Enforcing Foreign Judgments and Arbitral Awards in Kuwait

Kuwaiti law permits two contracting parties to select a foreign jurisdiction to govern the terms of their agreement, as well as to hear any disputes that may arise over the agreement. While the law permits courts in Kuwait to issue an order for the execution of judgments rendered in a foreign jurisdiction under limited circumstances, the Kuwaiti courts are generally not in the practice of enforcing foreign judgments. The courts do, however, grant issuances to execute foreign arbitral awards.

Article 199 of Law No. 38 of 1990, or the Civil and Commercial Procedures Law ("CCPL"), provides that foreign judgments will only be executed in Kuwait if the foreign law in question is reciprocal in recognising and enforcing Kuwaiti judgments, whether by treaty or precedent, and only in accordance with the same conditions as provided for in the laws of the foreign country for the execution of judgments made in Kuwait.

Kuwait is a party to two treaties that allow for reciprocal enforcement of judgments. The first is the Convention of League of Arab States on the Enforcement of Judgments (1952) which has been inconsistent in the past with regard to reciprocity and largely dormant. The second treaty is Law No. 44 of 1998 Ratifying the Agreement for the Enforcement of Judgments and Judicial Notices in the Member States of the GCC.

In the absence of a treaty providing for reciprocal enforcement, Kuwaiti law provides that a court may issue the enforcement of a foreign judgment if there is sufficient evidence to show that the country in which the judgment was rendered has enforced Kuwaiti judgments in the past, but only in accordance with the same terms and conditions. Reciprocal enforcement may also be established by a legal opinion issued by the foreign jurisdiction outlining the steps and legal authorities that would enable the reciprocal enforcement of a hypothetical but similar Kuwaiti judgment. However, no Western countries have been found to have reciprocal relationships with Kuwait with respect to enforcement of judgments.

Procedural Requirements

Provided that a Kuwaiti court finds that it has the authority to issue the execution of a foreign judgment, Article 199 of the CCPL further requires that the following conditions are met:

The court issuing the judgment has jurisdiction over the subject matter; The parties have been properly served with notice of the action; The judgment does not contravene public policy or morals of the country where the...