Search: “kuwait”

So a lot of you have a read a few of my posts discussing different crimes under the Kuwaiti Penal Law and how the punishments were in Rupees. This caused quite a stir with a lot of people with many asking why the punishments were in Rupees instead of Kuwaiti Dinars. Some of the readers even claimed that those laws no longer applied because the punishments were in Rupees. Firstly that’s not true, the laws are still valid even though they are in Rupees. Secondly, below is an explanation on why Kuwait uses Rupees instead of Kuwaiti Dinars:

The History of the Use of Rupees in Kuwait
They were called the Arabian Gulf Rupees by the people that called our area the Arabian Gulf, and they were also called the Persian Rupees by the people that called our area the Persian Gulf. I decided that I am going to call them the Penal Law Rupees in this post.

The Penal Law Rupees were used in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the Trucial States (now famously known as UAE or should I just say Dubai). They were printed by India and it was used in Kuwait from 1959-1961. You can still find them on eBay selling from a few hundred dollars and all the way up to a few thousand dollars (I am so totally going through my granddads closet today! https://www.ebay.com/bhp/india-gulf-rupee).

The laws that have rupees as punishments and their implications
The Penal Law was promulgated (published) in 1960 which is why the punishments were in Rupees since that was the currency of Kuwait at that time. The currency was changed to Kuwaiti Dinars in 1961 (thanks to our awesome Constitution) and a new law had to be promulgated to change the Rupees to dinars. But you know how things take time in Kuwait and it took a little bit longer than expected to get this sorted… around 24 years.

In 1985 law no. 9 was published “for the replacement of the rupees by the Kuwaiti Dinar wherever stated in the Laws”, and in Article 1 of the law it states that rupees shall be exchanged to 75 fils, wherever they are mentioned in Kuwaiti Law.

So this is why Kuwait uses Rupees in the Kuwait Penal Law. If you want to read more about the Rupees history check out my sources [Here] and [Here].

If anyone finds Rupees in their mums closet then please email us a photo.

Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
Have a Kuwait law related question? Email me at [email protected]

The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.

I am a big fan of street art and one of my favorite past times is to explore old Kuwaiti buildings looking for graffiti, taking photos and maybe collecting old bullets from the gulf war. But is it a crime to walk into old deserted buildings that the owner has neglected? Is it vandalism to tag those walls? Do the owners even know they are the owners?

I have to be honest, this topic is not something widely discussed in law school or at the office and I have never heard of a private law that discusses these matters, all I know of is the Kuwaiti Penal Law (yeah yeah yeah, the one with Rupees) include the rules for vandalism and trespassing. So let us look at the laws together:

1) Street Art or Vandalism?

First thing first, if you’re planning to tag a building you need to keep the following in mind. The building must not be a prayer place, a public office, a governmental building or a school building. The building should be abandoned with no one living in it or no one intending to fix it up to live in it (For example the amazing parking lot in old Salmiya and most of Failika island). I am also assuming your art is not just two circles with a pointy long oval in the middle.

If you want your canvas to be a new apartment complex or a mexican restaurant or a bookstore, then do what the amazing Monstariam does; get written consent from the owners first. Otherwise if the building has half a floor knocked off, no ceiling and 300 bullets have gone through it, then enjoy it. Just don’t be offensive please.

2) Exploring or Trespassing?

Article 254 and 255 both talk about entering buildings/trespassing owned by other people, but they also claim that the buildings should be in a possession of another person or inhabited by a person or is being prepared from someone to live in; and so the places that Mark (and I) have visited or intend to visit do not fall under those two articles.

PS: Does anyone have any creative ideas I could use with my collected bullets, please don’t tell me necklace.

Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
Have a Kuwait law related question? Email me at [email protected]

The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.

It’s already available at Rihab Complex but their current asking prices are hovering around KD40 to KD50. Insane.

via @thebarbecuechef

Yesterday I posted a beautiful shot of the Dubai nightscape and a commenter made me aware that the photos were taken by Daniel Cheong who happened to also take some beautiful shots of Kuwait. I’ve posted two of my favorite shots here but you can check out all his photos on his Facebook page [Here]

Kuwaiti Children Left Behind is a website that was inspired from the popular Saudichildrenleftbehind.com blog. The aim of the website is to help Kuwaiti children find their parents who might have left them when they were young. The story I posted awhile back of the American girl who’s mother stayed at the Sheraton back in the late 70s is on that website for example.

Check it out [Here]

“Hollywood & Vines” is the first film directed via Twitter and shot entirely on Vine. For four days, people around the world worked with the director to share in the creation of a single story about travel, adventure and finding your place in the world. This is the result of that global experiment, featuring 100 Viners from everywhere from Kansas to Kuwait.

