Decree-Law No. 39 of 1980 on Evidence in Civil and Commercial Matters

Decree-Law No. 39 of 1980
on Evidence in Civil and Commercial Matters

Part One – General Provisions

Article 1

The creditor shall prove the obligation, and the debtor shall prove his discharge from it.

Article 2

The facts to be proved shall be relevant to the action, material to it and admissible.

Article 3

Judgments issued on evidentiary procedures need not state reasons unless they contain a definitive ruling. In all cases, judgments issued in summary actions to establish the state of facts or to hear a witness shall state reasons.

Article 4

If the court decides to carry out an evidentiary procedure, or delegates one of its judges to do so, it shall specify in the judgment the date of the first hearing for carrying out the procedure, and the pronouncement of the judgment shall be deemed notification to the litigants of the hearing so specified, except in the case of the decisive oath or other cases provided for by law. The president of the chamber shall, where necessary, appoint a successor to the delegated judge.

Article 5

Whenever the completion of the procedure requires more than one sitting, the day and hour to which it is adjourned shall be stated in the minutes, and the pronouncement of the decision shall be deemed notification to the litigants of the new date. The delegated judge shall state in the minutes of the last hearing of the evidentiary procedure for which he was delegated the day he sets for the court to hear the action, and the pronouncement of this decision shall be deemed notification of the hearing to the litigants concerned in the evidentiary procedure.

Article 6

Incidental matters relating to evidentiary procedures shall be submitted to the delegated judge, and any such matter not submitted to him may not be raised before the court.
Decisions issued by the delegated judge on these matters shall be enforceable, and the litigants shall have the right to raise them again before the court when it hears the case, unless the law provides otherwise.

Article 7

The court may, by a decision recorded in the minutes of the hearing, depart from the evidentiary procedures it has ordered, provided that it states the reasons for the departure in the minutes; there is no need to state reasons if the departure is from a procedure the court took of its own motion without a request from the litigants.
The court may decline to adopt the outcome of an evidentiary procedure, provided that it states the reasons for doing so in its judgment.

Part Two – Written Evidence

Chapter One – Official Documents

Article 8

Official documents are those in which a public official or a person charged with a public service records what was done by him or what he received from the persons concerned, in accordance with the legal formalities and within the limits of his authority and competence.
If such documents do not acquire official status, they shall have only the value of private documents, provided that the persons concerned have signed them with their signatures, seals or fingerprints.

Article 9

An official document shall be conclusive evidence against everyone of the matters recorded in it that were carried out by the person who drew it up within the limits of his duty, or that took place by the persons concerned in his presence, unless its forgery is established by the legally prescribed means.

Article 10

If the original of an official document exists, its official copy, whether handwritten or photographic, shall be conclusive evidence to the extent that it conforms to the original.
The copy shall be deemed to conform to the original; if any of the persons concerned disputes this, the copy shall be checked against the original.

Article 11

If the original of an official document does not exist, copies shall be conclusive evidence within the following limits:
a- The original official copy, whether executory or non-executory, shall have the evidentiary force of the original if its outward appearance does not allow doubt as to its conformity with the original.
b- Official copies taken from the original copies shall have the same evidentiary force; however, in this case any of the persons concerned may request that they be checked against the original copies from which they were taken.
c- Official copies made of copies taken from the original copies shall be considered merely for guidance.

Article 12

It shall be for the judge to assess the evidentiary force of the particulars contained in certificates and extracts transcribed from official documents.

Chapter Two – Private Documents

Article 13

A private document shall be deemed to have been issued by the person who signed it unless he expressly denies the handwriting, signature, seal or fingerprint attributed to him. The heir or successor, however, shall not be required to make a denial, and it shall suffice for him to swear an oath that he does not know that the handwriting, signature, seal or fingerprint is that of the person from whom he derived the right.
Nevertheless, a person who has discussed the substance of the document may not deny the handwriting, signature, seal or fingerprint attributed to him, or plead that he does not know that any of these was issued by the person from whom he derived the right.

Article 14

A private document shall not be evidence against third parties as to its date except from the time it has a certain date. The date of the document shall be certain: First: from the day it is entered in the register prepared for that purpose. Second: or from the day a competent public official endorses it. Third: or from the day of the death of any of the persons whose acknowledged handwriting, signature or fingerprint appears on the document, or from the day it becomes impossible for any of them to write or to affix a fingerprint owing to a physical infirmity; the judge may also, as circumstances require, adopt the date of the death of the person who signed the document with an acknowledged seal. Fourth: or from the day of the occurrence of any other event that is conclusive that the document was issued before its occurrence. Fifth: or from the day its contents are recorded in another document having a certain date.
Nevertheless, the judge may, according to the circumstances, decline to apply the provision of this Article to quittances.

Article 15

Copies of registered documents extracted from the Real Estate Registration Department shall have the evidentiary force of the original if their outward appearance does not allow doubt as to their conformity with the original.

Article 16

Signed letters shall have the value of a private document in terms of proof. Telegrams shall also have this value if their original deposited at the office of dispatch is signed by the sender, and a telegram shall be deemed to conform to its original until evidence to the contrary is established.
If no original of the telegram exists, the telegram shall be considered merely for guidance.

Article 17

Merchants’ books shall not be evidence against non-merchants; nevertheless, the particulars recorded in them concerning what the merchants have supplied may serve as a basis permitting the judge to administer the supplementary oath to either party, even in matters that may not be proved by witness testimony.
Mandatory commercial books, whether regularly kept or not, shall be evidence against their owner, the merchant, in respect of what his opponent, whether a merchant or a non-merchant, relies on from them, provided that the entries in favour of the owner of the books shall also be evidence for him.

Article 18

Mandatory commercial books shall be evidence for their owner, the merchant, against his opponent, a merchant, if the dispute relates to a commercial act and the books are regularly kept.
This evidentiary force shall be defeated by evidence to the contrary, and such evidence may be taken from the opponent’s regularly kept books.

Article 19

Either of two merchant litigants may be required to take an oath as to the validity of his claim if he relies on his opponent’s books and has accepted in advance what is stated in them, and the opponent then refuses without justification to produce his books.

Article 20

Household books and papers shall not be evidence against the person from whom they emanate except in the following two cases:
First: if it is expressly stated in them that he has received payment of his debt.
Second: if it is expressly stated in them that he intended what he recorded to take the place of an instrument for the person in whose favour he recorded a right.
In both cases, if what is so recorded is not signed by the person from whom it emanates, he may prove the contrary by all means of proof.

Article 21

An annotation made by the creditor on the instrument of debt in his own handwriting, without his signature, indicating the discharge of the debtor shall be evidence against him until the contrary is proved. An annotation by the creditor to the same effect shall also be evidence against him, even if it is not in his handwriting nor signed by him, as long as the instrument has never left his possession.
The same shall apply if the creditor records in his own handwriting, without his signature, what indicates the discharge of the debtor on another original counterpart of the instrument or on a quittance, and the counterpart or the quittance is in the hands of the debtor.

Chapter Three – Request to Compel a Litigant to Produce Documents in His Possession

Article 22

A litigant may, in the following cases, request that the opposing litigant be compelled to produce any document material to the action that is in his possession:
a- If the law permits him to be required to produce or deliver it.
b- If it is common to him and the opposing litigant; a document shall in particular be deemed common if it is for the benefit of both litigants or evidences their reciprocal obligations and rights.
c- If the opposing litigant has relied upon it at any stage of the action.
The request shall set out the description of the document, its contents in detail, the fact which it is adduced to prove, the indications and circumstances supporting its being in the possession of the litigant, and the ground for compelling the litigant to produce it.

