KUWAIT CITY, Jan 2: The government has returned the bill on amending Procedures and Penal Trials Law Number 17/1960 to the National Assembly according to Decree Number 228/2023. The bill that was ratified on Oct 12, 2023 stipulates reducing the required period for the rehabilitation of convicts to restore their social, career, and political rights to be the same as the prison term or 10 years maximum. According to the bill, the convict is considered rehabilitated upon completion of the similar period that he spent in jail, if he is granted amnesty or after five years if the punishment is nullified because of seniority provided he does not commit another crime. In case the punishment is a fine, the convict is considered rehabilitated upon payment of the fine.

On the other hand, the government justified its decision to reject the bill; stressing the proposed period for a convict to be rehabilitated is not in line with the relevant legislation, which stipulates the latter can go back to society if he fulfills the pledge of good conduct and proves he is rehabilitated by completing the specified period as a righteous citizen. The government highlighted the right of the society to make sure that the convict is rehabilitated before allowing him to return to society, which stressing the need to complete the rehabilitation period similar to the penalty period. It argued that the periods specified in the bill are not enough to protect the rights of society and to prove that the convict has recovered from the influence of the crime he committed. It pointed out that in some cases, the imprisonment period is too short and does not match the gravity of the crime committed due to various factors like the opinion of the judge. In such a case, the rehabilitation period is not enough to protect the society and guarantee that the social interests are secured, the government elaborated.

The government said the bill does not consider equality among the convicts as it stipulates a similar period of rehabilitation for convicts who committed different crimes, some of which are more serious than others yet the perpetrators must complete the same rehabilitation period. It argued that specifying the rehabilitation period as half of the penalty term or obtaining amnesty with a maximum rehabilitation period of five years is unjust as it does not make any difference between someone convicted of a crime and one who is convicted of a misdemeanor.

The bill does not consider if the period that the convict spent in jail is enough to be rehabilitated or not, hence, it does not guarantee the consequences of restoring the convict’s political rights within a short period. The government said the laws that the concerned parliamentary committee used as basis in preparing its report on the bill were not taken into consideration, pointing out that these laws stipulate the need to fulfill the rehabilitation requirements such as completing the specified period with full commitment to maintaining good behavior and not committing any crime. The focus was on specifying the rehabilitation period without paying attention to the type of crime committed. The bill does not consider the case of those convicted of more than one crime in the same lawsuit, the government added. For the abovementioned reasons, the government concluded that the bill failed to serve its purpose; so it was returned to the Assembly for the necessary action.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Disabled Affairs Committee MP Saud Al-Asfour disclosed that the committee received a copy of government decree number 229/2023 on returning the ratified bill on amending Disabled Affairs Law number 8/2010 to the Assembly.

Al-Asfour clarified that this is one of the rights granted to the head of the State and the government as per Article 65 of the Constitution. He added the Assembly has the right to take measures as per Article 66 of the Constitution.

Article 65: (1) The Amir has the right to initiate, sanction, and promulgate laws. Promulgation of laws takes place within 30 days from the date of their submission by the National Assembly to the Amir. This period is reduced to seven days in case of urgency. Such urgency is decided upon by a majority vote of the members constituting the National Assembly. (2) Official holidays are not counted in computing the promulgation. (3) If the period of promulgation expires without the Head of State demanding reconsideration, the bill is considered as having been sanctioned and is promulgated.

Article 66: Reference of a bill for reconsideration is by a decree stating the grounds therefore. If the National Assembly confirms the bill by a two-thirds majority vote of its members, the Amir sanctions and promulgates the bill within 30 days from its submission to him. If the bill does not receive the said majority, it may not be reconsidered during the same session. If the National Assembly, in another session, considers the same bill by a majority vote of its members, the Amir sanctions and promulgates the bill as law within 30 days of its submission to him.

Al-Asfour confirmed that the decree specified the reasons for rejecting the bill as follows: - High cost, - Failure to provide a clear definition of the person assigned to take care of the disabled, - The beneficiaries include non- Kuwaitis, - Article 25 of the bill regulates the right of the first degree relative assigned to take care of the disabled to pass the task to the next of kin, - The last clause of Article 25 states that the Public Authority for Disabled Affairs (PADA) has the right to assign two individuals to take care of an individual with severe and permanent disability without defining the phrase ‘permanent disability’, - Article 32 of the bill allows obtaining housing loan from Kuwait Credit Bank (KCB) regardless of the number of disabled family members, - The privileges stipulated in articles 40 and 41 of the bill such as reducing the working hours for the disabled employees and those assigned to take care of them are already included in the current law, - Reducing the required service period for a disabled employee or the caregiver to be referred for retirement, - The option to provide the equipment to the beneficiary or grant him cash instead of the equipment. He added the committee will soon discuss all these points to expedite the completion of its report about the bill.

In another development, MP Shuaib Al-Muwaizri forwarded queries to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahd about the official authorized to sign contracts for supplying and maintaining medical equipment for Jaber Al-Ahmad Armed Forces Hospital; procedures followed to settle the contracts; role of the director of the Medical Services Department and manager of Jaber Al-Ahmad Armed Forces Hospital in the settlement of the contracts; copies of contracts signed from 2014 to 2023; if the purchased equipment were handed over to the concerned departments; copies of the regular maintenance schedule and complaints of doctors about equipment malfunctions; if annual inventory is carried out to determine which equipment are functioning well and those with frequent malfunctions since 2018 till date; number of surgeries done in the hospital and if they include plastic surgeries. MP Meteb Al-Anzi asked Minister of Finance Fahd Al-Jarallah about the number of small business owners who are suffering from financial problems and are included in the small and medium enterprises portfolio of Kuwait Industrial Bank, measures that the bank took to solve these problems, number of small business owners who were referred to the court for non-payment of loans, and reasons why the bank did not postpone the collection of loan payments similar to what the National Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises has done. MP Bader Nashmi Al-Anzi forwarded queries to Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of State for National Assembly and Cabinet Affairs Essa Al-Kandari; Minister of Finance Fahd Al- Al-Jarallah; Minister of Commerce and Industry and State Minister for Youth Affairs Muhammad Al-Aiban; Minister of Electricity and Water and acting Minister of Public Works Jassem Al- Ostad; Minister of Justice and State Minister for Housing Affairs Faleh Al-Raqaba; and State Minister for Municipal and Communication Affairs Fahd Al-Shaulah. He wants to know the strategy of each ministry to diversify sources of income to guarantee the sustainability of national income, if each ministry has conducted a study on diversification of income sources, copies of such studies if the answer is ‘yes’, if these ministries established enterprises to diversify sources of national income, and list of enterprises if the answer is ‘yes’.

By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff