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Chief-in-Editor  Prof. Badria A. Al-Awadi

The Official Gazette (Kuwait Today), in its issue No.1650, sixty-ninth year, issued on August 27, 2023, included Law No. 119 of 2023 amending some provisions of Law No. 14 of 1973 about establishing the Constitutional Court. This law added two important new articles with numbers (Article 4 bis A), and (Article 4 bis B), the text of which is as follows:
Article (4 bis A): “Any person with a direct personal interest has the right to appeal before the Constitutional Court, with an original claim, the decree dissolving the National Assembly, as well as the decree calling for elections for members of the National Assembly, within ten days from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. The court shall issue its ruling on the appeal within Ten days from the expiry of the deadline for appeals.
Article (4 bis B): “In all cases, the Constitutional Court may not consider the decree dissolving the National Assembly, as well as the decree calling for elections for members of the National Assembly after announcing the election results. The court shall decide on appeals regarding the election of members of the National Assembly or the validity of their membership within thirty days from the date on which the appeal period expires”.
By extrapolating these two articles, the following observations can be made:
First: The law affirmed the guarantee of the right of citizens with a personal and direct interest to appeal the decrees of the executive authority related to the decrees of dissolving the National Assembly and calling for legislative elections. It is an inherent right that finds its basis in the provisions of the Constitution relating to the right to litigation, and in the democratic system that is keen on the integrity, transparency and safety of the electoral process.
Second: The law clearly and explicitly affirmed its respect for the powers and powers assigned by the Constitution and the law to the Constitutional Court. As a fair, impartial and independent judicial institution, no harm to it or reduction of its borders was included; this is out of belief in its role in ensuring the integrity of elections, the legitimacy of the performance of political institutions, and ensuring the rule of law.
Third: The law indicated precise dates for submitting appeals against the decrees dissolving the National Assembly and calling for legislative elections, as well as for considering and deciding on them. It specified submission within ten days from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette (Kuwait Al-Youm) only, and it also obligated the court to rule on these appeals within ten days from the expiry of the appeal deadline. Setting these deadlines aims to ensure the integrity of the stages that precede the elections, limit their duration, and to contribute to fortifying the elected Legislative Council. It would also alert the executive authority to ensure the integrity of its procedures while using its constitutional powers to dissolve the National Assembly and call for elections, which are important matters because it relates to the functioning of the state’s executive and legislative bodies which aim to achieve the public interest and maintain public order.
Fourth: In order to achieve the law’s goal of ensuring the greatest degree of stability for the constitutional authorities, the law, in the first paragraph of Article (fourth bis b), prevented the Constitutional Court from considering – in all cases – the decrees to dissolve the National Assembly and call for elections after announcing the election results; some losing candidates seek to raise suspicions and gaps regarding the previous stages.
Fifth: The law obliges the court to decide on appeals related to the election of members of the National Assembly or the validity of their membership within thirty days from the date of expiry of the appeal deadline. This is an obligation aimed at limiting the period of uncertainty in the life of the legislative institution.
The competence of the National Assembly in this matter, related to determining the dates for hearing appeals before the Constitutional Court, is an inherent constitutional and legal jurisdiction. The establishment of the court itself was carried out by a law referred to by the Constitution, and the Council itself was the one which set the dates and deadlines in the civil, commercial, penal, and other laws. Also, specifying the period for submitting and deciding on appeals does not restrict the court or interfere in its work, but it is a sufficient period in view of the court’s resources, its institutional work, and its accumulated experience in this regard. This is aimed at achieving the public interest and the stability of authorities and institutions.
There is no doubt that this approach adopted by the National Assembly is commendable, and it found cooperation and understanding from the government which voted in favor of the law (57 deputies and ministers voted in favor of the law in the session of July 26, 2023), which was proposed by the parliamentary majority, and the judicial authority approved it. It rejected an appeal submitted against it in a ruling issued by the Consulting Chamber on May 21, 2024.
Law No. 119 of 2023 is an important law and a historical development in regulating appeals against dissolution decrees, calling for elections, and on the conduct of elections and their results and their adjudication by the Constitutional Court, which reflects positively on the performance of the three constitutional authorities, and strengthens the rule of law, as well as the political, legal and legislative stability in the country. It is a gain for the legislative, legal and political route in the State of Kuwait, which can be built upon and developed.