Kuwait Court Fees Reform 2025: Major Changes to Legal System After 50 Years
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Khalid Al Mansoor
- . July 7, 2025
- . Update: July 7, 2025 8:23 pm
In 2025, Kuwait took major reforms to its legal system as it updated the court fees after more than 50 years. This new Kuwait court fee is achieved by Decree-Law No. 78 of 2025 that replaces the age-old Law No. 17 dated 1973. The reason behind these Kuwait legal changes is to cut down needless lawsuits and encourage individuals to find an alternative method of solving conflicts rather than taking them to a court.
The system of court fees in Kuwait had to be updated as the old law was drafted more than 50 years ago. After that, several economic and social developments were witnessed in Kuwait, such as an increase in inflation and incomes, as well as higher prices of both goods and services. The government thought that was enough to bring modernization into the legal setup to suit the present-day affairs.
Why Kuwait Updated Its Court Fees After 50 Years
There were a number of significant factors that occasioned the Kuwait court fees reform. One, the filings of the lawsuits in the Kuwait courts have been on the rise consistently. This occurred due to the increased advancements in knowledge of legal rights of the people and confidence in the judicial system. This, however, also strained the courts and slowed the process of coming up with judgments.
As observed in the explanatory memorandum on the Kuwait Alyom newspaper, the law that was the subject matter had not changed even with major economic and social changes. The increased awareness of the legal world among citizens saw people increasingly going to court in increasing numbers, straining the court system.
The Kuwait legal reforms are aimed at balancing between the constitutional right of people to seek justice through the court and the need to operate the court system efficiently. The government, by raising the court fees, is expecting to deter frivolous or non-serious cases and encourage other forms of dispute resolution, such as arbitration and mediation.
Key Changes in the New Kuwait Court Fees System
The Kuwait court fees reform that was set up in Kuwait introduces a series of significant changes regarding the calculation of and application of legal fees. The key updates are as follows:
Multiple Claims Fee Structure: In the new setup, where the cases encompass multiple claims of known values due to a single legal cause, their evaluation will be according to the aggregate of these claims. But when the claims are made due to various reasons under law, then each of them shall be evaluated on distinct points.
Claims of No Financial Value: In case the amount of a claim cannot be calculated, then such a claim will be treated as a claim of no financial value. This type of case may be divided into several types:
- Legal actions to confirm the authorization of signatures
- Litigation and motions filed against urgent judges
- The Executive Department receives petitions, complaints, etc.
- Claims related to easement rights and requests for interpretation or correction of judgments
General Legal Reforms: The new decree-law introduces some changes to many of the provisions of the old 1973 law, several articles dealing with various aspects of the court procedure, and the fee scale.
