediately return them to serious danger before a reasonable alternative is available.

Article (66) — Specialised investigation

Domestic violence cases shall follow existing investigative procedures, accounting for their recurrent nature and the risk of retaliation. Investigators shall examine previous incidents, protection orders, weapons, older injuries, threats and digital evidence, and shall not confine investigation to the latest incident where a connected, relevant sequence exists.

Article (67) — Privacy and closed hearings

The court may hold all or part of a hearing in private where necessary to protect a child, victim or private life, giving reasons for its decision. Publication of a child victim’s or witness’s name, image or identifying information is prohibited. Legal restrictions on publishing details of family cases shall be observed.

Article (68) — Evidence

Legally recognised forms of evidence are admissible, including testimony, medical and forensic reports, photographs, lawful recordings, messages, communications records, digital evidence, expert reports and relevant earlier records. No single specified type of evidence is required to begin an investigation. The court shall assess the weight of each item under the law.

Article (69) — Delayed reporting

Delay in reporting alone shall not imply that an allegation is false. The investigating authority shall examine reasons for delay, including fear, economic dependence, isolation, young age, disability or family pressure, without dispensing with evidentiary requirements or statutory time limits.

Article (70) — Preventing procedural retraumatisation

The court and investigating authority shall take necessary steps to minimise unnecessary confrontation and repeated questioning. Where legally permitted, they may use a separate room, video link, screen or support person, especially for children, persons with disabilities and victims of sexual violence, while preserving the defence’s right to challenge evidence.

Article (71) — Prohibition of pressure and interference

Threats against victims, reporters or witnesses, and family, tribal, employment-related or financial pressure intended to make them change statements, withdraw claims or refrain from seeking protection, are prohibited. The investigating authority shall immediately be informed of any such interference, which shall be dealt with under Article (78) or more severe laws.

Article (72) — Withdrawal and the public right of prosecution

Withdrawal or settlement shall affect only offences for which the Criminal Procedure Code permits proceedings to be halted on withdrawal. An act affecting the public right of prosecution, constituting a felony or involving an offence not dependent on a complaint does not become a private dispute because of kinship.

Article (73) — Compensation and restitution

A criminal judgment shall not prejudice the victim’s right under existing laws to seek compensation, return of money or documents, or treatment costs. Within its powers, the competent court may take conservatory measures to prevent dissipation of assets shown to relate to a legitimate claim.

Article (74) — Legal assistance

High-risk cases, children and victims unable to afford assistance shall receive priority in referral to the existing legal aid system. Victims shall receive understandable information on protection, complaints, divorce, maintenance or custody procedures where relevant to their safety, without social services replacing a lawyer.

Article (75) — Basic domestic violence offence

Without prejudice to a more severe penalty, anyone intentionally committing an act specified in Articles (12) to (18), where the harm or threshold specific to that Article is met and no other law prescribes a more severe penalty, shall be punished by detention for no less than three months and no more than one year and a fine of no less than one million and no more than five million dinars, or either penalty.

Article (76) — Aggravated repeated or coercive violence

A person who commits a repeated pattern of coercive control or psychological or economic violence accompanied by threats, isolation, surveillance or substantial restriction of liberty, causing serious fear or significant harm, or who repeats a domestic violence offence within the recidivism period specified in the Penal Code, shall be punished by detention for no less than one and no more than three years and a fine of no less than three million and no more than ten million dinars.

Article (77) — Breach of a protection order

1. Anyone intentionally breaching an effective protection order after notification shall be punished by detention for three months to one year and a fine of one million to five million dinars, or either penalty.
2. The penalty shall be detention for one to three years where the breach involves violence, a serious threat, armed approach or repeated breach.
3. This penalty shall not preclude a more severe penalty for an accompanying act.

Article (78) — Retaliation and coerced withdrawal

Anyone threatening, coercing or assaulting a victim, reporter, witness or service provider to prevent reporting, compel withdrawal of a complaint or alteration of statements, or force departure from a safe centre, shall be punished by detention for no less than six months and no more than three years. A more severe penalty shall apply where the act constitutes a more serious offence.

Article (79) — Liability of a defaulting official

1. A public official or person entrusted with public service shall incur disciplinary liability for refusing without lawful reason to register a report, execute a protection order or fulfil an express duty under this Law, or for negligently disclosing protected information.
2. Where deliberate refusal is established despite knowledge of imminent, serious danger, and the refusal directly causes exposure of the victim to serious harm, the penalty shall be detention for six months to two years, without prejudice to a more severe penalty.
3. A mere good-faith professional error of judgment shall not incur criminal liability unless it reaches the degree of negligence punishable under another law.

Article (80) — Disclosure of protected information

Anyone intentionally and unlawfully disclosing a confidential safe-centre location or information identifying the whereabouts of a protected victim, where this could endanger the victim, shall be punished by detention for six months to two years and a fine of two million to ten million dinars, or either penalty. A more severe penalty shall apply under the law if disclosure results in an assault or another offence.

Article (81) — Obstruction of centres and licensing

1. Anyone forcibly entering a safe centre or obstructing its work by force or threats shall receive the penalties applicable to the act under existing laws. Targeting a protected victim shall be an aggravating circumstance.
2. An administrative fine of five million to twenty-five million dinars shall apply to anyone institutionally operating an accommodation centre without a licence after the regularisation period. Closure may also be ordered judicially or by an appealable administrative order under the implementing instructions.
3. A person offering emergency humanitarian hospitality to another shall not be regarded as operating an unlicensed accommodation centre unless this becomes an organised, continuing activity requiring licensing.

Article (82) — Bad-faith false reporting

A good-faith reporter shall not be punished merely because evidence is insufficient or an acquittal is issued. A person proven to have fabricated an incident or evidence, knowing it to be false and intending harm, shall be subject to existing provisions on false reporting or false accusation, as judicially classified. This Article creates no presumption against the reporter.

Article (83) — Multiple offences and the more severe penalty

Where a single act constitutes an offence under this Law and another under the Penal Code, Anti-Human Trafficking Law or another law in force, the general rules on multiple offences and the more severe penalty shall apply. Describing an act as “domestic” shall not reduce its otherwise applicable penalty.

Article (84) — Aggravating circumstances

Within the limits permitted by the Penal Code, aggravating circumstances shall include: the victim being a child, pregnant, older, disabled or dependent on the offender; commission in a child’s presence; use of a weapon; strangulation; repeated violence; previous breach of a protection order; abuse of office or legal authority; multiple offenders; confinement of the victim; or commission in retaliation for reporting.

Article (85) — Amendment of Article (41/1) of the Penal Code

Paragraph (1) of Article (41) of Penal Code No. (111) of 1969, as amended, shall be repealed and replaced with the following:

“1- Beating, physical or psychological harm, or degrading treatment in the name of disciplining a husband, wife or child shall not constitute the exercise of a right. Non-violent means of upbringing and guidance remain lawful insofar as they do not infringe a person’s dignity or safety and are consistent with the law.”

Legislative note: The final drafting requires exact comparison with the latest text in force of the Article when referred to the Council of Representatives.

Article (86) — Repeal of Article (409) of the Penal Code

Article (409) of Penal Code No. (111) of 1969, as amended, shall be repealed. Discovering a spouse or relative in circumstances the actor considers dishonourable shall not provide a special ground for reducing punishment for killing or injury. General provisions shall apply according to the act and established circumstances.

Article (87) — So-called honour motives

A provision shall be added to the Penal Code’s rules on motives and mitigating circumstances stating that so-called “cleansing of shame”, protection of family reputation, suspicion of sexual conduct or breach of tribal custom does not in itself constitute an honourable motive or mitigating excuse for killing, injury, deprivation of liberty or domestic violence. References to Articles (128, 130 and 131) shall be reviewed legislatively to prevent their use contrary to this provision.

Article (88) — Effect of subsequent marriage in sexual assault or abduction offences

Article (398) of the Penal Code shall be repealed. Any provision in Article (427) or a similar text that makes marriage between offender and victim grounds for halting proceedings, suspending punishment or granting a special excuse shall also be repealed. Numbering and wording shall be checked against the latest text in force before adoption.

Article (89) — No diminution through personal status provisions

No provision of personal status law, a code of Sharia provisions or custom may be interpreted as requiring a victim shown to face serious danger to return to a dangerous home or contact someone subject to a no-contact order. A protection order does not finally determine rights concerning marriage, divorce, maintenance or custody, which remain for the competent courts.

Article (90) — Priority of integrated legislative review

Within one year of the Law’s entry into force, the National Committee shall submit an integrated package of amendments to the Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and relevant family laws to remove conflicts or unintended effects revealed in application. A statement of reasons for each amendment shall be published and submitted to the Council of State and competent constitutional authorities before referral.

Article (91) — Funding

1. The appropriations necessary to implement this Law shall be included in the federal budget under clear items for the competent ministries and authorities.
2. Priority shall be given to funding round-the-clock response, safe centres, expanded access points, training for investigators, judges and health and social workers, and the secure data system.
3. An urgent protection service shall not be suspended because a subsidiary allocation is exhausted where transfers or reallocations are possible under the budget law and applicable instructions.

Article (92) — Grants and funding for non-governmental centres

Subject to the budget and rules on contracts, grants and oversight, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs may fund services provided by licensed non-governmental centres through contracts or grants based on available beds, service quality and outcomes. Conflicts of interest shall be prevented, financial auditing required, and residents’ data excluded from public financial reports.

Article (93) — Audit and oversight

Public funds allocated to implementing this Law shall be subject to the Federal Board of Supreme Audit, Federal Commission of Integrity and internal oversight, each within its powers. Aggregate expenditure and outcome data shall be published without personal information or security-sensitive locations.

Article (94) — National data system

1. In coordination with the competent authorities, the National Committee shall establish a unified data framework linking police, courts, healthcare and social services statistically, without disclosing identities.
2. The system shall separate confidential operational data from anonymised statistical data.
3. Indicators shall be collected by type of violence, age, sex, governorate, disability, family relationship, case outcome, protection order and services, to the extent necessary for public policy.
4. Stigmatising lists and use of data for purposes other than protection, justice and lawful statistical research are prohibited.

Article (95) — Annual national report

No later than the end of the first quarter each year, the National Committee shall publish a report on the preceding year covering numbers of reports, protection orders, breaches and referrals; response times; centre use; available case outcomes; coverage gaps; training; aggregate spending; and complaints about authorities’ performance. Data shall be anonymised and accompanied by clear indicator definitions to distinguish reports, cases and judgments.

Article (96) — Training and accreditation

Within six months of the Law’s entry into force, the competent authorities shall establish mandatory initial and periodic curricula for police, investigators, medical and mental health staff, social workers, education staff and safe-centre workers. Training shall cover risk assessment, child protection, digital evidence, strangulation, sexual violence, disability, confidentiality, avoidance of blame and accused persons’ rights. No employee shall manage a high-risk case alone before completing the minimum training.

Article (97) — Implementing instructions

On a joint proposal from the relevant authorities, and after obtaining the Supreme Judicial Council’s opinion on judicial matters, the Council of Ministers shall issue regulations and instructions necessary to facilitate this Law’s implementation within ninety days of publication. These shall particularly address risk assessment, safe centres, the protection order register, referral, data protection and training.

Article (98) — Institutional transition and implementation deadlines

1. Within thirty days: appoint National Committee members and begin coordinating existing resources.
2. Within ninety days: approve the risk assessment form, judicial duty pathway, referral protocol and temporary centre licensing standards.
3. Within six months: operate the protection order register, train the first cohort, and provide a round-the-clock safe accommodation pathway in every governorate through an existing facility or temporary agreement.
4. Within eighteen months: complete the minimum safe-centre network and specialised governorate-level coverage.
5. Within thirty-six months: establish a specialised access point or accredited personnel in every district under Article (24), and conduct an independent national assessment of coverage and outcomes.

Article (99) — Review and evaluation

Two years after implementation begins, and every three years thereafter, the National Committee shall commission an independent impact assessment covering victim safety, repeated violence, response time, investigation quality, rural access, centre performance, protection order effects, complaints against officials and unintended consequences. Findings shall be submitted to the Council of Ministers and Council of Representatives, and a public version published.

Article (100) — Entry into force

This Law shall enter into force thirty days after publication in the Official Gazette. Delayed implementing instructions shall not prevent the exercise of self-executing rights and procedures from the date of entry into force.