General information
Court system
The Court of First
Instance
takes cases according to their gravity.
This court is the nucleus of Kuwait's legal
system. It decides conflicts of personal,
civil, commercial, and labor affairs as
well as administrative cases. It also gives
judgments on criminal cases, and
significant civil and commercial cases.
Court of First Instance hears felony cases
in which the punishment can exceed three
years. All defendants in felony cases are
required to be represented by attorneys,
appointed by the court if necessary.
The High Court of
Appeal
looks into appeals and rulings sent down
from the Court of First Instance (except
those appealed before the Court of First
Instance in the way of urgent, penalized
and non-penalized cases).
The Court of Cassation
the Court of Cassation is considered the
Supreme Court and is the third and final
stage of litigation. However, this court
acts as a supervisory body. It reviews the
judgments of the lower courts and
determines whether they had applied the
law(s) in a proper and sound legal manner.
It is not permissible to present new
evidence, discuss or argue the merits and
substance of the litigated dispute. This
court also looks into court appeals
concerning commercial, labor and civil
cases as well as cases related to personal
affairs and crimes. It is also instrumental
in establishing legal rules, and
interpreting and applying the laws of the
country. Its sentences are handed down by a
five-member advisory committee and are
final except for the rare case of the Amir
overturning a decision as he has the final
word. These legal precedents have a binding
nature and the judgments issued by the
Court of Cassation are published in two
official law journals and serve as
precedents.