Al-Sumait told the Kuwait News Agency that the number of such cases fell to only 93 during the period from Sept. 15, 2025, to Sept. 14, 2026. The minister noted that this represented an 81 percent decline from the first year of the amended law, when 493 cases were recorded between Sept. 15, 2024, and Sept. 14, 2025. The figures compiled by the Interior Ministry cover incidents involving all categories of public employees, including law enforcement personnel. The legislative change that entered into force on Sept. 15, 2024, also bars victims from dropping complaints or reaching settlements with defendants.
According to the minister, the pre-amendment baseline stood at 1,174 cases in the year ending Sept. 14, 2024, establishing the scale of the 92 percent overall reduction now reported. Al-Sumait attributed the sustained downward trend to the deterrent effect of the revised provisions in the Penal Code. The amendment differentiated penalties based on the victim’s role, imposing tougher sanctions when judges, prosecutors or security force members were targeted. A decree-law issued in 2024 had introduced these measures after repeated incidents diminished the state’s prestige, according to the explanatory memorandum that accompanied the legislation.
The Interior Ministry prepared the statistical breakdown that Al-Sumait presented on Saturday, ensuring the data encompassed every relevant offence recorded nationwide. In the first 12 months after implementation, the 58 percent reduction from the prior year already signaled the law’s initial impact. The second-year total of 93 cases demonstrated further consolidation of that progress. The minister’s remarks to the state news agency underscored the amendment’s role in protecting public servants while they perform their duties.
Decree-Law 93 of 2024 raised penalties for verbal or physical insults against ordinary public employees to a maximum of three months in jail and a fine between 100 and 300 dinars, a regulatory update reported at the time by multiple Kuwaiti outlets including Al-Seyassah. When the offence targets members of the judiciary, public prosecution, police, military or National Guard, the punishment increases to one year in prison and fines from 300 to 1,000 dinars. The same decree strengthened related articles to address coercion or abuse of authority by officials themselves, imposing sentences of up to five years for extracting confessions through harm or intimidation. These changes built on earlier provisions in the Penal Code that had proven insufficient to curb such behaviour.
Al-Sumait’s Saturday announcement arrives two years after the Cabinet endorsed the stricter framework to support employee stability and reinforce respect for state institutions. The Interior Ministry’s data collection process now feeds directly into annual assessments of the law’s effectiveness, allowing officials to track trends across successive periods. No additional details on specific case types or geographic distribution were included in the minister’s statement to the news agency. The sustained decline suggests the combination of higher fines, longer potential jail terms and the prohibition on victim withdrawals has altered public conduct toward those in authority.
Kuwait’s Penal Code amendments form part of a broader pattern of legal adjustments aimed at safeguarding public-sector functions, as evidenced by comparable updates tracked in regional legal analyses over recent years. The Justice Ministry continues to monitor outcomes from the 2024 revisions, with Al-Sumait’s latest briefing serving as the second annual progress report. Future evaluations will likely examine whether the reduced caseload translates into measurable improvements in workplace conditions for government employees across all sectors.