Article 23

If the applicant proves his request, the court shall order the document to be produced forthwith or on the earliest date it sets.
If sufficient proof of the validity of the request is not submitted to the court, the litigant from whom the document is requested shall take an oath that it does not exist, or that he does not know of its existence or whereabouts, and that he has neither concealed it nor neglected to search for it in order to deprive his opponent of relying on it as evidence.
If the litigant does not produce the document on the date set by the court, or refuses to take the aforementioned oath, the copy of the document submitted by the applicant shall be deemed correct and identical to its original; and if he has not submitted a copy of the document, his statements regarding its form and content may be accepted.

Article 24

The court may, during the course of the action, even before the court of second instance, permit the joinder of a third party in order to compel him to produce a document in his possession, in the cases and subject to the provisions and conditions set out in the preceding Articles. It may also order, even of its own motion, the joinder of any administrative authority to provide the information and documents it holds that are necessary for proceeding with the action, unless this would prejudice the public interest.

Article 25

If a litigant submits a document to be relied upon as evidence in the action, he may not withdraw it without the consent of his opponent except with the written permission of the judge or the president of the chamber, after a copy thereof has been kept in the case file, endorsed by the court registry as conforming to the original.

Chapter Four – Proof of the Genuineness of Documents

Section One – General Provisions

Article 26

The court may assess the effect of scraping, erasure, interlineation and other material defects in a document in nullifying or reducing its value in proof.
If the genuineness of the document is in doubt in the opinion of the court, it may of its own motion summon the official from whom it was issued or the person who drew it up to state what will clarify the truth of the matter.

Article 27

A challenge of forgery may be made against official and private documents, whereas denial of handwriting, seal, signature or fingerprint may be made only against private documents. The burden of proving the challenge of forgery shall lie upon the person who makes it, whereas where a person denies that a private document emanated from him, or swears that he does not know that it emanated from the person from whom he received the right, the burden of proving that it emanated from him or from his predecessor shall lie upon his opponent.
If the litigant admits the genuineness of the seal with which the private document is sealed but denies that he affixed it, he shall have recourse to the challenge of forgery.

Section Two – Denial of Handwriting, Signature, Seal or Fingerprint, and Verification of Handwriting

Article 28

If the person against whom the document is invoked denies his handwriting, signature, seal or fingerprint, or the heir or successor swears that he does not know that it emanated from the person from whom he received the right, and the other litigant continues to rely on the document, and the document is material to the dispute and the facts and documents of the action are insufficient to form the conviction of the court as to the genuineness of the handwriting, signature, seal or fingerprint, the court shall order verification by comparison, by hearing witnesses, or by both.
Comparison shall be conducted in accordance with the rules prescribed for expert evidence, and witnesses shall be heard in accordance with the rules prescribed for witness testimony. Their testimony shall be heard only in respect of proving that the writing, signature, seal or fingerprint was placed on the document to be verified by the person to whom it is attributed.

Article 29

The court shall set a hearing for the attendance of the litigants to submit the comparison papers in their possession and to agree on those suitable for that purpose, and for the specimen writing of the litigant contesting the genuineness of the document. If the litigant contesting the genuineness of the document refuses, without acceptable excuse, to attend in person for the specimen writing, judgment may be given upholding the genuineness of that document; if the litigant charged with proof fails to attend without acceptable excuse, judgment may be given forfeiting his right to proof; and if his opponent fails to attend, the papers submitted for comparison may be deemed suitable for it.
The presiding judge shall order the deposit of the document to be verified, the comparison papers and the specimen writing papers with the court registry after they have been signed by him and by the clerk of the hearing; he shall also draw up minutes setting out the condition and description of the document to be verified, which minutes shall likewise be signed by him and by the clerk of the hearing.

Article 30

The handwriting, signature, seal or fingerprint that has been denied shall be compared with the established handwriting, signature, seal or fingerprint of the person against whom the document to be verified is invoked.
In the absence of agreement between the litigants, only the following shall be accepted for comparison:
a- Handwriting, signature, seal or fingerprint placed on official documents.
b- The part of the document to be verified which the litigant admits to be genuine.
c- His handwriting or signature written before the court, or the fingerprint impressed before it.

Article 31

If judgment is given upholding the genuineness of the entire instrument, the person who denied it shall be ordered to pay a fine of not less than two hundred and fifty dinars and not more than five hundred dinars.
* Replaced by Law No. 107 of 2013 (Kuwait Al-Youm, Issue No. 1132, 19 May 2013).

Section Three – Challenge of Forgery

Article 32

A challenge of forgery may be made at any stage of the action. The challenger shall specify all instances of the alleged forgery, the evidence thereof and the verification procedures by which he requests to prove it, by a memorandum submitted to the court or by recording it in the minutes of the hearing. If the challenge is material to the dispute and the facts and documents of the action are insufficient to satisfy the court of the genuineness or forgery of the document, and the court considers that the verification requested by the challenger is material and admissible, it shall order verification by comparison, by witness testimony, or by both, in the manner set out in the preceding Articles.
The party against whom the challenge of forgery is made may halt the verification at any stage by waiving his reliance on the challenged document. In that case, the court may order the seizure or retention of the document if the challenger so requests for a legitimate interest.

Article 33

The challenger of forgery shall deliver to the court registry the challenged document if it is in his possession, or the copy thereof served on him. If the document is in the possession of the court or the clerk, it shall be deposited with the court registry; and if it is in the possession of the opposing litigant, the presiding judge shall, as soon as the challenge of forgery is submitted, direct him to deliver it immediately to the court registry, failing which he shall order its seizure and deposit with the court registry. If the litigant refuses to deliver it and its seizure is not possible, it shall be deemed non-existent. This shall not prevent its seizure later, if possible.
In all cases, the presiding judge and the clerk shall sign the document before it is deposited with the court registry.

Article 34

A judgment ordering verification of a challenge of forgery shall suspend the enforceability of the challenged document, without prejudice to precautionary measures.

Article 35

The court may, even if no challenge of forgery has been made before it, rule that any document is rejected and void if it becomes clearly apparent to it from its condition or from the circumstances of the action that it is forged. In that case, it shall set out in its judgment the circumstances and presumptions from which this became apparent to it.

Article 36

If judgment is given dismissing the challenge of forgery or forfeiting the challenger’s right to proof, he shall be ordered to pay a fine of not less than three hundred dinars and not more than one thousand dinars – and no penalty shall be imposed on him if part of his allegation is proven.
If the forgery of the document is established, the court shall send it, together with copies of the related minutes, to the Public Prosecution for the taking of criminal proceedings in respect thereof.
The court shall – if it rules that the instrument is genuine or rejects it – set the earliest hearing for consideration of the merits.
* Replaced, and the third paragraph added, by Law No. 107 of 2013 (Kuwait Al-Youm, Issue No. 1132, 19 May 2013).

Section Four – Action for Verification of Signature and Independent Action of Forgery

Article 37

A person holding a private document may bring an action against the person against whom that document is invoked to have him admit that it is in his handwriting or bears his signature, seal or fingerprint, even if the obligation contained therein is not yet due; this shall be by an original action under the ordinary procedures. If the defendant appears and admits, the court shall record his admission and all costs shall be borne by the plaintiff. The document shall be deemed acknowledged if the defendant remains silent, does not deny it or does not attribute it to another person. If the defendant denies the handwriting, signature, seal or fingerprint, verification shall be conducted in accordance with the foregoing rules; and if the defendant does not appear, the court shall rule in his absence upholding the genuineness of the handwriting, signature, seal or fingerprint.

Article 38

A person who fears that a forged document may be invoked against him may bring an action against the person holding that document and the person benefiting from it, to obtain a judgment declaring its forgery. This shall be by an original action filed in the ordinary manner, and in the verification of this action the court shall observe the rules and procedures set out in the preceding Articles.

