Kuwait Court of Cassation principle number 1692

Administrative contracts. Their subjection to a special legal regime differing from the regime governing civil contracts. The reason therefor. The unequal interests represented by each party to an administrative contract, since the administration seeks to achieve the public interest while its contracting party seeks its own private interest. The consequence thereof: the administration’s right to include in its administrative contracts with individuals or private legal persons financial penalties unfamiliar in private-law contracts. The rationale therefor: safeguarding public services, ensuring their proper operation, and guaranteeing that its contracting party respects the contractual conditions and exercises care and precision in performance. The contract’s exhaustion of its purposes upon completion of the works for whose performance it was concluded. Its effect. The administration may not exercise those exceptional powers or impose financial penalties on its contracting party on the pretext that it breached its obligations during performance of the contract.