Law 13 on Associations (no longer in force)

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Societies Act No. 13 of 2000
Source: Official Gazette of Iraq- Vol. no.: 3813; date: 24/2/2000;
page no.: 106; edition no.: 1
Chapter I
General principles

Article 1
First- Society: A non-profit group of a permanent nature made up of
several natural or legal pers ons, including social clubs.
Second – The provisions of this law is not applicable on associations
established by special laws.

Article 2
This law aims to regulate the associ ations in Iraq, according to the
principles and objectives of the great revolution of 17 – 30 of July.

Article 3
Every Iraqi has the right to establish a society, or belong to a society
or
withdraw form a society in accordance with the provisions of this law.

Article 4
The following is required in relati on to the activity of a society:
First- not to be in conflict with the principles and objectives of the great
revolution of 17 – 30 of July.
Second- not to be in conflict with the country’s independence and its
national unity and republican system;
Third- not to seek to sow divisions or create division among the different
nationalities, religions or ideologies;
Fourth- To be declared, explicit and of clear purpose, which cannot be
unknown or secret;
Fifth- not to be contrary to public order and morals;

Article 5
A society should seek to achieve its objectives peacefully and
democratically in accordance with the provisions of law.

Chapter II
Establishment of a society

Article 6

First: A request for incorporation shall be submitted to the Minister of
Interior signed by the founders who must not be less than (10) ten
persons;
Second: the founding member must be:
A. Iraqi.
B. reached the age of 20
C. Not convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude;
Third: The application shall include:
A. Rules of Procedure of the society signed by the applicants
B. A statement of the names, titles, resi dence address of the applicants
C. Iraqi citizenship certificate fo r each of the applicants

Article 7
The rules of procedure must include the following data:
First: The name of the society, its objectives, programs and activities
adopted to achieve its goals
Second: Main office of the society, which should be in Iraq
Third: Conditions of membership a nd how it is acquired or lost; The
requirements for membership may not be developed on the basis of
discrimination because of religious belie f, ethnicity, race, gender or social
status;
Fourth: Bodies that represent the society and the respective terms of
reference and membership
Fifth: How to appoint and dismiss me mbers of the various committees of
the activities carried out by the society;
Sixth: financial resources

Article 8
The Minister may request legal amendm ents or additions to the society’s
of rules of procedure, if it is contrary to the provisions of this law and
object to the founders who do not meet the legal requirements; the
applicants must perform the necessary correction.

Article 9
First: If the Minister refuses the reque st of incorporation, the applicants
can appeal the decision of rejection to the Administrative Court within
(30) thirty days from the date the de cision of rejection being notified to
any of them; this should be considered an urgent case.
Procedures set forth in item (First) of this article shall be following in
case the rules of procedure of an existing society were amended.

Article 10

A society acquires legal personality after the approval of its establishment
and its rules of procedure published in the Official Gazette.

Article 11
First: The Society may establish a bran ch or more in any governorate, by
a decision of its board. The branch shall be considered established within
(15) fifteen days of informing the Governor of this decision and the
names of applicants, if he has no objections.
Second: The Governor may object to th e establishment of the branch, if it
was in violation of the law or the rules of procedure, or if the applicants
or any of them failed to meet the legal requirements.
Third: The Society may object to the Minister’s decision through the
Governor within (30) thirty days of informing him, and his decision
should be final in this regard.
Fourth: the branch shall be managed under the provisions of the society’s
rules of procedures.

Article 12
First: societies with similar objectives may merge and compose one
society with one rules of procedure, upon a decision of its board.
Second: a society of public utility may only merge with a society of
societies of public utility.
Third: The procedure for integration and incorporation of the society are
subject to the provisions of this law/.

Article 13
The merged society acquires the lega l personality as of the date of
publication of its rules of procedure in the Official Gazette and the
previous legal personality of merged societies shall cease. The newly
merged society constitutes the su ccessor of the merged societies
regarding their right s and liabilities

Chapter III
Membership

Article 14
A society member must be:
First: Iraqi.
Second: reached the age of 18
Third: not convicted with a cr ime or felony of dishonor
Fourth: accepted the rules of procedure in writing

Article 15

Membership to the society may be granted to non-Iraqis living in Iraq for
the development of ties of friendship, but they may not be more than a
quarter of the number of members; they shall not participate in the
meetings of the General Assembly a nd the nomination for membership of
the Administrative Body.

