Kuwait Penal Orders Surge Sevenfold After Launch of E-System

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 17: Kuwait’s Ministry of Justice issued 132,842 penal orders between July 12 and October 11, 2026, following the launch of its electronic penal order system, more than seven times the number recorded during the corresponding period last year, Minister of Justice Counselor Nasser Yousef Al-Sumait announced.

Al-Sumait said 17,903 penal orders were issued during the same period in 2025, before the electronic system became operational, highlighting a significant increase in the speed of processing cases.

The average daily output rose from approximately 195 penal orders during the corresponding period last year to around 1,444 after the system was introduced, he said.

The minister attributed the increase to the system’s direct impact on speeding up case resolution and shortening procedural timelines.

Al-Sumait explained that all penal orders issued during the three months concerned accumulated traffic cases.

The Ministry of Interior has electronically referred approximately 683,000 requests to the Ministry of Justice for the issuance of penal orders relating to traffic violations, he said. All the cases date back to years before 2023.

The electronic system is being used to process the backlog, helping authorities deal with outstanding cases more efficiently and reduce delays.

The minister explained that a penal order is a simplified judicial procedure for resolving misdemeanour and violation cases that can be settled through fines without requiring the full traditional trial process.

However, individuals against whom penal orders are issued retain their legal right to appeal in accordance with the law.

The system, developed and implemented by Ministry of Justice personnel, electronically manages every stage of the process, from receiving and reviewing requests to issuing and signing orders electronically and notifying the concerned parties through legally approved channels.

Al-Sumait said the digital process reduces dependence on paper files and helps minimise the risk of cases being dismissed because of the expiry of statutory limitation periods.

The minister commended the efforts of misdemeanour judges, criminal judgment enforcement personnel, and the ministry’s technical and administrative teams in implementing the system and processing the accumulated cases.

He stressed that work would continue to develop electronic litigation services, improve procedural efficiency and accelerate the resolution of cases.

The results mark a substantial increase in the processing of outstanding traffic violations following the introduction of the electronic penal order system in July 2026.