Legal system of Kuwait

Kuwait follows the "civil law system" modeled after the French legal system,[1][2][3] Kuwait's legal system is largely secular.[4][5][6][7] Sharia law governs only family law for Muslim residents,[5][8] while non-Muslims in Kuwait have a secular family law. For the application of family law, there are three separate court sections: Sunni (Maliki), Shia, and non-Muslim. According to the United Nations, Kuwait's legal system is a mix of English common law, French civil law, Egyptian civil law and Islamic law.[9]

The court system in Kuwait is secular.[10][11] Unlike other Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Kuwait does not have Sharia courts.[11] Sections of the civil court system administer family law.[11] Kuwait has the most secular commercial law in the Gulf.[12]

  1. ^ "Kuwaiti Constitution". World Intellectual Property Organization. Archived from the original on 2014-08-12. The Kuwait Legal system is based on civil law jurisdiction; it is derived from Egyptian and French laws.
  2. ^ "Doing business in Kuwait". Practical Law. Thomson Reuters. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Doing Business in Kuwait: A tax and legal guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2017.
  4. ^ Eglin, Darrel R; Rudolph, James D (1985). "Kuwait". In Nyrop, Richard F. (ed.). Persian Gulf states: Country Studies. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 80 – via Hathai Trust.
  5. ^ a b Hopkins, Nicholas S.; Ibrahim, Saad Eddin, eds. (1997). Arab Society: Class, Gender, Power, and Development (3rd. ed.). Cairo, Egypt: American University of Cairo. p. 417. ISBN 9789774244049.
  6. ^ Induragi, Douglas. "The Legal System of Kuwait: An Evaluation Of Its Applicability". academia.edu. p. 4. Archived from the original on 6 August 2017.
  7. ^ Maddex, Robert L. (5 March 2014). Constitutions of the World. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. p. 153. ISBN 978-1-136-21789-0.
  8. ^ Liebesny, Herbert J. (1974). The Law of the Near and Middle East: Readings, Cases, and Materials. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-87395-256-9.
  9. ^ "State of Kuwait, Public Administration Country Profile" (PDF). United Nations. September 2004. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-10.
  10. ^ "State of Kuwait". London School of Economics. 21 March 2011. Archived from the original on 2014-11-01. The court system in Kuwait is secular and tries both civil and criminal cases.
  11. ^ a b c Price, David (2009). The Development of Intellectual Property Regimes in the Arabian Gulf States: Infidels at the Gates. Abingdon, UK: Routledge-Cavendish. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-134-02496-4.
  12. ^ Hafeez, Zeeshan Javed. Islamic Commercial Law and Economic Development. San Fabcisco, California: Heliographica. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-933037-09-7.