Part Three – Witness Testimony

Article 39

In non-commercial matters, if the legal act exceeds five thousand dinars in value or is of indeterminate value, witness testimony may not be admitted to prove its existence or extinction unless there is an agreement or a provision to the contrary. The obligation shall be valued according to its value at the time the legal act was made, without adding the accessories to the principal.
If the action comprises multiple claims arising from multiple sources, proof by witness testimony may be made for each claim whose value does not exceed five thousand dinars, even if such claims in aggregate exceed that value, and even if they arise from relations between the same litigants or from legal acts of the same nature.
In proving partial payment, regard shall be had to the value of the original obligation.
* The words “five thousand dinars” replaced the words “five hundred dinars” by Law No. 1 of 1997 (Kuwait Al-Youm, Issue No. 302, 30 March 1997).

Article 40

Proof by witness testimony may not be made, even if the value does not exceed five thousand dinars:
First: in respect of what contradicts or goes beyond the contents of written evidence.
Second: if what is claimed is the remainder or a part of a right that may not be proved except in writing.
Third: if one of the litigants in the action claimed an amount exceeding five thousand dinars and then reduced his claim to an amount not exceeding that value.
* The words “five thousand dinars” replaced the words “five hundred dinars” by Law No. 1 of 1997 (Kuwait Al-Youm, Issue No. 302, 30 March 1997).

Article 41

Proof by witness testimony may be made in matters that were required to be proved in writing in the following cases:
First: if there is a commencement of proof in writing; any writing emanating from the opposing litigant that renders the existence of the alleged legal act probable shall be deemed a commencement of proof in writing.
Second: if there is a material or moral impediment preventing the obtaining of written evidence.
Third: if the creditor has lost his written instrument due to an extraneous cause beyond his control.

Article 42

A litigant who requests proof by witness testimony shall state the facts he wishes to prove, in writing or orally at the hearing.
The operative part of the judgment ordering proof by witness testimony shall specify each of the facts ordered to be proved and the day on which the inquiry is to commence.
If the court permits one of the litigants to prove a fact by witness testimony, the other litigant shall have the right to disprove it by the same means.
The court may, of its own motion, order proof by witness testimony in cases where the law permits proof by this means whenever it considers this useful for establishing the truth; it may also, in all cases, whenever it orders proof by witness testimony, summon to testify any person whose testimony it deems necessary to hear in order to reveal the truth.

Article 43

A witness may not be challenged, even if he is a relative or a relative by marriage of one of the litigants, unless he is incapable of discernment by reason of old age, minority, illness or any other cause. The statements of an ascendant may be heard in respect of his descendant, or of a descendant in respect of his ascendant, as may the statements of one spouse concerning the other, and the statements of a person who has not reached fourteen years of age may be heard without oath and for guidance only.
A person who is unable to speak shall give testimony if he can make his meaning understood in writing or by signs.
Public officials and persons charged with a public service shall not testify, even after leaving their work, about information that came to their knowledge in the course of performing it which has not been published by legal means and whose disclosure has not been authorised by the competent authority; nevertheless, such authority may authorise them to testify at the request of the court or of one of the litigants.
Lawyers, doctors, agents or other persons who have learned of a fact or information through their profession or capacity may not disclose it, even after the end of their service or the cessation of their capacity, unless its communication to them was intended solely for the commission of a felony or misdemeanour; nevertheless, the aforementioned persons shall testify regarding such fact or information when requested to do so by the person who confided it to them, provided that this does not prejudice the provisions of the laws specific to them.
Neither spouse may, without the consent of the other, disclose what the other communicated to him during the marriage, even after its dissolution, except where an action is brought by one of them against the other, and in respect of what the defence therein requires, or where an action is brought against one of them for a felony or misdemeanour committed by him against the other.
* The first paragraph was replaced by Law No. 107 of 2013 (Kuwait Al-Youm, Issue No. 1132, 19 May 2013).

