Assault cases plunge 53% as Kuwait law gets tougher

09/08/2026

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 9: Minister of Justice Nasser Al-Sumait announced that the statistics of the Ministry of Justice on cases registered at the Public Prosecution showed 53.2 percent decrease in the number of assault cases in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, while the total number of cases declined from 607 to 284. Al-Sumait disclosed that the breakdown of cases showed 7.7 percent decrease in the number of premeditated murder and attempted murder cases -- from 26 to 24, misdemeanor assault cases decreased from 376 to 137 or 63.6 percent, murder threats or causing physical harm cases decreased from 99 to 56 or 43.4 percent, suicide and attempted suicide cases decreased from 61 to 34 or 44.3 percent, and felony assault causing severe physical harm cases decreased from 16 to six or 62.5 percent.

He affirmed that the government continues to develop the penal system through the approval of legislative amendments in 2025 and 2026. He said these amendments include the cancellation of Article 153 of the Penal Code that provided a legal excuse for reducing the sentence for a man who killed his wife or a female relative if he caught her in the act of committing adultery, revocation of Article 159 of the Penal Code that stipulated a mitigating circumstance for a mother who killed her illegitimate child, toughening penalties for manslaughter and unintentional injury, criminalizing the possession of bladed weapons in public places without justification, harsher penalties for using such weapons to assault or intimidate others, issuance of a new law for protection against domestic violence, and prohibition of waiving or settling charges in cases of children assaulting their parents and crimes committed against children and those with diminished or incapacitated legal capacity

By Jaber Al-Hamoud Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff