Initial recommendations for amending penal, procedural texts related to rights of accused: Alkhateeb
KUWAIT CITY, May 1: The Criminal Laws Review Committee held a meeting at the Kuwait Society of Lawyers. The Committee consists of lawyers and academic members headed by Lawyer Dr. Fawaz Khaled Alkhateeb, Visiting Assistant Professor of criminal law at Kuwait International Law School (KILAW). The meeting was attended by Vice President Attorney Salah Abdullah Al- Ghanim and Member Lawyer Khaled Hussein Al-Adhab.
In the meeting, the Head of the Committee pointed out the objective of the Committee’s work. The work is to improve the criminal legislative structure by reviewing the criminal laws and submitting the necessary proposals to amend the legislation of a criminal nature, whether in the Penal Code or in other non-penal laws that carry punitive texts. “The Committee also seeks proposals to develop the special articles related to criminal procedure law according to its priorities related to the consolidation of justice and the protection of rights and freedoms,” he said, noting that lawyers perceive the existence of legislative shortcomings by practical experience, adding that “our experience as lawyers enables us to develop a better practical vision for some provisions of the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedures and Trials in a manner that serves the Kuwaiti legislative environment. He also added that the Committee will take into consideration the opinion of experts in penal law and criminal procedures in leading academic institutions such as KILAW and Kuwait University to present elaborately crafted legislative proposals.
Alkhateeb added that “we submitted to the Board of Directors a proposal that includes communication with fellow lawyers through modern means to involve them and with other law firms and offices to submit any proposals and perceptions that contribute to amending the penal code and the criminal procedure law to serve justice. There is no doubt that the colleagues’ experience is rich and will contribute to enriching the proposals,” he said.
On his part, Vice Chairman of the Committee, Lawyer Salah Al-Ghanim, said that “we work with the concept of construction by making use of the largest possible amount of information through communication and consultation with competent judicial authorities or assisting judicial bodies, as well as security authorities and bodies associated with the work of judicial authorities such as the accusation authorities, whether the Public Prosecution or the Public Administration of Investigations, the Ministry of Justice, the security authorities such as the Ministry of the Interior and its correctional institutions, and the relevant authorities such as the Ministry of Health, the Human Rights Bureau, the Human Rights Association and others for their sharing of minds and ideas to serve the development of visions for the process of improving penal and procedural legislation,” he said noting that The Committee uses the minutes of The Committees’ meeting in previous years to institutionalize and develop work of the previous colleagues in previous years. He added that any proposals presented will be made after reviewing the legal texts related to the amendment that the committee wishes to submit so that the view would be comprehensive in order to achieve stability in the legal situations.
