Need to Travel? Kuwait Has Changed the Rules on Travel Ban Orders

KUWAIT CITY, July 5: Kuwait has amended its Civil and Commercial Procedures Law to accelerate the issuance of travel ban orders by expanding the pool of judges authorized to approve such requests.

Under Decree-Law No. 68 of 2026, published in Kuwait Alyoum, the government amended the first paragraph of Article 297 of the Civil and Commercial Procedures Law issued under Decree-Law No. 38 of 1980.

The amendment replaces the phrase "from among its subordinate (judges)" with "whoever is in the court," allowing the authority to issue travel ban orders to be assigned to judges of the Court of First Instance selected by the court's General Assembly, instead of limiting the power to a specific judicial rank.

According to the explanatory memorandum accompanying the decree-law, Article 297 sets out the conditions and procedures for issuing travel bans against debtors. Previously, the authority to issue such orders was limited to the Director of the Execution Department and deputy judges of the Court of First Instance.

The government said restricting the authority to a limited judicial rank often delayed decisions due to the growing number of travel ban applications and the shortage of judges holding the rank of deputy judge. In some cases, the Court of First Instance had no judges at that rank, making it difficult to process requests promptly.

The amendment is intended to ensure that travel ban applications are decided immediately after submission by allowing the General Assembly of the Court of First Instance to designate qualified judges to handle the requests.

The explanatory memorandum noted that the change was introduced under the legislative powers granted by the Amiri Order of May 10, 2024, which authorizes the issuance of laws through decrees with the force of law.

Article Two of the decree requires the relevant ministers, each within their respective jurisdiction, to implement the new provisions. The law takes effect from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.