Kuwait follows the "civil law system" modeled after the French legal system.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/details.jsp?id=6148|title=Kuwaiti Constitution |publisher=World Intellectual Property Organization |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812073056/http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/details.jsp?id=6148 |archive-date=2014-08-12 |quote=The Kuwait Legal system is based on civil law jurisdiction; it is derived from Egyptian and French laws.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://us.practicallaw.com/4-500-3987?source=relatedcontent#a674071 |title=Doing business in Kuwait |website=Practical Law |publisher=Thomson Reuters |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304080006/http://us.practicallaw.com/4-500-3987?source=relatedcontent#a674071 |access-date=12 March 2016|archive-date=2016-03-04 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pwc.com/m1/en/tax/documents/doing-business-guides/doing-business-guide-kuwait.pdf |title=Doing Business in Kuwait: A tax and legal guide |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170714115827/http://www.pwc.com/m1/en/tax/documents/doing-business-guides/doing-business-guide-kuwait.pdf|archive-date=14 July 2017}}</ref> Kuwait's legal system is largely secular.<ref>{{cite book |first=Darrel R |last=Eglin |first2= James D |last2=Rudolph |chapter-url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015010492950;view=1up;seq=106 |editor-last=Nyrop |editor-first=Richard F. |chapter=Kuwait |title=Persian Gulf states: Country Studies |date=1985 |page=80 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |via=Hathai Trust}}</ref><ref name=hopkins /><ref>{{cite web |page=4 |url=https://www.academia.edu/27337551 |title=The Legal System of Kuwait: An Evaluation Of Its Applicability |publisher=academia.edu |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806175845/http://www.academia.edu/27337551/THE_LEGAL_SYSTEM_OF_KUWAIT_AN_EVALUTION_OF_ITS_APPLICABILITY |archive-date=6 August 2017 |last1=Induragi |first1=Douglas }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Maddex |first=Robert L. |url={{google books|WqMAAwAAQBAJ|page=153|plainurl=yes}} |title=Constitutions of the World |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon, UK |page=153 |isbn=978-1-136-21789-0|date=5 March 2014 }}</ref> Sharia law governs only family law for Muslim residents,<ref name="hopkins">{{cite book |editor-first1=Nicholas S. |editor-last1=Hopkins |editor-first2=Saad Eddin |editor-last2=Ibrahim |url={{google books|g6SzZK_xx4gC|page=417|plainurl=yes}}|title=Arab Society: Class, Gender, Power, and Development |publisher=American University of Cairo |location=Cairo, Egypt |date=1997 |edition=3rd. |page=417 |isbn=9789774244049}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Herbert J. |last=Liebesny |url={{google books|2H-2EUJjOG0C|page=110|plainurl=yes}} |title=The Law of the Near and Middle East: Readings, Cases, and Materials |publisher=State University of New York Press |location=Albany, New York |date=1974 |page=110 |isbn=978-0-87395-256-9}}</ref> while non-Muslims in Kuwait have a secular family law. For the application of family law, there are three separate court sections: Sunni (Maliki), Shia, and non-Muslim. According to the United Nations, Kuwait's legal system is a mix of English common law, French civil law, Egyptian civil law and Islamic law.<ref name="un">{{cite web |url=http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan023178.pdf?q=kuwait|format=PDF |title=State of Kuwait, Public Administration Country Profile |date=September 2004 |page=7 |publisher=United Nations|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810171642/http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan023178.pdf?q=kuwait |archive-date=2014-08-10 }}</ref>

The court system in Kuwait is secular.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lse.ac.uk/middleEastCentre/kuwait/resources/factsAndFigures/factskuwait.aspx |title=State of Kuwait |publisher=London School of Economics |date=21 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101085334/http://www.lse.ac.uk/middleEastCentre/kuwait/resources/factsAndFigures/factskuwait.aspx |archive-date=2014-11-01 |quote=The court system in Kuwait is secular and tries both civil and criminal cases.}}</ref><ref name="ipo">{{cite book |first=David |last=Price |url={{google books|cfN8AgAAQBAJ|page=23|plainurl=yes}} |title=The Development of Intellectual Property Regimes in the Arabian Gulf States: Infidels at the Gates |publisher=Routledge-Cavendish |location=Abingdon, UK |date=2009 |page=23 |isbn=978-1-134-02496-4}}</ref> Unlike other Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Kuwait does not have Sharia courts.<ref name=ipo /> Sections of the civil court system administer family law.<ref name=ipo /> Kuwait has the most secular commercial law in the Persian Gulf region.<ref>{{cite book |first=Zeeshan Javed |last=Hafeez |url={{google books|BIqIy0Hss5IC|page=10|plainurl=yes}} |title=Islamic Commercial Law and Economic Development |publisher=Heliographica |location=San Fabcisco, California |page=10 |isbn=978-1-933037-09-7}}</ref> == The state == Kuwait is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government. About 85% of Kuwait's population (2.8 million in 2013) are Muslims.<ref>{{cite web | title = Background Note: Kuwait | publisher = U.S. State Department | date = February 2009 | url = https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35876.htm | access-date = 25 July 2009}}</ref>

According to the United Nations, Kuwait's legal system is a mix of British common law, French civil law, Egyptian civil law and Islamic law.<ref name=un/>

== Constitution and judges== Roughly half of Kuwait's judges are non-citizens—mainly Egyptians. The non-citizen judges are on one-year to three-year contracts. The Constitution of Kuwait makes Islam the state religion. The 1961 Press and Publications Law prohibits the publication of any material that incites persons to commit crimes, creates hatred, or spreads dissension.

== See also == * Politics of Kuwait * Human rights in Kuwait

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:Law of Kuwait