Kuwait Court of Cassation principle number 216

Facts and legal positions predating the effective date of the law. Its retroactive application thereto. Its condition. - The new law. It must be published in the Official Gazette within two weeks of its issuance and takes effect one month after publication unless otherwise provided. - The decedent’s death before the provisions of Law 5/1971 concerning the obligatory bequest took effect. Its effect. Its non-application. This is not overcome by the appellant’s contention that he followed the school of Imam Malik before its issuance and that the obligatory bequest existed in that school. The reason: this law introduced a rule contrary to all the renowned schools of jurisprudence, including the Maliki school, namely that the bequest is obligatory by operation of law whether or not the decedent so intended. Interpretation of the law: