KUWAIT CITY, March 1: The Legislative and Legal Committee of the National Assembly plan to approve, at the earliest, what it called the ‘independence of the judiciary’ draft bill during the current legislative round, say parliamentary sources.

The sources added the committee is expected to approve the bill in ‘a few weeks’ as per the agreement among members and the importance of presenting this draft bill to the National Assembly during the current legislative round.

The sources explained in spite of the complexity of the law, the lengthy studies and the need for coordination between several quarters to come out with an appropriate legal draft, the legislative committee wants this law to be the most outstanding achievement of this National Assembly to prove to the country that this Parliament is not a replica of previous parliaments.

The sources pointed out the committee has asked legal experts to give their observations by mid-March to allow time for discussion among members and then refer it to the Ministry of Justice and the Judicial Council prior to submitting it to the Parliament for approval.

On another issue, government sources told the Arab Times the resolution of the loans issue will not come out of the ‘defaulters fund’ and that the compromise that is being talked about in the Parliament involves only the new defaulters.

It is said there is a possibility of writing off some interests on loans - interests of those who are registered with the fund since its establishment “and apart from that the government will not agree on demands that would put a strain on the government treasury.”
 
The sources added some financial issues will be discussed — issues which do not exceed KD 250 million — which is enough to permanently close the loans file with the Central Bank of Kuwait and the local banks in compliance with the regulations that is not to grant loans in excess of 40 percent of the total monthly salary which is known in banking terms as the ‘CNet’ (Credit Information Network) which monitors the financial problems or breaches of the system not to grant loans and financial facilities exceeding half of the employee’s salary.

When asked about the parliamentary proposal to increase the child allowance, the sources said this is possible in light of inflation and the principle of justice for all so that there is no discrimination.
The sources pointed out this proposal may be accepted instead of writing off the loans because apart from achieving some sort of justice it would also be as a new financial resource for the family to overcome previous financial problems.