Legal Guarantees Granted for the Public Employee in Facing Disciplinary Administrative Decisions

After overviewing the Iraqi disciplinary system for public employees and the substantive and procedural guarantees governing it, it became clear that this system is based on a clear and consistent legal foundation. However, it faces many difficulties, the most important ones would be insufficient guarantees granted to employees during investigation and disciplinary procedures. Some legal provisions are also unclear and may sometimes be interpreted in different ways. Judicial oversight of some cases is limited, especially when the penalty is mild. The study also found that justice and integrity may not always be present in actual practice, which can lead to arbitrary behavior by administrators or violations of employees' rights. The paper strikingly stressed on the importance of administrative judiciary protection for employees against misusing disciplinary authority. Yet, the effectiveness of this function still seemingly depends on accessibility to courts and the speed of adjudicating appeals.