News developments
According to local newspaper reports, Kuwait’s Social Affairs Minister has presented a draft law to allow the children of Kuwaiti female nationals and non-Kuwaiti men to receive social assistance. It has been referred to the Fatwa and Legislation Department to consider. The aim is to improve their living conditions and create a more equal system.
A member of the Kuwaiti municipality council has submitted a proposal to add a new article to the buildings charter. If approved, public departments and private entities will have to build nurseries for the children of their staff. The aim is to ensure entities with more than 50 female employees or more than 200 employees, from both genders, have dedicated nurseries. The member added Article 25 of the Labour Law provides for establishing nurseries in these entities but has so far not been implemented.
Asil Almazid, spokesperson and director of the Public Relations and Media Department in the Authority for Manpower of Kuwait, has announced Circular 26/2019 on giving business owners two months from the date of issuance of work permits to pay the salaries of the workers. Businesses should transfer the wages via bank transfers to local finance companies for their workers who have been recruited from abroad. Almazil has said the Labour Inspection Department is conducting an inspection to make sure that this deadline is being respected.
Oman has signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. It aims to tackle offshore tax evasion and avoidance. It provides for all forms of administrative assistance in tax matters: exchanges of information on request, spontaneous exchange, automatic exchange, tax examinations abroad, simultaneous tax examinations and assistance in tax collection. It also guarantees extensive safeguards for protecting taxpayers’ rights. The Sultanate also signed the Common Reporting Standard Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement.
A Kuwaiti MP has submitted a draft amendment to the country’s law establishing the Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority in terms of the provision on disclosing assets and liabilities. If approved, the amendment will mean MPs suspected of corruption will be immediately suspended and prohibited from contesting the next parliamentary election until a court verdict is issued. It will also mean that if a public prosecutor thinks they have collected sufficient evidence of the involvement of an MP in corruption, they will have to immediately inform the Speaker of the National Assembly and the relevant MP as well as refer the case to the appropriate court. The MP will then be suspended with full pay until a court verdict is issued or the current Parliamentary term ends.
Kuwait’s health ministry and the Health Assurance Hospitals Company (Dhaman) have started work to prepare a plan to implement new health insurance fees on expats by the beginning of 2020, according to official sources. The new fee would be KD 130 per expat working in the private sector and the same for each of their dependents. The sources said the new fee will cover medical and radiology tests and treatment. However, the new law does not specify who will be responsible for providing visitors with healthcare, but paying for healthcare of dependents will be the responsibility of the company the expat is registered with. The health ministry is expected to fully support insurance hospitals as part of its plan to force expats to receive medical treatment in private hospitals and leave public hospitals for citizens. Nonetheless, public hospitals are expected in exceptional circumstances to treat expats in emergency cases for specific fees which will be determined in related ministerial decisions.
Kuwait’s Trade and Industry Minister has issued a Decision including regulations for mobile vehicles. The Ministry said the Decision sets out five conditions for mobile vehicles operation including establishing a sole trader enterprise or a company with limited liability to operate mobile vehicles. The person establishing the company should be a natural person with Kuwaiti citizenship. The manager should be Kuwaiti and the number of vehicles shouldn’t exceed one vehicle for pensioners and two for those who operate them under Section 5 of the Social Insurance Law or those who work in the civil sector according to Section 3 of the Social Insurance Law.
After the success of the 1st and 2nd Kuwait Business Law Forums, LexisNexis, in collaboration with Al Yaqout & Al-Fouzan Legal Group, will host the 3rd Kuwait Business Law Forum that will cover the latest legal developments and trends in Kuwait. The 3rd Kuwait Business Law Forum will gather the leading legal (more…)
Kuwait’s Court of Appeal has ruled a local bank could not increase the interest rate on a loan. The claim was brought by a lawyer who argued the bank breached the law when it deducted interest from her client loan before deducting the actual amount lent to her client. The lawyer argued the bank breached the Civil Law and Trade Law.
According to local newspaper reports, Kuwait’s Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister has issued a Ministerial Decision which will allow expatriates to transfer their visit visas to work visas. Under Kuwait Ministerial Decision No. 957/2019, visit visas can be transferred to residence visas for dependents arriving on family or tourist visit visas, domestic helpers, holders of valid residence who do not exceed stay of 6 months outside Kuwait and have to enter with a visit visa, those who enter for work and start procedure to get residency but have to leave for maximum one month and visitors of ministries and public authorities with a Government visit visa. It will cost 3 Dinars to get a visa on arrival, 10 Dinars a person a year to renew residence and 10 Dinars a person a year for dependent residency fees for spouses and children.
