Justice Minister: New Family Court Bill Allows Custodian to Obtain, Renew, and Register Child's Documents Without Court Order

Kuwait City, 10 Nov (KUNA) -- Justice Minister and Legal Advisor Nasser Al-Sumait said that the new Family Court Bill, approved by the Cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday, allows the custodian to obtain and renew the child’s civil documents and enroll him or her in schools without a court order. It also introduces a coercive fine to enforce visitation rulings.

In an interview with the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), Minister Al-Sumait explained that the child is the most affected party when parental disputes intensify, as he or she may miss a scheduled meeting with the father or face delays in school registration. He added, “Our duty is to lift injustice from both father and mother, safeguard their rights, and make the child’s best interests the foundation of every decision affecting his or her life.”

He noted that the bill allows the custodian to obtain and renew the child’s civil documents, including the civil ID and passport, and to enroll the child in schools or transfer him or her from one school to another within Kuwait, without requiring a separate court order authorizing these procedures. He stressed that “it is unacceptable to force a custodian mother to file a lawsuit merely to obtain or renew her child’s civil documents.”

The minister explained that the bill introduces a coercive fine as a means to compel the non-compliant party to execute visitation rulings. The enforcement applicant may request the enforcement judge to impose such a fine in case of failure to comply, including repeated unjustified refusal to execute the ruling.

He added that the father retains full rights to visit his child in accordance with the court order, and that compliance is the responsibility of both parties. This applies whether the custodian mother deliberately refuses to bring the child for visitation or the father takes the child for visitation and then deliberately refuses to return him or her.

Al-Sumait pointed out that the bill grants finality and enforceability to conciliation minutes endorsed by the head of the Family Dispute Resolution Center, enabling both parties to implement their agreement without filing a new lawsuit.

He outlined that the bill includes other solutions to problems families face when enforcing visitation rulings, such as establishing visitation centers and staffing them with specialists in family and child affairs. Furthermore, it provides for referring the child to psychological or social specialists when visitation is repeatedly refused, in order to identify the reasons for refusal and propose measures that safeguard the child’s best interests.

He called on every father and mother, in the event of intensified disputes, to remember the divine verse: “And do not forget generosity among yourselves.” He emphasized that it is an act of kindness for each parent to preserve the other’s place in the child’s heart and to refrain from indecency in their dispute. The child needs to rejoice at meeting his or her father, feel reassured about returning to the mother, and love both parents without feeling compelled to choose between them. (End) N.S./A.M.H.