Article 16
First: The General Assembly of the so ciety shall consist of all members
who have fulfilled their obligations imposed according to the society’s
rules of procedure.
Second: members of the General Assembly have equal right of voting;
the quorum shall be valid in the pres ence of the majority of members in
the first call.
Resolutions are passed by a majority of two thirds of the members of the
society in relation to amend the rules of procedure and the relative
majority of the members present in respect of the adoption of the annual
budget.
Fourth: decisions are taken with rela tive majority of members present,
unless the rules of procedure contain a text contrary to this provision
except as provided in ite m (III) of this article.

Article 17
First: the General Assembly must convene once every three (3) years for
the election of the Administrative Body
Second: the General Assembly must convene once a year to approve its
budget and the final accounts
Third: the meeting of the General Assembly may not be held before the
first day of March of each year.

Article 18
First: The founding members of the Ge neral Assembly shall call a general
meeting to elect the administrative body of the society within a period not
exceeding (180) one hundred and eighty days from the date of
incorporation; they should inform th e ministry of the outcome of this
election within a period of (10) ten days from the date of its
announcement.
Second: the number of members of the administrative body must not be
less than seven (7) persons and the me mbership may not exceed three (3)
years; a member may be re-elected.

Article 19
It shall be prohibited to preside over two administrative bodies of the
society.

Article 20
Members of the administrative body may not be elected in a consolidated
list.

Article 21
The society must inform the judge of the Court of First Instance within its
constituency of the day, time and place of election; the judge should
attend personally to supervise and ensure the conduct of the election
according to law and rules of procedure of the society. He has to organize
a record signed by him, including how the election will be carried out and
its results.

Article 22
Each decision of the General Assemb ly or the administrative body or its
Chairman may be annulled by virtue of the Court of First Instance, if it
was contrary to law or rules of procedure. A claim of invalidity must be
filed by a member or any other interested person or the public prosecutor
within (60) sixty days from th e date of the resolution.

Article 23
The Minister may abolish any decisi on by the General Assembly or the
administrative body or its Chairman if he believed that it is contrary to
law, public order or public morals.

Chapter IV
Rights of the Society

Article 24
First: the society shall be considered of public utility if it aims to achieve
the public interest through a decision of the Council of Ministers upon a
proposal of the Minister of the Interior based on its rules of procedure;
The Council of Ministers may decide to withdraw this status.
The Council of Ministers may give a public utility society rights and
privileges other than those provided for in this law in order to enable it to
achieve its objectives and has to take special measures to control and
supervise the society.

Article 24
a public utility society is entitled to execute, in its name, all legal
transactions related to its rules of procedure; it shall be exempted from
restrictions relating to the acquisition of funds and real estate; moreover,
the society may sell any owned real estate no longer deemed necessary

for its goals and with the permission of the Minister, taking into account
the provisions of other laws; the value of the property shall be recorded as
a revenue. The society has the right to accepts commandments, provided
that the Minister is informed.

Article 26
The Society may own real estate to the extent necessary to take a
headquarters and branches, or a mee ting place for its members, or to
achieve the goals established for it af ter the approval of the Minister.

Chapter V
Duties of the Society

Article 27
First: the society and its branches must keep the following records:
A. Register of members and record of their names, addresses,
nationalities, ages and occupations.
B. a record of the decisions and resolutions of the General Assembly and
the administrative body, signed by the society.
C. Accounting records containing the income and expenses of the society
D. A Record of funds and furniture noting all movable and immovable
assets of the society, with the description and values
E. Correspondence register
Second: the records set forth in para graph (c) of item (First) of this
Article must be certified by the notary public; all records and
correspondence of the society and its branches must be sealed by the
society’s stamp;

Article 28
The society must submit to the Minister during the month of January of
each year a statement containing the following:
First: the number of its new member s, as well as their names, ages,
nationalities, occupations and address.
Second: Names of members who have lost their membership
Third: The total number of members of the society at the last day of the
past year

Article 29
The society should submit to the Minister during the first three months of
each year a report on its activity accompanied by an annual budget and
final statement of the past year audited by a certified accountant if its
capital was (100000) a hundred t housand dinars or more.

Chapter VI
Controlling the Society

Article 30
First: the Minister has the right to completely supervise and control the
society under the provisions of law.
Second: the accounts of a public utility society and its assets shall be
subject to the monitoring and control of the Board of Supreme Audit.
Third: the accounts of a society with a capital of (100000) a hundred
thousand dinars or more shall be audited by a certified accountant.
Fourth: The Minister may ask a society to duly submit documents on its
financial transactions at any time. .

Chapter VII
Penalties

Article 31
The Minister may decide to:
First: alert or warn a society in case it violated one of the provisions of
Articles (19) and (20) of this law.
Second: suspend the activity of the so ciety and close the places where its
members meet for not more than (30) thirty days in case of a repeated
violation of the provisions of the Artic les set out in item (First) of this
article.