Kuwait was represented by the super talented Pinot. [Vimeo]

According to the second World Happiness Report launched by the United Nations, Kuwait came 32nd in the world behind our GCC neighbors UAE (14), Oman (23) and Qatar (27). Kuwait actually dropped a spot compared to last year but on the bright side at least we came ahead of Saudi Arabia (33) this time around. Bahrain was the least happiest between the GCC countries coming in at 79 while Lebanon came in 97th, India in 111th and Egypt in 130th.

You can download the full report from [Here]

So last week, Mark got accused of defamation and I just so happened to be working on a case regarding defamation at the office which is why I decided to write about it in this post.

What is defamation?
Defamation is an umbrella where all these other acts fall under: libel, calumny, vilification, slander and traducement (lawyers and their complicated words). Basically what defamation means is the coommunication of false statements that harms an individual/company/product/doggy/sect/book/religion/object etc

I know what you guys are most likely thinking, how can someone be accused of defamation for something written online? Most of you have most likely heard someone say there are no internet crimes in Kuwait. Well, that’s not true. Yes, technically there is no law dedicated to what happens online and there is no law that states anything about what anyone does virtually except for the new commercial law that has one article stating that board members can join board members meetings virtually (which I thought was awesome). But, just because there are no laws that regulate anything that takes place online it does not mean you can not get punished in Kuwait for defamation. So lets look at the law:

Article 209
“Any person who attributes to another, in a public place or within the earshot or sight of a person other that the victim, an event which hurts his reputation, shall be punished by incarceration for a period not exceeding 2 years and a fine not exceeding two thousand Rupees or either of both penalties”

Okay I know the article is not clear, and there was a lot of debate when I was back in law school whether this article can be implemented on someone that is defamed virtually. Thanks to the ministry, they’ve stated that it does apply. Here is a link to a statement by the MOI [Link]. There is even a case where Article 209 was used against tweeps.

There is also a department for cyber-crime in the MOI that falls under the General Department of Criminal Investigation.

So what does all the above mean? Do we or do we not have freedom of speech in Kuwait? Are we not allowed to state our opinions? Well we do have freedom of speech by the constitution and to some extent, we enjoy that in newspapers and on twitter. You can state your opinion but you need to state facts and you have to have good intentions and not harm anyones reputation or be rude.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Note: There is another article for defamation in newspapers under law no.3 for 2006 and other crimes can happen online.

Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
Have a Kuwait law related question? Email me at [email protected]

The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.

Everyone knows about the Kuwait Bookshop located in the basement of Muthana Complex but not a lot of people know of the one located near the Sheraton roundabout. The Kuwait Bookshop at the Sheraton roundabout is their original location and has been there since the 1960s. I passed by last night with a friend and we ended up picking up a couple of books. Their top floor is full of old stuff and you can even find prints from the 70s just sitting on the shelves untouched and covered in dust. If you’ve never passed by there you should before the building ends up getting demolished. They’re located right on the Sheraton roundabout in Kuwait City to the right of Al Sawan Travels.

Note: The pictures in this post date back to 2010

Kuwait is one of the top 10 biggest improving cities according to the latest Liveability report by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The rank is calculated based on 30 factors spread out across five categories: stability, infrastructure, education, healthcare, and culture and environment. Check out the article [Here]

Thanks Bassem

Last week I was helping out a friend with a university project related to sexual crimes under Kuwait’s Penal Law and I thought it would be something interesting to share on the blog as well because there’s a lot of confusion on the subject. Whether you or I agree or do not agree with the law, please stay safe and legal readers.

Note: Where I have written a person is guilty and age does not matter, that means the age does not matter for the crime to occur. That does not mean the person gets punished if underaged, instead juvenile laws are followed.

1- Caribbean Hut Restaurant
2- Tatami
3- Mais Alghanim
4- Al Boom Steak and Seafood
5- Edo
6- The Chocolate Bar
7- Fish Market
8- Solo Pizza Napolitana
9- Maki
10- Slider Station

That top 10 list is based on Trip Advisor and even though I don’t think I agree with it, I’m having trouble putting together my top 5 list yet alone top 10. My #1 would be Open Flame Kitchen but after that things get blurry. Whats your top 5 list?

I scored a 17 surprisingly. The hardest part was trying to understand the poorly translated questions. [Link]

[YouTube]

Kuwait Labor Law is a new app available on Android and iOS devices. The app provides you with a quick reference to the Kuwait labor law, Kuwait traffic violations with all the penalties listed as well as all the requirements and the latest changes to the driving license requirements.

Although the information is readily available for free online the app creators believe that their $3.99 asking price is still worth it. I had a conversation with the creators by email and they managed to convince me that ponying up around KD1 for the app could be worth it. Their app allows you to add certain articles to your favorites tab, the ability to type in a word or phrase and search the entire listing and most importantly, if there is a change in any of the laws you will be notified by the app immediately.

If you’re interested in purchasing the app here are the links:
Android Version
iOS Version