Fatwa and Legislation: Enhancing Legal Awareness in Government Entities is a Pillar for Consolidating Transparency and Governance

Kuwait City -- Deputy Director of the Fatwa and Legislation Administration, Advisor Haitham Al-Ruwaid, affirmed on Tuesday the administration’s commitment to enhancing legal awareness among specialists and staff in government entities, thereby reinforcing the principles of transparency and governance. This statement was made by Al-Ruwaid to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on the sidelines of a dialogue seminar titled “The New Public Tenders Law: A Legal Reading of the New Amendments and Their Impact on Government Contracting Procedures,” which is part of the second legal cultural season organized by the Fatwa and Legislation Administration.

Al-Ruwaid stated that the Fatwa and Legislation Administration, through this seminar and its counterparts scheduled during its cultural season, aims to strengthen legal awareness and empower specialists and all relevant stakeholders, particularly those working in government entities subject to the Public Tenders Law, to gain a comprehensive understanding of the law’s amendments and achieve its objectives of enhancing flexibility in application, as well as efficiency, transparency, and fairness.

He noted that the Fatwa and Legislation Administration, under the patronage of its Chairman, Advisor Salah Al-Majed, will continue its second cultural season by hosting a second seminar focusing on the provisions of Law-Decree No. 94 of 2026, which amends certain articles of Law No. 49 of 2016 concerning Public Tenders. This decree includes amendments related to regulating procurement and tendering processes conducted by government entities.

Al-Ruwaid added that practical implementation of the law revealed several difficulties and operational challenges that had negative repercussions on workflow, prompting these amendments to simplify procedures, address practical issues, and enhance the flexibility of concerned entities in dealing with actual circumstances. This aims to serve the public interest and ensure that public tender procedures are executed swiftly, efficiently, transparently, and fairly, as outlined in the explanatory memorandum of the aforementioned law.

The legal cultural season of the Fatwa and Legislation Administration, running until February next year, features various seminars addressing legal and legislative topics as part of efforts to disseminate legal culture. The second seminar of the Fatwa and Legislation Administration’s second legal cultural season was dedicated to discussing the new Public Tenders Law, examining its key features, major challenges, coordination mechanisms among government entities, and its fundamental impact on the government contracting system.

Last September, Law-Decree No. 94 of 2026 was issued to amend certain provisions of Law No. 49 of 2016 concerning Public Tenders. The decree aims to simplify procedures, address practical difficulties and challenges, and enhance the flexibility of concerned entities in handling real-world circumstances, thereby serving the public interest and ensuring the swift, efficient, transparent, and fair execution of public tender procedures. (End) F.N. / M.K.