Kuwait
Religious (Islamic) law is a leading source
Compare Kuwait with another country →
Kuwait is a civil-law country with a Constitution of 1962 and an elected National Assembly. Its Civil Code of 1980 follows the Egyptian model, and Islamic law governs family matters. The Constitution says Islamic Sharia is a main source of legislation.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Where the law comes from
- The Constitution of 1962, the highest law
- Codes and statutes, such as the Civil Code (1980) and the Penal Code
- Islamic law, especially for personal status (marriage, divorce and inheritance)
- Decisions of the Court of Cassation and the Constitutional Court
The main courts
- The Court of Cassation at the top of the ordinary courts
- The Constitutional Court, which reviews laws
- Courts of appeal and first-instance courts, including courts for personal status and an administrative circuit
Becoming a lawyer
A law degree and registration with the Ministry of Justice and the Kuwait Lawyers Society.
What may surprise you
- The Constitution created a Constitutional Court early, in the 1970s.
- Civil-law codes sit beside Islamic family law.
- The Civil Code is modelled on Egypt's, like those of several other Arab states.
Related systems
How this country is classified
The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Kuwait as: Muslim, Civil law, Customary. It names the systems in order of importance.
The map colours a country by the first-named system, and shows both civil-law and common-law countries as “mixed”. It is a simplification, and real systems are rarely pure.
Other countries in the same family
Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Egypt, Gambia, Iran, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan.
Sources
Sources last reviewed: October 2026.
TheLawToKnow Tools’s Legal Families Atlas is an educational overview. It simplifies on purpose, and it is not legal advice. For a real legal question about Kuwait, consult a lawyer qualified there. Report a mistake.