Article 32
The Minister may dissolve the society in one of the following cases:
First: If one year passed following incorporation, and the society did n
ot
begin its work set forth in its rule s of procedure or discontinued its
activities without good reason;
Second: If the society violate the provisions of Articles (4), (5), (27),
(28), (29) and (30) of this law.
Third: if the society becomes una ble to fulfill its obligations;
Fourth: in case the society allocated funds or profits for purposes other
than the objectives of incorporation;
Fifth: If it was proven that the society is involved in gambling or other
things contrary to public morals;
Sixth: If it was proven that it has war weapons, or it stores firearms or
explosive materials in its center or in one of the centers of its branches in
any other place;

Article 33

The society may object to the Council of Ministers against the decision to
dissolve within (15) fifteen days from the date of being notified and its
relevant decision shall be final.

Article 34
If the Minister decides to dissolve th e society, he shall lay hands on its
movable and immovable assets and appoint a liquidator or more for the
liquidation of its funds.

Article 35
The movable and immovable assets of the society to be solved in
accordance with Article (32) of this law shall be transferred to the entity
designated by the Council of Minister s upon a proposal by the Minister.

Article 36
Any of the members of the administ rative body of the society shall pay a
fine of no more than (5000) five thousand dinars, in addition to holding
the society accountable if it is proved that the society:
First: did not keep the records provided for in Article (27) of this law or
did not take into account the conditions set forth herein;
Second: failed to notify the competent of matters, which should be
communicated under the law.
Third: Admitted to membership an individual who did not meet the
requirements for membership stipulated in this Law.

Article 37
imprisonment for no less than three (3 ) years shall be the punishment for
anyone who was a member of a society established contrary to the
provisions of this law or carried out activities in a society that was d
enied
a request for incorporation, as well as those who attended its meetings or
helped it continue its work. Similarly, the same punishment shall be
imposed on any member of a body or gr oup that carried out actions in the
capacity of a society or branch of it, without completing the procedures of
incorporation.

Article 38
The punishment under this law does not confine punishment of a violator
by means of other laws.

Chapter VIII
General and concluding provisions

Article 39
First: a society may not be affiliated with, participate or join an
association, body, club or institution, which is based outside Iraq, unless
permitted by the Minister.
Second: A society may not receive or send any funds regardless of their
source inside or outside Iraq to any persons or entities without the
permission of the Minister.

Article 40
First: A member shall lose his memb ership in the case of death,
resignation or lack of one of the conditions of membership, or being
dismissed according to the society’s rules of procedure, or in case the
society was dissolved.
Second: The member who loses member ship, or his heirs, in any way
shall not be entitled to the society’s funds, except in cases in which the
society maintains a common cooperation fund provided for in its rules of
procedure.

Article 41
Any person whose membership application was refused may object to
this decision before the Minister within (30) thirty days from the date of
notification and the decision of the Minister shall be final.

Article 42
First: the society may decide to dissolve itself with the consent of two
thirds of the members of the General Assembly;
Second: If the society dissolves its elf, the General Assembly must
appoint a liquidator or more to liquidate its funds.
Third: After the completion of the liquidation process, the liquidators
must distribute the remaining funds according to the society’s rules of
procedures. Should the rules of procedures lack such a provision to
distribute the funds, the Minister sh all present the issue before the
Council of Ministers to decide on the transfer of funds of the dissolved
society to the entity designated by the Council.

Article 43
The Minister may cancel the electi ons under a good reason within (15)
fifteen days of the vote if he finds it was contrary to law or the society’s
rules of procedure.

Article 44
First: The Minister may, for good reason, appoint a chairman or an
interim administrative body to the soci ety assuming the powers vested in

its administrative body system, if the society committed irregularities
requiring such an action since the society failed to remedy the situation;
or if the number of the society’s administrative body was not enough to
call it to convene properly.
Second: the members of the societ y’s administrative body and all its
personnel must submit to the inte rim administrative body all funds,
records and documents once this body was appointed.

Article 45
First: an advisory committee of repr esentatives of the Ministries of
Interior and Justice shall be formed to advise the minister on the
conformity of the society’s rules of procedure with the provisions of this
law upon the submission of an incorporation application or the
amendment of its rules of procedure.
Second: if appropriate, the Minister may appoint an additional
representative of any other entity to the Advisory Committee.

Article 46
The law of societies no. (1) of 1960 shall be cancelled.

Article 47
The Minister may issue instructions to facilitate the implementation of the
provisions of this law.

Article 48
This law enters into fo rce from the date of pub lication on the official
gazette.
It was written in Baghdad in the twenty first of Shawwal 1420 AH,
corresponding to the twenty-seventh of January year 2000.