A decision issued by Court of Appeal President First Counselor Tariq Abdul Latif Al-Jaber reconstitutes the panels responsible for trying and investigating ministers in line with Law 88 of 1995 as amended by Law 29 of 2014. The administrative order numbered 50 of 2026 responds to resignations tendered by several counselors from the prior formation established in September along with recent shifts in senior judicial postings. Both the Ministerial Court and the investigation committee will operate for two years from the issuance date while their members continue to discharge regular duties at their home courts.
The Ministerial Court will be presided over by First Counselor Muhammad Yusuf Othman Jaafar according to the decision with principal membership drawn from Counselors Faisal Rashid Salem Al-Harbi, Abdullah Ahmed Jassim Al-Najm, Abdulaziz Adnan Saad Al-Rabiean and Hamoud Daoud Suleiman Al-Badr. This lineup succeeds the formation headed by First Counselor Hani Muhammad Al-Hamdan that had taken effect on October 1 after approval by the general assembly of the Court of Appeal. The court derives its authority from constitutional provisions that route ministerial accountability cases away from ordinary criminal courts to preserve institutional balance.
Five additional counselors were designated as alternates for the Ministerial Court to safeguard against any interruption in proceedings. The alternate roster includes Ali Badr Ali Abdulaziz bin Naji, Badr Adel Abdullah Saud Al-Ahmad, Ahmed Abdulwahab Ahmed Al-Dwaisan, Khalifa Jassim Khalifa Al-Najm and Abdullah Salah Nasser Al-Othman. Such contingency appointments form a standard feature of these periodic judicial panels to maintain operational continuity on sensitive dockets.
Parallel changes apply to the committee for investigating ministers which the decision places under First Counselor Tariq Abdulaziz Mahhal Al-Yaseen with principal members Muhammad Khaled Muhammad Al-Ghamlas and Hamad Abdulaziz Suleiman Al-Waqian. The committee functions under Article 3 of the amended legislation to conduct preliminary inquiries that may lead to formal trial before the Ministerial Court. Alternate members were likewise assigned to the investigation body although their names were not immediately detailed beyond the principal trio in initial reporting of the order.
The reshuffle arrives days after the Supreme Judicial Council endorsed promotions for 91 judicial personnel and the secondment of 14 counselors to the Court of Cassation during a session chaired by Al-Hamdan in his new role as its president. A report carried by Al-Jarida on October 26 outlined those earlier approvals which aimed at bolstering capacity across Kuwaiti courts. The latest Court of Appeal decision explicitly references both the recent general assembly recommendations from September 24 and the need to accommodate counselors who had withdrawn from the prior ministerial panels.
Kuwait established the dedicated Ministerial Court mechanism in the mid-1990s to handle allegations of misconduct or corruption against current and former ministers through a specialized bench drawn from the senior judiciary. Amendments adopted in 2014 refined the selection process and the role of the preliminary investigation committee to streamline proceedings while preserving due process. The Court of Appeal bears statutory responsibility for constituting these panels on a rotating basis to promote impartiality and to distribute the workload among experienced appellate judges.
