Economic Courts to begin operations in early October 2027

In a landmark legislative move embodying Kuwait’s direction toward developing its economic justice system and keeping pace with modern financial and technological developments, the law establishing Economic Courts was issued last August, with implementation set to begin in early October 2027. The law aims to meet the needs of the business sector by creating a more specialized and expedited judiciary for resolving commercial and financial disputes.

The legislation targets the establishment of a specialized judiciary across all three levels of appeal, accelerating dispute resolution, developing enforcement procedures, and expanding e-litigation to enhance contract enforcement efficiency and raise confidence in the state’s legal and investment environment. The law provides for the creation of specialized Economic Courts at the Court of First Instance, the Court of Appeal, and the Court of Cassation, which will have jurisdiction over the economic, commercial, and investment disputes defined by the law. These courts will be supported by a specialized technical office to assist their work.

The law aims to expedite case resolution through a case preparation office responsible for completing documentation before cases are presented to the court, alongside regulating procedural timelines and appeals to minimize the duration of disputes. It also introduced a settlement and conciliation pathway prior to judicial consideration, granting conciliation minutes the force of an executive instrument, thereby enabling faster and less costly resolution of some disputes.

Digital transformation represents a core pillar of the law, through the adoption of an electronic platform for litigation and enforcement procedures, an electronic case file, and a database of published judgments and judicial precedents. The law places special emphasis on enforcing judgments by establishing a specialized enforcement administration, linking it electronically to relevant entities, developing attachment procedures, and adopting electronic auctions to ensure speed and effectiveness in enforcement.

Several specialists, academics, and economists told KUNA that this step will enhance confidence in the investment climate, reduce costs and risks, and accelerate the return of idle funds to the economic cycle, thereby supporting the country’s competitiveness and consolidating its status as a regional financial and commercial hub, in line with the objectives of the “New Kuwait 2035” vision.

Rabih Al-Rabah, Director General of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told KUNA that developing the economic justice system will contribute to strengthening the business and investment environment in the country, noting that the speed of dispute resolution and the effectiveness of judgment enforcement are key factors in boosting investor confidence. He predicted that the law would help reduce risks and costs associated with commercial disputes and improve the efficiency of handling them, positively impacting economic activity and the business environment. He emphasized the importance of accompanying the law’s implementation with clear and effective executive regulations and procedures to ensure its objectives are achieved.

For his part, Mohammed Al-Jou’an, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Al-Masalih Investment Company and Secretary-General of the Kuwait Economic Association, said that developing the Economic Courts will have a significant positive impact on enhancing Kuwait’s position as a commercial and financial gateway. He clarified that the importance of this step extends beyond expediting litigation procedures to improving the quality of judgments and strengthening the judiciary’s capacity to understand the nature of modern financial and economic instruments and transactions. Al-Jou’an added that global financial and economic tools are evolving rapidly, while commercial legislation is generally rigid in nature, making a thorough understanding of the technical details of modern transactions and financial instruments crucial when adjudicating economic and commercial disputes.

On his part, Dr. Meshal Jawhar Hayat, Associate Professor in the Private Law Department at the College of Law, Kuwait University, stated that the law establishing the Economic Courts represents a significant shift in the mechanism for handling economic disputes, which were previously heard within civil or commercial courts. The law has created a specialized judicial environment and a faster, more efficient pathway for resolution. Hayat noted that adopting e-litigation as the standard in procedures will reduce paper transactions and enable parties to file and follow up on cases remotely, thereby enhancing system efficiency and saving time and costs. He affirmed that speed in resolution does not compromise the right to defense.