Kuwait’s government increases case fees and appeal guarantees by 100%
The government has raised case fees and appeal guarantees by 100% to curb frivolous claims. Appeals will now require claims over 10,000 dinars for lower courts and over 30,000 dinars for the Court of Cassation.
In a move to emphasize the seriousness of litigation and a claim before the courts, the government has completed amendments to the Civil and Commercial Procedures Law.
Sources informed Al Jarida that the amendments include raising case fees and appeal guarantees by approximately 100%. These proposed changes were made in coordination between the Supreme Judicial Council and the Ministry of Justice, following a thorough evaluation of the current law’s provisions.
The sources explained that the current fees and appeal guarantees, set nearly 40 years ago, have contributed to the rise of frivolous claims and appeals, resulting in a backlog of around 80,000 appeals.
To address this issue, the new amendments will significantly increase some fees, with some surpassing double the current amounts. This change aims to ensure the seriousness of litigation, particularly after it became evident that cases involving expert assignments were being filed with minimal values. Additionally, the sources noted that the current fees no longer align with the judicial services provided by the justice institutions.
The amendments to the law included an increase in the value threshold for cases before the General Court. Final rulings with a claim value of 10,000 dinars, instead of the previous 5,000 dinars, may now only be appealed if the amount exceeds 10,000 dinars.
Regarding appeals before the Court of Cassation, the law will permit appeals only if the value of the claims exceeds 30,000 dinars. Consequently, appeal rulings will be final if the claims are below this threshold.
