Kuwait Court of Cassation principle number 679

The husband's capacity. The provisions of Law No. 51/1984 concerning Personal Status apply thereto, rather than the Civil Code. The reason therefor. It is a special law containing regulation of capacity to marry. - Formation of marriage. Its condition. An offer by the wife's guardian and acceptance by the husband or those acting in their respective places. - The marriage contract. Its condition. The presence in both spouses of capacity to marry in terms of sanity and puberty. The reason therefor. Marriage of an insane person or a person of deficient intellect. The contract must be concluded by the guardian of the person according to the order of inheritance. Multiple guardians of the person. The trial court may choose the most suitable among them. Absence of the legally recognized guardian. The judge has guardianship as the holder of general guardianship, acting on behalf of the ruler. - A marriage contract formed by an offer from the wife's guardian and acceptance by the insane husband or husband of deficient intellect himself, without his legally recognized guardian. A void marriage that cannot be ratified. The reason therefor: a defect in the husband's capacity preventing formation of the contract because one of its essential elements is absent. Example concerning invalidity of a marriage contract because the husband under interdiction concluded it himself without his guardian, despite that guardian's signing it as a witness.