Proposed bill · Energy, Infrastructure, Water, Environment and Urban Development

Land Administration, Surveying, Real Estate Registration and Modern Rights in Rem Law

Document numberPOL-57

TypeProposed federal bill — legislative repeal and replacement

Version1.0

Publication and update date7 October 2026

Executive summary

This bill proposes a comprehensive modernisation of the legal framework linking land, rights and their holders in Iraq. According to the Ministry of Justice, the Real Estate Registration Department still operates primarily under Real Estate Registration Law No. (43) of 1971. That law provides established protection for the formal requirements of property transactions and the evidentiary authority of registration, but predates modern digital and geospatial data environments by more than five decades. On 16 July 2026, the Ministry of Justice announced that it had completed a draft amendment to the law and referred it to the Council of State in preparation for the legislative process. On 23 September 2026, the Council of Representatives also discussed aligning real estate registration with digital transformation and biometric title deeds.

This bill goes beyond partial amendment to provide an integrated replacement law bringing together registration, surveying, maps, property identifiers and the management of entries and registrable rights in rem, without creating a body parallel to the Real Estate Registration Department or rewriting the Civil Code. It establishes a fundamental rule: the official register is the source of publicity and protection; a card, printed deed or application is a means of verification and does not itself embody the right.

The law accommodates the automation already under way at the Ministry of Justice, gives the electronic register and digital extract clear evidentiary authority, and permits property formalities to be completed electronically subject to stringent safeguards. This requires a special provision because Electronic Signature and Electronic Transactions Law No. (78) of 2012 originally excluded transactions for which legislation prescribes special formalities. It also connects the real estate register to the national spatial data infrastructure being developed by the Ministry of Planning, while keeping personal ownership data under the registration authority’s control.

The bill preserves the constitutional framework of ownership and decentralisation: Articles (23) and (27) of the Constitution protect private property and public assets, while Articles (115) and (121) require respect for regional powers in non-exclusive matters. The law therefore regulates the federal system and governorates not incorporated into a region, establishing a framework for mutual recognition and interoperability with the region rather than assuming centralisation that the Constitution does not establish.

Constitutional and legal context

Article (23) of the Iraqi Constitution protects private property and provides that expropriation is permissible only for the public benefit and in return for fair compensation. Article (27) establishes the inviolability of public assets and requires legislation governing the preservation, administration and disposal of state property. This makes the real estate register a constitutional instrument protecting two parallel rights: individuals’ ownership rights and society’s right to safeguard public assets against loss or seizure.

Civil Code No. (40) of 1951 establishes the system of rights in rem, while Real Estate Registration Law No. (43) of 1971 makes registration an essential element of property transactions. Recent Federal Court of Cassation decisions, including Decision 1686/Civil Panel/2026, have confirmed the continuing rule that a property sale outside the competent registration process does not satisfy statutory formalities. In a decision published in 2026, the Expanded Civil Panel also confirmed that correcting a property’s classification falls within the Real Estate Registration Directorate’s jurisdiction under the applicable law.

The Ministry of Justice confirms that the General Real Estate Registration Department, including its divisions, directorates and local offices, remains governed by Law No. (43) of 1971. Modernisation has nevertheless entered an operational phase: on 29 January 2026, the government launched a project to automate sales and ownership transfers; the Ministry extended the system to several directorates, began electronically archiving registers and restrictions, conducted biometric deed training, and completed a draft amendment to the Real Estate Registration Law, referring it to the Council of State in July 2026.

In the spatial domain, the Ministry of Planning is working in 2026 to build the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) and unify geospatial information management. Modernising the real estate register should therefore not create an isolated technical system. It should produce a legal parcel layer interoperable with planning, municipal, agricultural and infrastructure systems, while determination of ownership and rights remains exclusively within the real estate register.

Legislative gap and proposed policy

Gaps addressed by the bill
Area	Existing position or risk	Legislative response
Principal legislation	The Real Estate Registration Law dates from 1971 and regulates registration in considerable detail, but predates modern digital transformation.	Gradual repeal and replacement that preserves existing rights and entries while modernising formalities and procedures.
Surveying and maps	Boundaries, entries and maps are distributed across paper registers and multiple authorities, with potentially different levels of accuracy.	A unified property identifier, cadastral register, geodetic reference, parcel lineage and links between maps and rights.
Automation	Ongoing government automation and biometric deed projects require a permanent legislative basis identifying the legally authoritative data source.	The electronic register becomes the official original following reconciliation; the card is a verification tool rather than the source of ownership.
Electronic signature	General electronic signature legislation excludes transactions subject to special formalities.	A special provision authorising electronic property formalities with enhanced safeguards after implementing regulations are issued.
Multiple databases	The risk of conflicting copies of identity, planning, agricultural and state land data.	The single-source principle and interoperability rather than repeated copying.
Federalism	Land is not an expressly exclusive federal competence, and regions have constitutional powers.	Direct federal application within federal authority and governorates not incorporated into a region, with mutual recognition with regions.
Damaged registers	Disputes, displacement and missing documents in some areas.	A procedure for renewed registration and reconstructing registers that protects absent persons and groups at risk of losing rights.

Legislative approach: Because the subject brings together land administration, surveying, registration and registrable rights, and because the government itself is amending the current law to accommodate digitisation, repeal and replacement is more coherent than adding dozens of digital provisions to a law built for a paper environment. Existing regulations and instructions nevertheless remain temporarily effective insofar as they do not conflict, avoiding an operational vacuum.

Text of the bill

In the name of the people
Presidency of the Republic
On the basis of what the Council of Representatives has passed and the President of the Republic has ratified, and pursuant to the Constitution, the following law is issued:

Chapter One — General provisions and definitions

Article (1) — Name of the law

This law shall be called the Land Administration, Surveying, Real Estate Registration and Modern Rights in Rem Law, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Law’.

Article (2) — Objectives

This Law aims to secure land tenure and ownership, modernise the real estate register and cadastral surveying, establish a stable legal and technical link between a right, the property and its holder, simplify transactions, reduce forgery, duplication and conflicting entries, enable digital services, improve state land administration, and support planning, investment and property credit without prejudicing private property safeguards or expropriation and compensation rules.

Article (3) — Governing principles

This Law shall be applied on the principles of legality, protection of ownership, the evidentiary authority of the register, parcel unity, survey accuracy, public access to information permitted for disclosure, personal data protection, technological neutrality, interoperability, avoiding new bodies where an existing formation can perform the function, proportionality between accuracy requirements and service costs, and ensuring that historical documentation deficiencies do not deprive a person of a legitimate right that can be established by law.

Article (4) — Constitutional scope of application

This Law applies to real estate registration offices under federal authority, federal bodies and governorates not incorporated into a region, each within its jurisdiction. In the Kurdistan Region and other regions, Articles (115) and (121) of the Constitution shall be observed. Mutual recognition of entries and deeds, data exchange and technical standards shall operate under law and agreements between competent authorities, preserving legal transactions throughout the Republic of Iraq without diminishing a region’s constitutional powers.