Article 44

Each witness shall give his testimony separately, in the absence of the other witnesses who have not yet been heard. Witnesses in rebuttal shall be heard at the same hearing at which the witnesses in proof were heard, unless prevented by an impediment. If the inquiry is adjourned to another hearing, the pronouncement of the adjournment shall serve as a summons to those witnesses who are present to attend that hearing, unless the court expressly exempts them from attendance.
The witness shall take the oath by saying: (I swear by Almighty God).
* The last paragraph was replaced by Law No. 107 of 2013 (Kuwait Al-Youm, Issue No. 1132, 19 May 2013).

Article 45

If a litigant fails to bring his witness or to summon him to attend at the scheduled hearing, the court shall decide to oblige him to bring the witness or to summon him to attend another hearing; if he fails to do so, his right to call that witness may be forfeited, without prejudice to any penalty prescribed by law for such delay.

Article 46

If a witness refuses to attend in response to the invitation of the litigant or the court, the litigant or the court registry, as the case may be, shall summon him to attend to give testimony at least twenty-four hours before the date set for hearing him, excluding distance periods. In cases of urgency, this period may be shortened and the witness may be summoned to attend by telegram from the court registry upon an order of the court.
If the witness has been duly summoned and fails to attend, the court may, in cases of extreme urgency, issue an order for him to be brought before it. In other cases, an order shall be made for the witness to be summoned again if necessary, and if he then fails to attend, the court may issue an order for him to be brought before it.

Article 47

If a witness attends and, without legal justification, refuses to take the oath or to answer, he shall be sentenced to a fine not exceeding twenty dinars.
If a witness has an excuse preventing him from attending, the delegated judge may go to him to hear his statements; if the inquiry is before the court, it may delegate one of its judges for that purpose. The court or the delegated judge shall fix the date and place for hearing his statements, and the pronouncement of this decision shall serve as notification to the litigants to attend the giving of such testimony. Minutes thereof shall be drawn up and signed by the delegated judge and the clerk.

Article 48

Questions shall be put to the witness by the court, and the witness shall answer first the questions of the litigant who called him and then those of the other litigant. Once a litigant has finished questioning the witness, he may not put new questions except with the permission of the court.
The presiding judge or any member of the bench, and the delegated judge, as the case may be, may put directly to the witness such questions as he deems useful in revealing the truth. Testimony shall be given orally, and written notes may not be relied upon except with the permission of the court or the delegated judge and where the nature of the action so warrants. If the witness omits something that should be mentioned, the court or the delegated judge shall question him about it, and this shall not be deemed prompting unless it adds to his knowledge.

Article 49

The witness’s answers shall be recorded in the minutes, then read out to him, and he shall sign them after correcting whatever he deems necessary to correct. If he refuses to sign, this and the reason for it shall be stated in the minutes.

Article 50

If, upon judgment on the merits of the action, it becomes evident that a witness has given false testimony, the court shall draw up minutes thereof and send them to the Public Prosecution to take the necessary criminal proceedings.

Article 51

Any person who fears losing the opportunity to call a witness on a matter not yet brought before the courts, but which is likely to be brought before them, may request, in the presence of the interested parties, that such witness be heard. This request shall be submitted by the usual procedures to the judge of summary matters, and all its expenses shall be borne by the person who requested it. Where necessity is established, the judge shall order the witness to be heard, provided that the fact is one that may be proved by witness testimony.
The judge may hear witnesses in rebuttal at the request of the other litigant to the extent required by the circumstances of urgency in the case.
In all other respects, the rules and procedures set out in the preceding Articles shall be followed in respect of testimony. In this case, no copy of the minutes of the inquiry may be delivered, nor may the minutes be submitted to the courts, unless the court hearing the merits, when considering them, finds that the fact may be proved by witness testimony; the litigant may object before that court to the admission of this evidence, and may also request that witnesses in rebuttal be heard in his favour.

