Legislation: The Penal Law 31/1970 criminalises corruption in Kuwait. The Law covers passive and active bribery, attempted corruption, extortion, money laundering and abuse of office; however, the Law does not criminalise bribing a foreign official. Kuwait ratified the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in 2007 and is a signatory of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. This legal framework is assessed as 'strong' by Global Integrity 2008. In November 2009, the National Assembly’s legal and legislative committee approved the anti-corruption draft law, which had been in the political agenda for years. The committee also approved the draft law for financial disclosure, and according to a 2009 article by Kuwait Times, both laws will be sent to the National Assembly for further debate and approval. According to a January 2010 article by Kuwait Times, the Kuwait Transparency Society (KTS) highlights the importance for Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah to adopt five draft laws on anti-corruption, financial disclosure, conflicts of interest, witness protection and the right to examine information. However, in June 2010, the National Assembly failed to hold a special meeting to debate and pass an anti-corruption bill and financial disclosure bill, making it the second time such meeting on anti-corruption legislation has been postponed, as reported by Kuwait Times in June 2010. As of October 2010, reports on anti-corruption and financial disclosure draft laws were still in the process of being finalised, according to an October 2010 article by Kuwait Times. In late March 2011, the government accepted draft laws for setting up a special department under the Ministry of Justice to investigate corruption, graft and illegal profiteering in the public sector, according to a March 2011 article by Kuwait Times. The government also announced that the disclosure of assets' bill will be submitted in the future, but did not provide a specific timeframe. Lexadin World Law Guide for a collection of legislation in Kuwait.

Government Strategies: Kuwait's National Anti-Corruption Strategy foresees the creation of an independent oversight and inspection body to investigate corruption cases and also of a judicial department specialised in corruption cases. The strategy also seeks the enactment of laws and regulations that enhance transparency and integrity and also the protection of whistleblowers. In 2009, the government announced the first Five Year National Development Plan (2009-2014), out of the six consecutive plans aiming to turn Kuwait into the region’s financial and trade centre by 2035. Five key draft laws were included in the plan, including draft laws on anti-corruption and witness protection. Another key reform that needs to be implemented is the establishment of an effective agency to fight corruption, which is still lacking in Kuwait, according to Global Integrity 2008. Click here for more detail on the Five Year National Development Plan.

Anti-Corruption Agency: According to Global Integrity 2008, Kuwait has no anti-corruption agency. The courts are the only entities to deal with corruption.

Auditor General: The State Audit Bureau of Kuwait is a politically independent agency, responsible for supervising public expenses and revenues. According to Global Integrity 2008, the Audit Bureau receives regular funding and has a full-time staff composed mostly of legal specialists and accountants. Reports are published annually and sent to the Emir, Prime Minister, head of the parliament, and the minister of finance, however, the general public do not have access to these reports. Moreover, the government does not always act on the Audit Bureau’s findings.

Ombudsman: Kuwait does not have an independent Ombudsman agency; however there are internal public complaint offices in most ministries. The offices receive complains from citizens and send them to the responsible department, and once the department has replied they send the reply back to the complaining citizen. They are not very proactive in their investigations. Since the public complaint offices are structured as a department in each ministry, they receive regular funding, as any other department of the ministry. The internal complaint offices do no publish reports, as reported by Global Integrity 2008.

E-Governance: The Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT) was established by the government of Kuwait in 2006 and put in charge of setting national IT policies, implementing the e-government project, managing the government’s official portal and some other duties. The CAIT also provides a directory of different government sectors, business sectors and private societies with telephone numbers, and sometimes addresses. Kuwait Government Online provides government information, data and services in both Arabic and English. From the main page, it is possible to browse a list of government, foundations, institutions and other online Kuwait sites with direct link to some of their information and useful services. The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) contains general information about the MOJ such as on laws, required documents, fees, addresses and telephone numbers of different departments and sectors. In December 2009, the MOJ launched an e-payment service enabling the public to pay fees electronically via the MOJ’s website. 

Public Procurement: Public procurement is regulated by the Public Tender Law No. 37 from 1964. All bids for government funded projects above USD 18,250 must be submitted to the Central Tenders Committee (CTC). According to the US Department of State 2011, companies winning contracts with the government for USD 364,931 or more are required to report all payments made to Kuwaiti agents or advisors while securing the contract. Procurement is advertised in the Official Gazette and in one daily newspaper. Unsuccessful bidders can complain to the CTC, but cannot challenge the decision in a court of law. Global Integrity 2008 reports that in practice, companies convicted of corruption are either blacklisted or have to go for a cooling-off period. Hence, Kuwait is not a signatory to the WTO Government Procurement Code.

Whistle-Blowing: There is no legal whistle-blowing protection for public officials reporting corruption. According to Global Integrity 2008, public officials might escape negative consequences for reporting corruption if they sue their employer or take the case to either the press or a Member of Parliament. There is no law protecting private sector employees reporting corruption. In practice, however, protection for whistle-blowers in the private sector will depend on the top management of the company. Sometimes they reward employees who report cases of corruption to improve the situations in banks, companies or institutions, sometimes they do not. A draft law to protect whistleblowers, which would allow Kuwait to comply with international agreements on combating corruption, still awaits Parliament's approval by December 2009. As of March 2011, there was still no news on the approval of the whistleblower protection draft law.

General Comments on the Public Anti-Corruption Initiatives: Kuwait has the appropriate legal framework to fight corruption; however, the implementation is far from effective. Commitment to the fight against corruption does not seem to go beyond rhetoric, as many public officials involved in corruption are rarely punished. The Cabinet has been criticised by Transparency International Kuwait for failing to execute the clauses of the UNCAC for 7 years, after it did not include five draft laws designed to increase transparency and fight corruption in the government's list of priorities that was presented to the Parliament in September 2009. So far the country is still missing an independent anti-corruption agency and a national Ombudsman. Furthermore, the National Assembly failed to hold a session on anti-corruption in June 2010, the second time such a session needed to be postponed, indicating a lack of will to combating corruption. Last but not least, the passing of the five draft laws, such as the anti-corruption law and the whistleblower protection law, are some of the first priorities that the state of Kuwait needs to deal with in order to fight corruption.