The Court of Appeals recently revoked a Kuwaiti citizen’s right to obtain KD 18,814, which is the value of his car that was destroyed by the 2018 rains. The court overturned the lower court’s ruling, which obligated the Ministry of Public Works to compensate the citizen for the damages, reports Al-Qabas daily.

According to the case file, the citizen filed the case against the Minister of Public Works in his capacity after his car was damaged due to negligence and lack of validity of the drainage outlets, which led to the gathering of water on the roads and caused his car to sink into the water.

In March, after about 18 months since the incident, the Court of First Instance ruled the citizen’s entitlement to compensation, affirming the negligent liability of the Minister of Public Works and the Ministry of Public Works in not maintaining the roads and following up their validity and efficiency in readiness for the rainy season.

In turn, the ministry continued to stress its lack of civil responsibility for the force majeure represented by the large quantities of rain and the difficulty in dealing with the consequences thereof, especially since the civil aviation data tables indicate rain in quantities exceeding 400 percent of the recognized quantities, and the arrival of the sea tide above.

The court stated in its justifications that the State authorities at the time had issued a warning to citizens and residents to avoid leaving the homes based on meteorological forecasts that indicated heavy rain, which strengthens the presence of force majeure that cannot be expected and impossible to pay. This is in addition to the State authorities providing emergency and rescue teams for help, and from then those who went out after these warnings become responsible for themselves, and the State authorities are not responsible for the damages that happen to cars