Part Four – Presumptions and Res Judicata

Article 52

Presumptions prescribed by law shall dispense the person in whose favour they are established from any other method of proof; however, such presumptions may be rebutted by evidence to the contrary unless there is a provision to the contrary.
The judge may infer other presumptions for the purpose of proof in cases where proof by witness testimony is permissible.

Article 53

Judgments that have acquired the force of res judicata shall be conclusive as to the matters of the dispute they have decided, and no evidence contradicting this presumption may be admitted; however, such judgments shall not have this force except in a dispute between the same litigants, without change in their capacities, and relating to the same right in subject matter and cause.
The court shall apply the force of res judicata of its own motion.

Article 54

The civil judge shall not be bound by a criminal judgment except as to the facts decided by that judgment where its decision on them was necessary; nevertheless, he shall not be bound by a judgment of acquittal unless it is based on a finding that the act is not attributable to the accused.

Part Five – Admission and Interrogation of the Litigants

Chapter One – Admission

Article 55

An admission is a litigant’s acknowledgement before the judiciary of a legal fact alleged against him, made during the course of the proceedings in the case relating to that fact.

Article 56

For an admission to be valid, the person making it shall have the capacity to dispose of what he has admitted. The admission of a person interdicted for prodigality shall be accepted in everything in which he is not deemed interdicted under Sharia.

Article 57

An admission shall be binding evidence against the person making it.
An admission may not be divided against the person making it unless it relates to multiple facts and the existence of one of those facts does not necessarily entail the existence of the other facts.

Chapter Two – Interrogation of the Litigants

Article 58

The court may interrogate any of the litigants who is present, and each of them may request the interrogation of his opposing litigant who is present. The court may likewise order a litigant to appear for interrogation, whether of its own motion or at the request of his opposing litigant, and whoever the court has decided to interrogate shall attend the hearing fixed by the decision.

Article 59

If a litigant lacks capacity or is of limited capacity, the person representing him may be interrogated, and the court may examine the litigant himself if he has reached the age of discernment in respect of matters in which he has been authorised to act. Legal persons may be interrogated through their legal representatives. In all cases, the person to be interrogated shall have the capacity to dispose of the disputed right.

Article 60

The court shall put to the litigant the questions it deems appropriate, and shall likewise put to him the questions which the other litigant requests it to put, and the answer shall be given at the same hearing unless the court decides to grant a time limit for the answer.
The answer shall be given in the presence of the person who requested the interrogation, but the interrogation shall not be conditional upon his attendance.
The questions and answers shall be recorded in the minutes of the hearing and signed by the presiding judge, the clerk and the person interrogated. If the person interrogated refuses to answer or to sign, his refusal and its reason shall be stated in the minutes.
If a litigant fails to appear for interrogation without an acceptable excuse, or refuses to answer without a legal justification, the court may draw from that such inferences as it deems fit, and may admit proof by witness testimony and presumptions in cases where that would not otherwise have been permissible.
If, however, the litigant has an acceptable excuse preventing him from appearing for interrogation, the court may delegate one of its judges to interrogate him.

Part Six – The Oath

Article 61

Each of the two litigants may, at any stage of the case, tender the decisive oath to the other litigant, provided that the fact to which the oath relates concerns the person to whom it is tendered; if the fact is not personal to him, the oath shall relate to his mere knowledge of it. Nevertheless, the judge may prevent the tendering of the oath if the litigant is acting abusively in tendering it.
The person to whom the oath is tendered may refer it back to his opposing litigant; however, it may not be referred back if the oath relates to a fact in which the two litigants do not both participate but which concerns solely the person to whom the oath was tendered.
Whoever has tendered the oath or referred it back may not withdraw it once his opposing litigant has accepted to take the oath.

Article 62

A testamentary guardian, curator or agent of an absent person may not tender the decisive oath or refer it back except in matters falling within his authority in accordance with the law.

Article 63

The decisive oath may not be tendered in respect of a fact contrary to public order.

