Protection of Procedural Deadlines in light of Legislative Amendments to Counter the Health Crisis of the Covid-19 Pandemic: An Analytical Comparative Study between French and Kuwaiti laws
Dr. Samah Khaman
Assistant Professor of Procedural Law – KILAW
Abstract:
Covid-19, which cannot be seen with the naked eye, has put a halt to all aspects of life, thus an urgent need has arisen to halt all procedural deadlines related to the rights of stakeholders. This research highlights the impact of Covid-19 and the health crisis that the whole world is witnessing on procedural deadlines and discusses general rules in the Civil and Commercial Procedure Law that guarantee the protection of these deadlines in normal circumstances. It also addresses various legislative amendments to French and Kuwaiti laws adopted by the legislator as a means of countering this crisis, taking into consideration the almost complete cessation of the judicial facility.
The research includes an in-depth evaluation, following a comparative analytical approach, of the amendments’ ability to protect these deadlines theoretically and practically. The evaluation is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the problems raised by the legislative amendment to Article (17) of the Kuwaiti Procedural Law and the extent to which general rules can be relied on to avoid the effects of an amendment’s legislative deficiency. The second part studies regulation No. 306/2020 issued in France on extending procedural deadlines and halting administrative deadlines, in order to identify a new unforeseen system from suspension and disruption and present legislative proposals to amend the Kuwaiti Procedural Law.
The research concludes by recommending necessary legal proposals to amend Article (17 bis) of the Kuwaiti Procedural Law, in such a way as to ensure the achieving the most important principle of legislation which is equality in the legal positions of individuals.
Keywords: extension, suspension, limitation, Article (17 bis), force majeure.