KUWAIT CITY, Aug 14: The Head of the Fatwa and Legislation Department, Counselor Salah Al-Massad, said that the Arbitration Court formed in accordance with the rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) for the year 1976, under the management of the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes an affiliated to the World Bank, issued a ruling recently in the interest of Kuwait.

This was in response to the pleas submitted on behalf of the Government of Kuwait in the arbitration case brought by the plaintiff, Maria Lazareva against Kuwait, which was established under the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement between Kuwait and the State of the Russian Federation, reports Al-Jarida daily.

Al-Massad added, on July 15, 2018, the plaintiff, Lazareva, filed her lawsuit against Kuwait under the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement to claim the value of the investments she made in Kuwait and the lost profits, as well as compensation, according to her allegations, due to Kuwait’s abuse of criminal and legal procedures.

System

He added that the plaintiff claimed that the Kuwaiti criminal justice system did not meet international standards, and that Kuwait had thus violated the terms of the agreement, explaining that the plaintiff had requested compensation for moral damage and material losses in the manner of its allegations of direct investment in Kuwait.

However, the arbitration tribunal won the right of Kuwait and the defense presented by the legal team representing Kuwait, and the court decided by a majority to refuse to consider the case for lack of jurisdiction, due to the plaintiff’s inability to meet the necessary criteria regarding investment contained in the agreement, with regard to participation and control, which does not qualify her to obtain guarantees provided to the foreign investors, he added He explained that the court decided to compensate the government of Kuwait with legal fees, equivalent to approximately $3.768 million, which the plaintiff Lazareva must pay to Kuwait within 60 days, pointing out that this success is added to the other arbitration cases that were issued in favor of Kuwait before the various arbitration centers, such as The International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes and the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

Al-Massad praised the feat and professionalism of the Fatwa and Legislation team over the past four years, which culminated in the issuance of the ruling. Earlier reports had said that a Kuwaiti court had sentenced investment executive Marsha Lazareva to 15 years in prison for money laundering. A US law firm leading the international effort to secure Lazareva’s release had decried her conviction as an “egregious human rights violation.”