Court delays tackled with digital overhaul

Counselor Al-Sumait explained to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that judicial notification is not merely a procedural formality, but it constitutes the foundation for initiating litigation and ensuring the proper commencement of legal proceedings. Litigation cannot proceed without proper notification and that any defect in the notification process may prevent the court from even considering the subject of the dispute. He stressed that approximately 36 percent of judgments dismissing cases as though they had never been filed were the result of incomplete notification procedures, highlighting the direct impact of notification issues on case progress, access to justice, and the timely resolution of disputes.

Counselor Al-Sumait affirmed that one of the most prominent practical challenges in this area has been the lack of updated contact information for companies, which has often made it difficult to serve notifications and has led to the postponement of related cases. He explained that the electronic linkage with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI), completed on March 29, has significantly improved the availability of company contact information. The coverage rate increased from approximately 0.8 percent, representing about 1,900 companies, to nearly 67 percent, with contact details now available for around 162,000 of the country’s 242,000 registered companies.

This number continues to grow daily, and mobile phone numbers and email addresses have become mandatory requirements for the issuance and renewal of commercial licenses. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has begun taking action against companies that have failed to update their information, including suspending the renewal of their commercial licenses. Serving notifications to companies through the “Sahel Aamal” application represents a significant advancement in commercial and civil litigation, as it links judicial notices to updated official records and places responsibility on companies to ensure the accuracy of their data. Counselor Al-Sumait further explained that the Ministry of Justice has addressed the duration of notifications issued through the “Sahl Aamal” application by extending their validity from three months to two years.

The ministry is coordinating with relevant authorities to resolve issues related to the cancellation of digital identities in the “Kuwait Mobile ID” application, ensuring that judicial notifications are not disrupted and that parties cannot evade their legal consequences. This step also includes enhancing the data of users of the “Kuwait Mobile ID” application by incorporating their phone numbers and email addresses, drawing on a vast digital database comprising approximately 3.5 million users. The Ministry of Justice has developed a new mechanism for the work of process servers through electronic tools that enable the faster and more accurate issuance of judicial notifications.

The system links each notification to case details, the parties involved, and the relevant legal procedures. Counselor Al-Sumait affirmed that the adoption of the official electronic seal for documents issued by the Ministry of Justice strengthens the credibility of electronic documents and ensures their protection against alteration or tampering. He noted that the electronic seal will be applied to judicial notifications, electronic court judgments, electronic powers of attorney, and other digital documents issued by the ministry. Counselor Al-Sumait said expanding the electronic notification of criminal judgments marks an important step forward, particularly in cases involving default judgments and difficulties in notifying convicted individuals.

He stressed that electronic notification enables convicted persons to be informed of court rulings and exercise their right to appeal within the legally prescribed deadlines. Counselor Al-Sumait noted that the process was implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI), the Ministry of State for Communications Affairs, the Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT), and Microsoft. He emphasized that the Ministry of Justice’s objective is not merely to replace paper-based notifications with digital alternatives, but to establish a more reliable, faster, and sustainable judicial notification system, adding that such a system would reduce adjourned hearings, accelerate case resolution, and ease the burden on the courts, the Ministry of Justice, lawyers, and litigants.