The Legal Framework for the Annulment of an Administrative Decision by the Administrative Judge and the Consequences of Such Annulment in Iraq and France

Given the growing number and variety of administrative lawsuits, as well as civil lawsuits, their significance has become increasingly apparent. Consequently, specialized judicial bodies have been established to address these complaints and cases. My research primarily focused on the authority of the administrative judge to annul administrative decisions. I thoroughly examined all aspects related to this matter in Iraqi laws to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each provision within this legal framework. In this regard, my aim was to highlight the distinctions between administrative decisions and other matters, as well as to accurately define the existing procedures for annulling administrative decisions. This was done in order to explore the criteria and consequences associated with the revocation of administrative decisions, which arise from the discretionary powers of the judge in both Iraqi and French law. Furthermore, we noted that, in accordance with Iraqi law, the administrative judge possesses the authority to annul administrative decisions in various circumstances, including cases where the decisions are in violation of laws or when the administrative decisions are deemed invalid. Through the annulment lawsuit, the administrative judge exercises oversight over the legality of decisions issued by various administrative bodies. If the administrative judge determines that a decision is unlawful, he declares it as such and proceeds to annul it on that basis. The claim that an annulment case concerns the legality of a decision implies that the powers of the administrative judge, as a general principle, are limited to the cancellation of unlawful decisions. The judge does not possess the authority to delve into assessing the appropriateness of the administrative decision, nor is it permissible for the judge to modify the decision that is deemed illegal, nor is he permitted to issue directives to the administration. Our objective is to identify the shortcomings in Iraqi and French laws and propose measures for their reform. For this research, we employed a descriptive and analytical approach, drawing upon Iraqi and French laws as references.