Iraq traffic fine reform will not cancel existing penalties, lawmaker says

BAGHDAD — Planned amendments to Iraq’s Traffic Law will not apply retroactively, meaning previously issued fines will remain collectible as state revenues, a member of parliament’s Legal Committee said, as lawmakers consider reducing fine amounts, ending the doubling system and extending payment deadlines.

Mohammed Jassim al-Khafaji told state-run newspaper Al-Sabah that parliament has completed the first reading of the proposed amendments and will begin a second reading and detailed review after the legislative recess. “The current direction does not include cancelling fines completely, but rather reducing them and reconsidering their amounts, which have become unfair to citizens,” he said. Proposals under discussion include reducing the value of some high fines, scrapping the doubling system that multiplies penalty amounts over time, and expanding the grace period allowing citizens to pay fines at half their value.

Any amendments approved by parliament will apply only to future violations. “Previous fines are considered debts and revenues realized for the state, and the Council of Representatives does not have the authority to cancel or extinguish them through law,” al-Khafaji said, adding that doing so “falls exclusively within the powers of the Council of Ministers.”

On traffic camera fines in Karbala, al-Khafaji said the governorate is the only one where the local government purchased and installed cameras before handing them to the Traffic Directorate, placing them on the main approaches from Baghdad, Babil and Najaf. “Most of the recorded fines belong to vehicles arriving in Karbala from different governorates,” he said. The cameras remain operational and no decision has been issued to stop them or cancel resulting fines, he added. Cancelling those debts would require a government decision.

The proposed amendments are part of a broader review of Traffic Law No. 8 of 2019, which also covers temporary vehicle registration permits, ownership transfer procedures and annual vehicle inspections. Proposals include extending the validity of some traffic-related contracts to two months, revising deadlines for ownership transfers and reviewing regulations on annual renewals and vehicle window tinting.

Al-Khafaji said on May 20 that parliament was considering formally asking Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to waive accumulated traffic fines, describing the penalties as causing “real harm” to many motorists. Fines collected in 2025 alone amounted to 162 billion Iraqi dinars ($105.9 million), he said.