Article 64

Whoever has the oath tendered to him and refuses to take it without referring it back to his opposing litigant, and whoever has the oath referred back to him and refuses to take it, shall lose his case.

Article 65

A litigant may not prove the falsity of the oath after it has been taken by the litigant to whom it was tendered or referred back; however, if the falsity of the oath is established by a criminal judgment, the litigant who has suffered damage as a result of it may claim compensation, without prejudice to any right he may have to challenge the judgment rendered against him.

Article 66

The judge may, at any stage of the case, of his own motion tender the supplementary oath to either of the two litigants in order to base on it his judgment on the merits of the case or on the value of what he awards. For this oath to be tendered, there shall be no complete evidence in the case, and the case shall not be devoid of any evidence.
The litigant to whom this oath is tendered may not refer it back to the other litigant.

Article 67

The judge may not tender the supplementary oath to the claimant to determine the value of the subject of the claim unless it is impossible to determine that value by any other means. In that case, the judge shall fix a maximum limit for the value on which the claimant is to swear.

Article 68

Whoever tenders the oath to his opposing litigant shall specify precisely the facts on which he wishes him to be sworn and shall state the wording of the oath in clear terms. The court may amend the wording proposed by the litigant so that the oath is directed clearly and precisely to the fact on which the oath is required.
If the person to whom the oath is tendered does not dispute either its admissibility or its relevance to the case, he shall, if present in person, take the oath forthwith or refer it back to his opposing litigant, failing which he shall be deemed to have refused. The court may grant him a time limit to take the oath if it sees grounds for doing so. If he is not present, the operative part of the judgment shall be served on him and he shall be summoned to attend the hearing fixed for taking the oath; if he attends and refuses without raising a dispute, or fails to attend without an excuse, he shall likewise be deemed to have refused.
If the person to whom the oath is tendered disputes its admissibility or its relevance to the case, and the court rejects his dispute and rules that he shall take the oath, the court shall state the wording of the oath in the operative part of its judgment, and this operative part shall be served on the litigant if he was not present in person, and the provisions of the preceding paragraph shall be followed.

Article 69

If the person to whom the oath is tendered has an excuse preventing him from attending, the court shall move to him or delegate one of its judges to administer the oath to him.

Article 70

The oath shall be taken by the swearer saying “I swear by Almighty God” and stating the wording approved by the court.
In the case of a mute person, his customary sign shall be taken as his taking of the oath or his refusal to take the oath if he cannot write; if he can write, his taking of the oath and his refusal to take the oath shall be in writing.
Minutes of the taking of the oath shall be drawn up and signed by the swearer, the presiding judge and the clerk.
* The first paragraph was replaced by Law No. 107 of 2013 (Kuwait Al-Youm, Issue No. 1132, 19 May 2013).

Part Seven – Inspection and the Action to Establish the State of Facts

Article 71

The court may, at the request of one of the litigants or of its own motion, decide to move to inspect the subject of the dispute, and shall specify in its decision the date and place of the inspection. The court shall draw up minutes setting out all the acts relating to the inspection.
The court may appoint an expert to assist it in the inspection. It may hear any witnesses it deems fit to hear, and such witnesses shall be summoned to attend at the request, even if oral, of the court clerk.

Article 72

Whoever fears the loss of the features of a fact that may become the subject of a dispute before the judiciary may request the judge of summary matters, in the presence of the persons concerned and by the usual procedures, to move to carry out an inspection, and the preceding provisions shall be observed in that case.
The judge of summary matters may, in the aforementioned case, delegate an expert to move, carry out the inspection and hear witnesses without oath. The judge shall then fix a hearing to hear the litigants’ observations on the expert’s report and work. The rules set out in the law regulating expert evidence shall be followed.

Article 73

This Law shall be published in the Official Gazette and shall come into force as from 1 November 1980.

Issued on 4 June 1980 and published in the Official Gazette Kuwait Al-Youm on 25 June 1980.