Kuwait Court of Cassation principle number 4246

Reimbursement of actual lawyers’ fees. Compensation for the material damage sustained by the successful litigant as a result of the expenses incurred in claiming its right judicially against its opponent. Its assessment is a matter for the court of fact. The condition for this: that it be reasonable and acceptable. Exceeding this limit through abuse of power and excessive parsimony. Its departure from the sphere of - 746 - Civil Procedure legality into the sphere of illegality, thereby tainting it with a violation of the law. The basis for this: the prerequisite for the lawful exercise of power is that it be free from excess. - The challenged judgment’s assessment of reimbursement of actual lawyers’ fees for the successful litigants at an amount disproportionate to what they incurred as a result of bringing their action and the actual fees for which they provided evidence. This vitiates the judgment and requires its cassation.