Article (5) — Relationship with the Civil Code

The substantive provisions governing principal and accessory rights in rem under the Civil Code and special laws remain effective unless this Law expressly provides otherwise. This Law regulates proof, registration, surveying of the property concerned, publicity and management of entries for those rights; representing a right in a digital system does not itself create a new right in rem.

Article (6) — Basic definitions

The following expressions have the meanings assigned to them: Ministry: the Ministry of Justice; Department: the General Real Estate Registration Department; Directorate: the competent real estate registration directorate or local office; real estate register: the official database recording property descriptions, rights, restrictions and transactions; parcel: a spatial unit defined by boundaries and a unique identifier; cadastral register: engineering data, maps and coordinates linked to a parcel; unified property identifier: a permanent, non-duplicated parcel code; rights holder: any natural or legal person with an established right in rem or registered legal entry; cadastral map: the official representation of parcel boundaries and features; survey report: the technical document produced through inspection, measurement and boundary demarcation.

Article (7) — Digital definitions

Electronic register means the digitally approved version of a property entry; audit log means the indelible chronological record of procedures, changes and authorised users; digital extract means the official electronically signed document issued by the system; high-assurance identity means a legally approved verification method linking a person to their national or legal identity; and timestamp means approved technical proof of a procedure’s date and time.

Article (8) — Definition of registrable rights

Registrable rights include ownership, disposal rights, usufruct, use, habitation, musataha development rights, easements, waqf and long leases where established by law; mortgages, possessory pledges and preferential rights in rem; ownership of separately divided units and common parts; and any other right in rem established by applicable law.

Article (9) — A single property reference

A property may not have more than one unified property identifier in the national system. A change of owner, right or administrative address shall not change that identifier, except upon subdivision, amalgamation or parcel reconstitution under this Law.

Article (10) — Primacy of legal and spatial accuracy

The register must reflect the correct legal right, and the cadastral register must reflect location, boundaries and area to the prescribed accuracy. Where a conflict arises, neither shall be changed automatically; the reconciliation and rectification procedures under this Law shall be followed, protecting good-faith third parties’ rights.

Chapter Two — Institutional administration and national coordination

Article (11) — Competence of the Real Estate Registration Department

The General Real Estate Registration Department is the competent federal authority for administering the real estate register; registering transactions, judgments, rights and restrictions; preserving registers, maps and files; issuing deeds and extracts; and managing the federal digital system under this Law.

Article (12) — No parallel body

This Law creates no new independent real estate registration body. Where necessary, technical units for cadastral surveying, geospatial data, quality, digital security and interoperability shall be established within the Department. The Minister may reorganise existing units within available appropriations.

Article (13) — Land Administration Coordination Council

A coordination council shall be formed, chaired by the Minister of Justice or a delegate, with appropriately ranked representatives of the Ministries of Finance, Planning, Construction, Housing and Municipalities, Agriculture, Water Resources and Interior; the Baghdad Mayoralty; the Statistics and Geographic Information Systems Authority; waqf authorities; a representative of governorates not incorporated into a region; and other bodies as required. The Council shall not replace any body’s competence; its functions are limited to harmonising standards, exchanging data, resolving institutional conflicts and approving technical transition plans.

Article (14) — Functions of the Coordination Council

The Council shall approve property identifier standards, the national data model, spatial data exchange policy, resurvey priorities, rules for integrating state land data, register quality indicators and the response plan for lost or damaged registers. It shall issue a public annual report on progress and risks without disclosing protected personal or security information.

Article (15) — Local responsibility

Directorates shall undertake registration, inspection, surveying, verification and public service within their geographical jurisdiction, complying with national standards. They may not create parallel numbering or databases disconnected from the central system except in an emergency with documented authorisation.

Article (16) — Property single-window principle

The Ministry shall work to make the Directorate or property portal a single point of entry for transactions. Government systems shall exchange necessary confirmations with competent bodies instead of requiring citizens to obtain documents already held by the state, subject to documents that the law requires the person concerned to supply.

Article (17) — Integration with the judiciary

Secure electronic channels shall connect the Department and competent courts to receive judgments, decisions, attachments and their discharge, and verify that they have acquired the requisite legal finality. No electronic order shall be accepted unless transmitted through an authenticated channel or contained in a verifiable official document.

Article (18) — Integration with national identity

Where the service is available, natural persons’ identities shall be verified through the national identity card database, within lawful powers and under the data minimisation principle. The real estate register shall not retain raw biometric data unnecessary for registration.

Article (19) — Integration with the commercial register and legal persons

Where interoperable official databases exist, the Department shall electronically verify legal personality and the authority of representatives and authorised signatories, recording the beneficiary of the property right as required by anti-money laundering and related laws.

Article (20) — Coordination with national geospatial data

Cadastral register layers shall integrate with the National Spatial Data Infrastructure and official geospatial information bodies. The legal property layer shall remain the Real Estate Registration Department’s responsibility, and its evidentiary authority shall not transfer to display or planning platforms.

Chapter Three — Property identifiers, the cadastral register and geodetic reference

Article (21) — Unified property identifier

Each parcel shall receive a unique, permanent national identifier within the federal system. Instructions shall govern its structure and linkage to historical cadastral district, parcel and serial numbers, retaining all previous identifiers for traceability.

Article (22) — Parcel history

The system shall preserve property lineage showing the parcels from which the current parcel originated and those created from it by subdivision, amalgamation or reorganisation. Historical relationships shall not be erased when an earlier entry closes.

Article (23) — Geodetic reference

The competent national surveying authority, in coordination with the Ministry of Planning and the Department, shall adopt a national geodetic reference and approved transformation standards between historical maps and records and modern systems. Undocumented transformations that displace legal boundaries or lose the original reference’s traceability are prohibited.

Article (24) — Data layers

The system shall separate the parcel’s legal boundary layer from planning, land use, infrastructure, environmental, heritage and agricultural restriction layers. Each layer must identify its source, date and responsible authority; a planning layer does not become a right in rem merely by appearing on a map.

Article (25) — Accuracy levels

Instructions shall prescribe spatial accuracy levels according to the area’s character, land value, urban density and procedural purpose. Rural or low-value areas may not be required to incur surveying costs disproportionate to the purpose; accuracy shall improve progressively upon transactions, development or resurvey.

Article (26) — Technical standards

National specifications shall be adopted for surveying, maps, coordinates, symbols, metadata and equipment documentation and calibration. They shall be reviewed regularly to ensure interchangeability, long-term readability and freedom from data lock-in to one supplier’s proprietary format.

Article (27) — Natural and artificial boundaries

Boundaries shall be documented using field features, coordinates and legal documents. The report shall identify the type of marker and the limits of reliance upon it. If a physical marker disappears, coordinates, legal evidence and the measurement history shall remain the basis for reinstatement under published technical procedures.

Article (28) — Permanent markers

In coordination with the surveying authority, the Department may establish reference point networks and permanent survey markers. Damaging, moving or tampering with them is prohibited. Project implementers shall notify the Department before removing a marker for a public project and enable its reinstatement.

Article (29) — Three-dimensional surveying

Property units, common parts, tunnels and multi-level structures may be represented in three dimensions where their nature requires it. Such representation describes a right and its extent; it does not itself create a right in rem not established by law.

Article (30) — Building data

A property entry may link to building data, unit number, floor, use and construction permit for descriptive and integration purposes. Authoritative real estate register data must be distinguished from sectoral data, which remain their originating authority’s responsibility.

Chapter Four — Cadastral surveying and boundary demarcation

Article (31) — Who may conduct surveying

Cadastral surveys shall be conducted by the Department’s surveying staff or licensed professional surveyors accredited under regulations issued for this purpose. Private-sector work is subject to verification and approval and becomes part of the register only after official endorsement.

Article (32) — Professional surveyors register

The Department shall maintain a register of licensed surveyors stating their qualifications, accreditation scope, professional insurance where required by regulations and disciplinary penalties. Its non-personal portion shall be publicly accessible.

Article (33) — Survey application

A survey application shall identify the property, purpose and applicant’s legal capacity and may be submitted electronically. Before fieldwork, the Directorate shall check previous entries, maps, changes, plans and known disputes.

Article (34) — Notification of neighbours

Where a procedure establishes, changes or reconstructs a boundary, rights holders in adjoining parcels shall receive provable notice of the inspection date and a reasonable opportunity to attend and present documents. Absence after proper service shall not prevent completion of the survey and shall be recorded in the report.

Article (35) — Boundary report

A report shall record attendees, documents, boundary and marker descriptions, measurements, points of agreement and objections, attaching the map and technical photographs where necessary. Attendees shall sign, or reasons for refusing shall be recorded; the report shall be electronically approved after verification.

Article (36) — Boundary agreement

Rights holders’ agreement on an undisputed boundary’s location may be documented where it does not conceal an ownership transfer or contravene legal area or planning requirements. If an agreement exchanges land area or transfers a right, property transaction and registration procedures must be followed.

Article (37) — Boundary disputes

If a serious dispute over title or boundaries exceeds the Department’s authority, it shall be recorded, the affected portion of the transaction suspended and the parties referred to the competent court. Suspension shall not extend to independent, undisputed portions that can be legally and technically separated.

Article (38) — Minor area discrepancies

Instructions shall define acceptable technical discrepancies arising from different measurement tools or map transformations, provided no third-party rights are prejudiced. Any discrepancy exceeding technical tolerances or substantially changing ownership shall undergo rectification or settlement under this Law.

Article (39) — Comprehensive resurvey

On the Minister’s proposal and a technical plan, the Council of Ministers may designate an area for resurvey where maps are damaged or inaccurate or the area has experienced extensive urban change or recurring disputes. Project boundaries, procedures and objection rights must be announced before work begins.

Article (40) — Resurvey does not transfer ownership

Resurvey alone may not extinguish or create ownership or a right in rem. Its function is to establish accurate boundaries and descriptions; title disputes shall be resolved through registers, evidence, substantive laws and judicial decisions.

Article (41) — Access to property

An assigned surveyor may enter property as necessary for measurement, after notifying its occupier and at appropriate times, respecting the inviolability of homes. An occupied building’s interior may not be entered without its occupant’s consent or a lawful authorisation.

Article (42) — Liability for damage

The responsible authority or surveyor shall repair direct physical damage caused by unnecessary surveying work or work contrary to proper practice. No compensation is due for ordinary inconvenience inherent in lawful, legitimate and proportionate work.

Chapter Five — The real estate register and its evidentiary authority

Article (43) — Components of an entry

A property entry comprises the parcel identifier, description, location, area and legal classification; rights holders’ names and shares; principal and accessory rights in rem; restrictions, attachments and legal notices; the chain of supporting documents; and links to the cadastral map and survey report.

Article (44) — The register as the official reference

The approved real estate register, paper or electronic according to the transition stage, is the official reference proving registered rights. Once transition to the electronic register is complete under this Law, its signed and approved version becomes the operational original, while the historical archive is retained.

Article (45) — Evidentiary authority of digital extracts

A digitally signed or sealed extract issued by the official system has the evidentiary authority of a paper extract where its source and integrity can be verified. Citizens may not be required to obtain additional paper certification of an extract the receiving authority can verify electronically.

Article (46) — Registration as constitutive of a transaction

Subject to special provisions on inheritance, judicial decisions and events for which law provides otherwise, a transaction transferring, creating, varying or terminating a right in rem over property is not concluded until final registration is completed in the real estate register in the legally prescribed form.

Article (47) — Previous entries

A transaction conflicting with an earlier right, attachment or prohibition on disposal visible in the register may not be registered without a valid legal instrument removing it or establishing the new right’s priority. The system must automatically warn the officer and applicant before completion.

Article (48) — Priority

Registered rights rank by the time registration is completed or by receipt of a legal order establishing a different priority. The official timestamp shall record application submission and completion; instructions shall specify the effects of simultaneous and incomplete applications.

Article (49) — Provisional entry

A provisional entry may be made where authorised by law to protect a genuine application’s priority while a non-substantive deficiency is remedied within a specified period. It expires automatically unless lawfully extended and does not become a right in rem before final registration.

Article (50) — Notice of proceedings

On a judicial communication, proceedings affecting title or registration validity may be noted. The notice shall appear in extracts until removed by court order or in legally specified circumstances.

Article (51) — Attachment and prohibition on disposal

Attachment and disposal-prohibition orders shall be registered immediately upon receipt from a competent body through an authenticated channel, specifying the authority, number, date and scope. An entry may not remain after its basis ceases; the system shall track time-limited orders’ duration.

Article (52) — Registration in persons’ names

Entries shall link natural persons through their national number or approved official identifier and legal persons through their legal registration number. Names alone shall not serve as the sole identifier where an official identifier is available.

Article (53) — Protection of good faith

Rectification and disputes shall protect a person who acquired a registered right in good faith, relying on a legally sound official register. This does not prevent recovery where forgery, absence of a legal instrument or other legally prescribed grounds are established, without prejudice to an injured person’s right to compensation where its grounds exist.

Article (54) — Register of extinguished rights

Expired rights and restrictions shall not be deleted from the historical register but closed with the reason, date and legal basis for termination. Public visibility shall be limited to what law permits, while competent judicial and supervisory bodies retain access.

Chapter Six — Transaction and registration procedures

Article (55) — Initiating a transaction

A transaction begins with an application identifying its type, parties, property and essential documents. Submission, appointments, fee payment and document exchange may occur electronically; these do not themselves complete the property transaction.

Article (56) — Preliminary verification

Before authentication, the Directorate shall verify parties’ identities and capacity, representatives’ authority, property conformity and absence of restrictions, and the legal instrument, fees, taxes and confirmations required by law. It may not request a confirmation obtainable directly from a trusted government database.

Article (57) — Disclosure of price and consideration

For transactions for value, the actual declared consideration shall be recorded. Financial-system payment, due diligence and anti-money laundering requirements shall apply under applicable laws and rules. The Registration Department shall not determine tax policy except insofar as assigned by law.

Article (58) — Expression of intent

Parties’ consent shall be established before the competent officer or through a high-assurance electronic procedure authorised by regulations under this Law, ensuring identity verification, freely formed intent, non-repudiation and a complete transaction record. Personal attendance may be required for high-risk transactions, suspicion or inability to verify.

Article (59) — Effect of the Electronic Signature Law

For property transactions covered here, this Law is special legislation governing formal requirements. Electronic formalities may be fulfilled once specific regulations are issued and the safeguards set out here are available, without prejudicing trusted electronic signature requirements and insofar as consistent with the official nature of real estate registration.

Article (60) — Powers of attorney

A power of attorney authorising property transactions shall be accepted if it meets legally required form, jurisdiction and scope and its continuing validity can be verified. Its limits, duration and restrictions must appear in the transaction file.

Article (61) — Sale, gift and exchange

Contracts of sale, gift, exchange and other ownership transfers shall be registered after their specific legal conditions are verified. The former entry shall close and the new entry open or update in one linked operation, preventing any period without an apparent rights holder.

Article (62) — Inheritance and succession

Transfer to a universal successor shall be established by an inheritance certificate, decision or competent official instrument. A unified succession file may allocate shares automatically under the approved instrument, allowing heirs to register subsequent partition or renunciation of inheritance shares as a separate transaction.

Article (63) — Mortgage

A mortgage shall be registered with its amount or maximum secured obligation, rank, creditor, duration and any conditions requiring publicity by law. Discharge requires the creditor’s authenticated consent, a judgment or another legal instrument; the system shall preserve its ranking history without erasure.

Article (64) — Easements

Easements shall be registered against both dominant and servient properties with a clear description of route or extent, purpose and any duration. They must be spatially represented where possible and do not terminate merely upon a change of owner.

Article (65) — Musataha, usufruct, use and habitation rights

Temporary or spatially limited rights in rem shall be registered with their duration, termination conditions and any spatial boundaries. The register must distinguish the bare owner from the temporary rights holder, preventing transactions inconsistent with the registered right’s scope.

Article (66) — Waqf

Waqf properties and rights shall be registered under waqf laws, the Civil Code and applicable special rules, linking the competent waqf authority, waqf status and disposal restrictions. The digital system may not change waqf status or remove its entry without an express legal instrument.

Article (67) — Long leases

A long lease shall be registered where law treats it as a right in rem or requires registration, showing its term, subject and the effect of ownership transfer. Registering an ordinary lease for disclosure does not dispense with the substantive conditions for it to become a right in rem.

Article (68) — Partition and termination of co-ownership

Consensual or judicial partition shall be registered after approval of any necessary subdivision plan and compliance with planning, agricultural and municipal restrictions. Partition may not circumvent legally prescribed minimum areas or fragmentation prohibitions.

Article (69) — Subdivision and amalgamation

Subdivision or amalgamation may be registered only under a lawful plan certified by the competent authority and consistent with the cadastral register. Each resulting parcel shall receive a new identifier; previous identifiers shall close while property lineage is preserved.

Article (70) — Correction of type, classification or description

Within its jurisdiction, the Directorate shall correct a property’s type, classification or description based on sectoral authorities’ documents, inspection and prescribed procedures. A change in land use or legal status is not accomplished merely through technical correction where it requires another body’s separate decision.

Article (71) — Judicial decisions

Judgments shall be registered when they have acquired the required legal finality and contain the information necessary for enforcement. If enforcement is impossible because of an ambiguous property number or a substantive register conflict, clarification shall be sought from the court; an officer may not alter the operative ruling through personal interpretation.

Article (72) — Expropriation decisions

Expropriation outcomes shall be registered once legal stages are complete and the property or expropriated portion, compensation or instrument permitting registration is identified. This Law is not an independent basis for expropriation and does not replace safeguards in the Expropriation Law and Constitution.

Article (73) — Linked transactions

A sequence of linked transactions may be executed in one registration session if each meets its conditions and the arrangement does not conceal an intermediary or evade a legal obligation. The system shall record each step’s order, time and effect on the entry.

Article (74) — Refusal of registration

A refusal must be written and reasoned, identifying the legal provision, deficiency and avenue of objection. General expressions such as ‘not satisfied’ or ‘administrative reasons’ may not be used without a specific legal basis.

Chapter Seven — Property units, common parts and spatial rights

Article (75) — Ownership of a property unit

An apartment, shop, office or independent building unit may be registered as separate property when subdivision, licensing and special-law requirements are met. Its entry shall link to an undivided share in land and common parts under the deed and plan.

Article (76) — Common building register

Each multi-unit building shall have a linking register comprising land, common parts, units, plans and general restrictions. A common part or its area may not be changed in a manner affecting unit rights without the necessary legal procedure.

Article (77) — Common parts

The register shall identify common parts that cannot be partitioned or separately disposed of. A separate sale of a shared passageway, staircase or facility may not be registered unless its common status has lawfully ceased with the approval of rights holders and competent bodies.

Article (78) — Vertical and subsurface rights

Vertical boundaries of rights in buildings, structures, tunnels, passageways and services may be described where necessary, without creating separate ownership of airspace or subsoil beyond what law permits.

Article (79) — Utility and service rights

Rights of passage for water, sewerage, electricity and telecommunications lines, roads and public services may be registered where supported by law or valid agreement. The affected area shall be spatially represented so buyers or financiers can inspect it before a transaction.

Article (80) — Conflict with public safety

A private right preventing a public body from fulfilling a statutory safety or emergency obligation shall not be registered. Public restrictions must be defined by law or a valid decision, respecting compensation rights where legally required.

Article (81) — Preregistration of housing developments

A special law or regulation may permit a development folio for housing complexes before construction is complete, recording the parent plot, plan, anticipated units, mortgages and obligations. A unit shall not acquire a final ownership entry until subdivision, handover and licensing conditions are met.

Article (82) — Protection of unit purchasers

Where law permits sales of units under construction, the register must allow notation of purchasers’ rights or lawful reservations to prevent repeated sales of the same unit and disclose prior mortgages. Such notation shall not have stronger in rem effect than substantive law provides.

Chapter Eight — State and agricultural land, waqf and public restrictions

Article (83) — State land register

The Ministry of Finance and owning bodies, integrated with the Department, shall establish a unified state property register linking the owning authority, use, allocation, contract, cadastral value and property entry. This administrative register does not replace real estate registration that constitutes or proves a right under law.

Article (84) — Public ownership

State properties shall be registered in the relevant body’s or Treasury’s name under their legal instruments, showing restrictions on sale, mortgage or changes to the beneficiary body. Public asset status may not be erased or the asset disposed of except under legislation governing preservation, administration and disposal of state assets.

Article (85) — Government allocation and use

Where state property is allocated to a public body without ownership transfer, the allocation shall be recorded as administrative information linked to the entry, with its date, basis and any duration. It shall not outrank registered rights in rem except by law.

Article (86) — Government sales and leases

An ownership transfer or right arising from sale or lease of state assets shall be registered only after compliance with the relevant law’s procedures or a valid legal exemption is established. Where connectivity exists, the selling authority shall transmit the award decision, approval and documents electronically.

Article (87) — Agricultural land

The entry must show agricultural land classification, disposal rights and legal restrictions on fragmentation, change of use and disposal, integrated with the Ministry of Agriculture. Data entry shall not change rights established by the State Land Classification Unification Law or agricultural legislation.

Article (88) — Extinguishment of disposal rights

Extinguishment of a disposal right shall be registered only pursuant to a competent authority’s decision or judgment under applicable law, stating the compensation basis where required. A disposal right may not be treated as an administrative notation deletable by the Department’s internal decision.

Article (89) — Waqf land

Waqf authorities shall provide ownership, waqf status and property-affecting decision data through official channels. The Department shall display the entry to prevent registration conflicting with officially established Sharia and legal restrictions.

Article (90) — Heritage and environmental restrictions

Legal restrictions protecting antiquities, heritage, the environment, protected areas and buffer zones shall be noted on the property folio when received from a competent body. The entry shall clarify that this is a regulatory restriction rather than an ownership transfer unless law provides otherwise.

Article (91) — Planning and land-use restrictions

Planning and land-use restrictions shall be imported from the competent planning authority and displayed as a dated official layer. The real estate register may not replace a planning decision or building permit, and a planning authority may not change ownership or rights in rem in its own system.

Article (92) — Single-source principle

Each item of sectoral information shall be maintained by its responsible legal source and accessed by the register through interoperability. The Department shall not create independently editable copies of identity, planning, tax or waqf registers where direct queries to official sources are possible.

Chapter Nine — Electronic registration, security and data integrity

Article (93) — National real estate registration system

The Ministry shall establish a unified national system managing registration transactions, entries, maps, documents and audit trails, introduced progressively across directorates. It must include service-continuity and disconnected-operation or disaster controls.

Article (94) — Digital original

Once a ministerial decision declaring a directorate or group of records ready is published, the approved electronic register becomes their official operational original. Archived paper copies shall serve historical verification and backup purposes, without remaining a parallel independently amendable register.

Article (95) — Phased transition

Paper registers may not be cancelled or destroyed merely because they have been digitised. Archiving instructions shall specify retention periods, originals of historical and legal value, and dual reconciliation procedures before the electronic register is declared the original.

Article (96) — Audit log

The system shall record every creation, amendment, sensitive viewing, printing, rectification or removal of an entry, with user identity, time, reason and reference. No user, including the system administrator, may delete the audit log. Retention periods shall be no shorter than the associated right’s or restriction’s existence and consistent with archive laws.

Article (97) — Separation of powers

Entry, verification and approval shall be separated for substantive transactions. A single user shall not have powers to create and approve an entry and erase its trail without oversight, except in defined emergencies subject to mandatory subsequent review.

Article (98) — Strong authentication

Staff with sensitive powers shall use multi-factor authentication. Digital certificates or equivalent methods shall authenticate extracts and signatures. Keys and permissions shall be reviewed periodically and revoked immediately when service ends or duties change.

Article (99) — Encryption and backups

Data shall be protected in transit and storage through appropriate encryption. Geographically separate backups shall be retained and recovery-tested. A backup is not an active legal copy unless activated under a documented continuity plan.

Article (100) — Cards are not the source of a right

A secure or biometric property deed or card may be issued for verification, but its loss, damage or theft shall not extinguish the right. The card itself is not the source of ownership; the official register entry is authoritative.

Article (101) — Biometric data

Where biometrics verify identity, necessary templates or codes shall be retained under data minimisation principles; raw fingerprints or biometric features shall not appear in property extracts. Their use is governed by privacy, security and legitimate-need rules.

Article (102) — Interoperability

Documented, secure application programming interfaces shall exchange data between the Department and authorised government bodies, with access logs and clear purpose limitations. A body needing only specified fields may not receive comprehensive access to the registration database.

Article (103) — Preventing single-supplier dependency

The state shall own its data, database schemas, keys and interface documentation. Digital system contracts shall require standard-format exports, an exit plan and knowledge transfer. Expiry of a supplier contract may not prevent register operation or data access.

Article (104) — Incident notification

The Department shall maintain a response plan for cyber incidents and register manipulation, notifying competent security, judicial and supervisory bodies when warranted. A person whose rights may be affected shall be notified insofar as this does not prejudice the investigation and enables protection of the right.

Article (105) — Verification of extracts

The Ministry shall provide a public service verifying deeds or extracts through a code or verification method that discloses no unnecessary data. It must show document status, issue date and whether it has been cancelled or replaced.

Article (106) — Long-term preservation

Long-term readable archival formats shall be adopted. Data migrations shall be managed periodically with integrity and reconciliation tests. System upgrades may not lose earlier records or alter their meaning or article and entry numbers.

Chapter Ten — Information access, privacy and combating financial crime

Article (107) — Interested persons’ access rights

Every rights holder, representative or person with a recognised legal interest may obtain an extract or access data needed to establish their right under prescribed procedures and fees, protecting unnecessary third-party data.

Article (108) — Public information

Non-personal parcel boundary, identifier, use, public restriction and aggregate statistical data may be made available for planning, markets and research unless protected for security reasons or involving disproportionate disclosure about individuals.

Article (109) — Searching by person

Comprehensive searches of all a person’s properties shall not be public. They are limited to the person concerned, their representative, and judicial, supervisory, tax, security and other authorities within their legal competence, recording the reason for the query and the enquirer’s identity.

Article (110) — Searching by property

A search service by property identifier or location may provide basic legal information that law permits to be disclosed, concealing identity numbers and sensitive personal data from the public interface.

Article (111) — Due diligence

The Department shall apply property-transaction due diligence, suspicion indicators and reporting requirements under anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing legislation and its rules. Officers may not tip off a person about a legally protected confidential report.

Article (112) — Tracing financial consideration

Where financial rules or anti-money laundering instructions require consideration to pass through the banking system, registration shall be completed only after the Department verifies the prescribed official notification or method, without becoming a banking or tax authority outside its competence.

Article (113) — Fraud indicators

The system may use automated rules to detect unusual patterns, such as repeated property transfers over a short period, multiple identity-change attempts, conflicting powers of attorney or document manipulation. A decision to suspend a transaction or refer it to a competent officer must rest on human review and a legal basis.

Article (114) — Confidentiality of audit records

Usage, investigation and suspicion records are protected data, disclosed only to a competent body or by judicial order. Aggregate forgery-attempt and security-incident statistics may be published without identifying persons or sensitive operational vulnerabilities.

Chapter Eleven — Renewed registration, entry settlement and damaged registers

Article (115) — Grounds for renewed registration

Renewed registration procedures may be opened for unregistered property, property whose register is lost or unusable through serious damage, or property with historical records insufficient by themselves to prove title, under published conditions and procedures ensuring investigation and objection rights.

Article (116) — Settlement shall not become automatic ownership

Possession alone does not confer ownership of state or another person’s property merely through its duration, except within the Civil Code or special legislation. The renewed registration committee must distinguish possession as evidence from the legal basis for acquiring a right.

Article (117) — Evidence in renewed registration

Historical registers, maps, tax records, judgments, official contracts, inheritance, possession, testimony, expert evidence, aerial photographs, public bodies’ records and other evidence may be used according to their legal weight. A digital tool or aerial image alone is not a title deed.

Article (118) — Public notice

A renewed registration application shall be announced through appropriate local and digital means, identifying the property, application’s nature and objection period. Neighbouring rights holders and relevant public bodies shall be notified where identifiable.

Article (119) — Objections to renewed registration

A serious objection shall suspend registration of the disputed portion and be referred to the competent judicial authority if it cannot be resolved administratively within the law. Separable, undisputed aspects may proceed.

Article (120) — Conflict- or displacement-affected areas

On the Ministry’s proposal, the Council of Ministers may announce a special register-reconstruction programme for areas experiencing destruction or widespread displacement, with additional procedures preventing seizure of property belonging to absent persons, displaced people, women, minors and other groups vulnerable to document loss.

Article (121) — Protection against fraudulent registration during absence

A rights holder or court may place a temporary protective alert on property demonstrably at risk of forgery or seizure because of forced absence or conflict. The alert must be time-limited and reviewable and may not indefinitely prevent lawful transactions without a judicial decision.

Article (122) — Recovery of documents

The Department shall provide a procedure for reissuing extracts and replacing lost deeds without repetitive paper requirements where the original entry is sound and the rights holder’s identity verifiable. A lost copy’s validity for physical verification shall be cancelled while the right remains in the register.

Article (123) — Mass graves, missing persons and heirs

A person’s status in the real estate register may change only under an approved civil status document, judgment or legal certificate. The Department shall coordinate with the judiciary and competent authorities to facilitate succession when death or fate is established, without weakening legal evidentiary standards.

Article (124) — Special settlements

A renewed registration committee may not settle political or compensation disputes within a special authority’s, court’s or law’s jurisdiction. It shall refer applications to the proper procedure, preserving notation priority where necessary.

Chapter Twelve — Rectification, audit, objections and appeals

Article (125) — Correction of clerical errors

The Directorate may correct an apparent clerical, arithmetic or technical error that does not affect the substance of a right after documenting its cause and the source of correct information, notifying the person concerned where necessary. The correction shall be logged without erasing the earlier record.

Article (126) — Substantive rectification

A proposed correction materially affecting the owner, share, right’s nature, boundaries, priority or area requires affected rights holders’ consent in valid legal form, a judgment or an express provision authorising the Department to act.

Article (127) — Conflicting registers

Where two or more registers conflict over the same property, the Department shall place a temporary disposal prohibition to the extent necessary, open a documented investigation and establish the earlier register and document and map chain. If administrative resolution is impossible, the dispute shall go to court.

Article (128) — Periodic audit

The Department shall conduct risk-based audits covering entry quality, map consistency, user permissions, high-risk transactions and branches with unusual correction rates. Aggregate findings and remediation plans shall be published without personal files.

Article (129) — Administrative grievance

A person concerned may challenge a Directorate decision within thirty days of notification before a review body designated by the Ministry. A decision is due within a further thirty days unless expert evidence or judicial correspondence is required. The grievance does not prevent court proceedings within statutory deadlines.

Article (130) — Stay of effect

A grievance does not automatically suspend a decision unless execution would cause irreparable harm or concerns an uncompleted transfer of rights. The grievance body or court may order a reasoned stay under law.

Article (131) — Judicial appeal

Disputes concerning title, rights in rem and the validity of judgments and transactions remain within the competent judiciary’s jurisdiction under judicial organisation and procedural laws. Neither the digital registration system nor ministerial instructions may obstruct access to justice.

Article (132) — Liability for incorrect entries

Where proven gross official error, manipulation or institutional failure directly harms a rights holder, applicable state and employee liability and compensation rules apply. Rectification does not preclude a compensation claim where its conditions exist.

Chapter Thirteen — Service quality, fees and professional transparency

Article (133) — Service standards

For each transaction type, the Ministry shall publish required documents, fees, procedural steps, target time, responsible authority and complaint avenue, updating them whenever law changes. An unpublished document may be requested only for a specific reason recorded in the file.

Article (134) — Measuring transaction time

The system shall measure transaction time from completion of requirements to registration or a reasoned decision, separately identifying time awaiting the applicant or an external body. Monthly aggregate statistics shall report duration, overdue applications and completion rates by directorate.

Article (135) — Fees

Fees and charges shall be collected under the applicable Fees Law; administrative instructions may not create new fees. Electronic payment, verifiable receipts and linkage of collections to transaction numbers must be provided to prevent off-system collection.

Article (136) — Exemptions

Exemptions from fees or registration requirements require a law or an instrument it authorises. The system shall show the exempting authority, basis and amount to prevent selective application.

Article (137) — Ending cash acceptance where alternatives exist

A lawful decision and financial arrangements may end cash acceptance in specified directorates after convenient, accessible payment channels are provided. Practical exceptions shall protect groups or areas unable to access digital services, without obstructing registration rights.

Article (138) — Complaints

The Department shall provide a unified channel for complaints and reports of demands for unlawful benefits, deliberate delay or data misuse. Reporters shall receive tracking numbers; official retaliation or interference with their transactions because of a complaint is prohibited.

Article (139) — Conflicts of interest

An officer shall abstain from transactions involving themselves, their spouse, relatives to the degree specified by service regulations or a direct personal interest. The system shall reassign them, recording the reason.

Article (140) — File circulation

Paper file circulation shall be minimised; receipt and handover must be logged where necessary. An original historical register or unique document may leave safekeeping only through a documented procedure and competent order.

Chapter Fourteen — Violations, penalties and register protection

Article (141) — Register manipulation

Without prejudice to any harsher penalty, using official authority to change an entry, map or ranking of rights, or erase an audit trail without legal basis, constitutes serious misconduct requiring referral to the competent investigating authority and immediate precautionary measures.

Article (142) — Digital impersonation

Using another officer’s account, sharing authentication or signing tools, or leaving them accessible to others is prohibited. Sharing credentials in a sensitive role is an independent disciplinary breach even if no entry alteration is proven.

Article (143) — Forged documents

Where a Directorate suspects a forged deed, identity document, power of attorney or court order, it shall suspend the transaction as necessary, preserve digital and physical evidence and refer the matter to the competent authority. Documents may not be destroyed or returned in a manner losing evidence.

Article (144) — Licensed surveyor liability

Licensed surveyors may receive warnings, accreditation suspension or revocation for fraud, gross negligence, repeated errors or conflicts of interest, with grievance and appeal rights. Disciplinary sanctions do not preclude civil or criminal liability.

Article (145) — Unlawful access

Any intentional access to or use of property data outside official duties shall be recorded and investigated. Applicable penal, data-protection and technology-crime laws shall apply as appropriate.

Article (146) — Preserving the trail

A manipulation incident may not be addressed merely by restoring the correct entry. The earlier trail, incident record and measures taken must be preserved sufficiently for accountability and judicial proof.

Chapter Fifteen — Transitional and final provisions

Article (147) — National transition plan

Within six months of entry into force, on the Ministry’s proposal, the Council of Ministers shall issue a national transition plan covering inventories of registers, maps, systems and branches; digitisation priorities; reconciliation standards; a resurvey programme; integration with identity, judicial and geospatial systems; and achievement and risk indicators.

Article (148) — Register inventory

Within twelve months, the Department shall complete a classified inventory of paper registers, maps, files and digital archives, recording condition, location, risk level, digitisation percentage and each Directorate’s remediation, relocation or backup needs.

Article (149) — Digitisation reconciliation

A digital register may replace paper only after independent reconciliation of a risk-based sample and integrity checks of images, data, maps, entries and restrictions. Instructions shall set inspection proportions according to the register’s importance and condition.

Article (150) — Priority for endangered records

Digitisation and preservation shall prioritise records threatened by deterioration, those in high-risk areas and directorates with heavy workloads or histories of disputes and forgery. Governorates need not follow an identical sequence where risks differ.

Article (151) — Transaction continuity during transition

Implementation shall neither suspend ongoing transactions nor invalidate existing registers. Previous procedures shall continue as necessary to avoid a vacuum, while new transactions move to the modern system according to each Directorate’s published schedule.

Article (152) — Temporarily continuing instructions and regulations

Regulations, instructions and circulars issued under Real Estate Registration Law No. (43) of 1971 shall remain temporarily effective insofar as consistent with this Law until replaced, for no more than twenty-four months unless a special provision requires a shorter period.

Article (153) — Core implementing instruments

Within twelve months, regulations or instructions shall be issued on cadastral surveying, the unified identifier, electronic registers, remote registration, information security, surveyor accreditation, renewed registration, entry rectification and digital services and extracts.

Article (154) — Human resources

The Ministry shall train registration staff in civil law, registration, surveying, geographic information systems, digital security, anti-money laundering and public service. Sensitive permissions shall require suitable training and assessment.

Article (155) — Cooperation with universities and professional associations

The Ministry may arrange programmes with universities, professional associations and training centres to develop surveying, geomatics, property law and data-management skills, without delegating final-entry approval to a body not legally authorised.

Article (156) — Aggregate open data

The Department shall periodically publish machine-readable statistics on transaction numbers, types and average durations, corrections, disputes, digitisation and survey coverage, without personal data, security information or details facilitating fraud.

Article (157) — Compliance indicators

Indicators shall include the percentage of parcels with unified identifiers, maps linked to entries, digitally reconciled registers, average registration time, corrected entries and digitally verifiable services. These are not development targets separate from the Law’s purpose.

Article (158) — Linkage with national spatial data infrastructure

Within eighteen months, the Department, Ministry of Planning and competent geospatial authorities shall complete an exchange specification linking the parcel layer to the national spatial data platform without copying personal ownership information to public interfaces.

Article (159) — Disaster response

The Ministry shall maintain a register-continuity plan for fire, floods, conflict and widespread outages, including backups, alternative sites, temporary working procedures and reauthentication after service restoration.

Article (160) — Mutual recognition with the region

The federal and regional governments shall seek interoperability protocols for recognising and verifying official deeds and exchanging minimum property-identification data when persons or assets move or judgments are enforced, respecting constitutional jurisdiction and each authority’s applicable laws.

Article (161) — Conflict with the former Real Estate Registration Law

Real Estate Registration Law No. (43) of 1971, as amended, is repealed upon this Law’s entry into force, subject to Article (152) and without prejudice to acquired rights or the validity of entries and transactions completed under the former law.

Article (162) — No implied repeal of substantive laws

Repeal of the former Real Estate Registration Law does not repeal the Civil Code, Expropriation Law, State Land Classification Unification Law, State Assets Sale and Lease Law, or waqf, agricultural, investment and planning laws. Only provisions expressly conflicting with new registration procedures are repealed to the extent necessary.

Article (163) — Legislative review

Within eighteen months, the Ministry of Justice shall submit to the Council of Ministers a schedule of necessary consequential amendments to laws referring to ‘tapu’ or superseded paper forms and procedures. Amendments requiring legislation shall be submitted to the Council of Representatives under the Constitution.

Article (164) — Phased digital operation

Technical digital implementation of certain chapters may proceed in stages according to Directorate readiness. Rights, safeguards, transparency, grievance rules and register protection apply from entry into force and may not be deferred because the system is incomplete.

Article (165) — Entry into force

This Law enters into force ninety days after publication in the Official Gazette. Urgent organisational decisions shall be issued within that period to maintain registration offices’ operations and avoid disrupting citizens’ transactions.

Statement of reasons

This Law is enacted to protect private property and public assets; modernise the registration system established under Law No. (43) of 1971; link property rights to surveyed boundaries and unified identifiers; govern transition from paper to legally authoritative electronic registers; simplify transactions and extract issuance; prevent forgery, manipulation and duplication; improve administration of state land and rights in rem; and align registration with national spatial data infrastructure while respecting privacy and the constitutional distribution of powers.

Explanatory memorandum

1. Why is a limited technical amendment insufficient?

In July 2026, the Ministry of Justice announced completion of a draft amendment to the Real Estate Registration Law for digital transformation, an important step consistent with the January launch of sale and ownership-transfer automation and its subsequent Directorate expansion. Yet moving from paper to a digital register raises more than a change of medium: which original is legally authoritative when digital and paper versions differ? How is priority time established? How are parcel boundaries linked to rights? Who can amend entries? What is a biometric deed’s status? How far may other bodies access owner data? The bill therefore addresses legal and technical architecture together.

2. Preserving constitutive registration

The bill retains a central feature of the Iraqi system: property transaction formalities. Registration remains an essential element of transactions transferring or creating rights where law so provides. The change is that formalities may be fulfilled digitally inside a high-assurance official system, not through a private electronic contract outside the register. Digitising registration is thus distinct from removing legal control over transactions.

3. A biometric deed is not ‘the property’

A serious digitisation mistake would be to make a card, response code or mobile device the source of a right. The bill takes the proper approach: a secure or biometric card may exist, but only as a verification tool. Losing it does not lose ownership; forging it does not change the entry; and if it differs from the register, the approved register remains authoritative until lawfully corrected.

4. Integrating surveying with registration

Insecure ownership is not merely a question of names. The owner may be known but the boundary imprecise, the map outdated, or the cadastral district, parcel and physical reality inconsistent. The Law therefore links the rights folio to the cadastral register, a permanent identifier and parcel lineage following subdivision and amalgamation, preventing loss of property history when numbers change.

5. National geospatial data

During 2026, the Ministry of Planning is developing a National Spatial Data Infrastructure platform. The bill makes the parcel layer linkable through an exchange standard, without moving personal ownership data to a public platform or replacing registration with planning layers. This prevents duplicate databases and establishes source responsibility.

6. Federalism and mutual recognition

The Constitution does not list land administration among exclusive federal powers, while Articles (115) and (121) grant regions broad powers in non-exclusive matters. The Law’s scope therefore avoids claiming that federal procedural legislation alone can override regional competences. Conversely, the economy, judiciary, banks and citizens need to verify deeds across Iraq. The bill thus establishes interoperability and mutual recognition as a federal objective grounded in agreements and the Constitution.

7. Damaged areas and displacement

Housing, land and property rights programmes in Sinjar illustrate how registration reform can help restore post-conflict rights. In July 2026, the Ministry of Justice announced that cooperation with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme had resulted in issuing and distributing more than 4800 title deeds to Yazidi beneficiaries. The bill accordingly provides register reconstruction, notice, objection and absentee-rights protection tools, without granting administrative committees ownership-conferral powers not established by law.

8. Avoiding institutional expansion

A General Real Estate Registration Department and extensive network of directorates and local offices already exist. Reform does not justify a competing new body; it instead reorganises internal functions, establishes interagency coordination, accredits professional surveyors and ensures interoperability with government systems.

Alignment with existing legislation

Principal legislation affected
Legislation	Relationship to the bill	Treatment
Civil Code No. 40 of 1951	Establishes ownership, rights in rem and transaction rules.	Remains the substantive reference; this Law regulates registration, surveying and publicity.
Real Estate Registration Law No. 43 of 1971	The Department’s current operational law.	Repealed and replaced upon commencement, with instructions temporarily continuing.
State Land Classification Unification Law No. 53 of 1976	Regulates classifications and disposal rights in state land.	Its substantive provisions remain; the bill registers these rights and prevents administrative deletion.
Expropriation Law No. 12 of 1981	Regulates expropriation and compensation.	Not replaced by the bill; the register implements outcomes once the legal basis is complete.
State Assets Sale and Lease Law No. 21 of 2013, as amended	Regulates methods of disposing of state assets.	Remains effective; registration verifies completion of disposal procedures rather than repeating the auction.
Electronic Signature and Electronic Transactions Law No. 78 of 2012 and its instructions	Gives electronic signatures and documents evidentiary authority but excludes transactions requiring special formalities.	This Law supplies the special provision authorising digital property formalities within the register under enhanced safeguards.
National Identity Card Law No. 3 of 2016	Provides persons’ official identifier.	Its data are used for minimum-necessary verification without unnecessary biometric copying.
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Law No. 39 of 2015	Imposes preventive and due-diligence requirements.	The bill complements registration’s verification and reporting role without creating a parallel system.

Transition plan

Proposed principal timeframes
Period from entry into force	Requirement
90 days	Entry into force, with urgent arrangements for transaction continuity.
6 months	Adopt the national transition plan, identifier and digital register standards, and risk priorities.
12 months	Complete the register inventory and issue core surveying, digitisation and remote-registration instruments.
18 months	Specify linkage with national spatial data infrastructure and consequential legislative amendments.
24 months	Replace former instructions based on Law 43/1971 insofar as necessary.
In stages	Declare each Directorate or group of records an original electronic register after reconciliation and inspection.

Transition rule: There is no single national ‘cutover’ abolishing paper before readiness. Each area transitions after reconciliation, while new transparency, grievance and register-security rights apply to everyone from commencement.

Financial and implementation impact

The bill sets no unsupported national cost figure. Implementation costs depend on undigitised registers and maps, existing equipment, connectivity, building conditions and necessary resurveying. It first requires a technical and financial inventory before detailed estimates are approved.

Cost components and control method
Item	Cost type	Proposed control
Register and map digitisation	Scanning, indexing, data entry, verification and reconciliation.	Prioritise endangered and heavily used registers; separate imaging from legal data conversion.
Digital system	Software, servers or government cloud, security, integration and maintenance.	Use shared government infrastructure where possible and prevent single-supplier dependency.
Surveying and boundary redetermination	Equipment, surveyors and variable fieldwork.	A risk-, value- and density-based approach, avoiding unnecessary comprehensive resurvey.
Training and change management	Legal, technical and digital training.	Training linked to sensitive permissions, using existing universities and training centres.
Business continuity	Backups, alternative sites and recovery tests.	Integration with national digital-security infrastructure and government data centres.

The state already has assets to build on: registration directorates, ongoing automation, electronic archiving, Ur portal services and national spatial data initiatives. Costs should therefore reflect the gap remaining after inventory, rather than constructing a system from scratch.

Relevant international standards

The bill draws on the United Nations Framework for Effective Land Administration (FELA), linking legal administration, geospatial information and institutional governance, and on fit-for-purpose land administration principles developed by UN-Habitat/GLTN, favouring flexible systems capable of progressive improvement over expensive accuracy unnecessary for every property from the outset.

Tenure protection, fair documentation and non-exclusion of vulnerable groups also align with the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGT). These international frameworks are not direct sources of ownership in Iraq, but offer useful standards for transparent, accountable institutional design.

The bill chooses a ‘trusted register + audit log + signature and timestamp + backups’ approach rather than mandating a particular technology. Law should define trust and reliability characteristics, not bind the register to a platform or product that may become obsolete.

Sources and references

Live sources last checked: 7 October 2026. References document the legal, institutional and technical context; the bill’s articles are drafted as an independent legislative text without source references inside each article.