KUWAIT CITY, March 23: Customs officers at Kuwait International Airport foiled a Syrian man’s attempt to smuggle 40,000 narcotic pills which were hidden between cans of sweets. The officers got suspicious after noticing the agitated demeanor of the Syrian who came from his country, so they subjected him to a thorough inspection and this led to the discovery of the narcotic pills. The Syrian and the contraband were referred to the concerned security department for the necessary legal procedures.

KD 900,000 expired goods: Department of Cooperative Societies Inspections of Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor discovered expired goods worth KD 900,000 in one of the cooperative societies, reports Aljarida daily quoting informed sources.They stressed that such large quantity of expired goods of such a high cost represents a threat to the financial position of that cooperative society, insisting on the need to take necessary legal action against those who are responsible for delivering the expired goods to the cooperative society.The sources indicated that the cooperative society will be asked to present a list of the companies that it deals with so that the company that delivered the expired goods will be identified and blacklisted based on instructions specified in a letter sent by the Undersecretary of Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor Dr Matar Al-Mutairi to the Cooperative Societies Union on Dec 28, 2015.They said Law No. 118/2013 concerning cooperative societies includes penalties against members of the administrative board who misuse their power to reach agreements or negotiations with other organizations in a manner that will negatively affect cooperative societies.

Citizenship issue: The Court of Cassation allowed the judiciary to look into citizenship withdrawal cases considering the decision to revoke citizenship attained through birth from a Kuwaiti father by the power of law is not considered a sovereign procedure but an administrative procedure governed by law in terms of cancellation or compensation. The court session chaired by Judge Mohamed Al-Rifaei issued a verdict to accept the appeal filed by Ahmad Al-Jabri and also decided to overturn the appeal ruling to uphold the withdrawal of his citizenship.

The court instead referred the case back to the Lower Court for retrial, while the administrative Court set May 5 to look into the case. The court mentioned that according to Article 166 of the constitution: “The right of recourse to the Courts is guaranteed to all people. Law prescribes the procedure and manner necessary for the exercise of this right”, and in Article 169, “The law regulates the settlement of administrative suits by means of a special Chamber or Court, and prescribes its organization and the manner of assuming administrative jurisdiction including the power of both nullification and compensation in respect of administrative acts contrary to law”.

The court also pointed out that, according to Article 27 of the Constitution, “Kuwaiti nationality is defined by law. No deprivation or withdrawal of nationality may be effected except within the limits prescribed by law”. According to sources from the legal circle, the verdict will be of benefits to everyone whose nationality was withdrawn, who were in situation similar to that Al-Jabri.

By Munaif Nayef, Meshal Al-Sanousi and Jaber Al-Hamoud Al-Seyassah Staff and Agencies