Kuwait Court of Cassation principle number 4298

A co-owner in undivided property. The principle is that he has the right to terminate the state of co-ownership at any time by agreement or judicially. The exception. The existence of considerations requiring compulsory continuation of that co-ownership pursuant to law or a disposition. Compulsory continuation of co-ownership pursuant to a legal disposition is impermissible for a term exceeding five years. Article 830/1, Civil Code. - Partition becoming detrimental to the co-owners’ interests. Its consequence: the court may order continuation of co-ownership for a period it determines, unless there is an agreement prohibiting a request for partition, or until a date later than the agreed term. Article 830/2, Civil Code. - Inferring the existence or absence of harm to the co-owners’ interests from immediate partition. A matter for the trial court. The condition thereof. Its inference must be sound and based on what is established in the case papers. Example. - A litigant’s insistence on continuation of co-ownership because partition causes him serious harm, and his substantiation thereof with documents. The judgment nevertheless ordering termination of co-ownership in terms that neither address this defence nor serve as a response to it. Renders the judgment defective and requires its cassation. Partition of jointly owned property: