Kuwait Court of Cassation principle number 608

A harmful act. A source of obligation. Its foundation on two matters. The first is establishing full and comprehensive liability based on the concept of fault in general and aimed at compensation for damage in all its manifestations; the second is liability for bodily harm within the limits of diyah when the first basis is unavailable to the injured party. Its purpose. To preserve shed blood from going uncompensated in cases where liability for a lawful act fails to compensate for it. - The injured party’s bringing an action for liability for an unlawful act whenever its elements are present. Does not bar him from an action seeking recovery under liability for bodily harm. The objective is to regulate compensation for a harmful act affecting the person, whether the damage results from tortious fault or direct perpetration. The implication. The subject matter of the two actions is the same: compensation for the harmful act affecting the person, while their causes differ, the first being tortious fault and the second direct perpetration. Its effect. The injured party may change the cause of the action from tortious liability to the liability of the direct perpetrator on appeal without this being considered a change to the subject matter of the action. The challenged judgment’s contravention of this and its treatment of the request for an award of Sharia diyah as a new claim. An error requiring its partial cassation.