Kuwait Court of Cassation principle number 195

Summary: - The Criminal Court has jurisdiction over misdemeanors connected with felonies pending before it. Its jurisdiction: a fortiori, over acts submitted by the prosecuting authority to the Criminal Court as felonies. The reason: it is better able to adjudicate their merits and avert any conflicts of jurisdiction that might arise between it and the Misdemeanor Court. - Jurisdiction is determined by the legal characterization of the act under which the proceedings were instituted. Rule: Since the legislature established, in Article 135 of the Criminal Procedure Law, the rule that the Criminal Court has jurisdiction over misdemeanors—whose status is undisputed—connected with felonies pending before it, the Criminal Court has, a fortiori, jurisdiction over acts submitted by the prosecuting authority to the Criminal Court as felonies which, after examining them, the court considers to be merely misdemeanors—as is the case in the present proceedings—particularly since justice and expediency require that the court continue hearing the proceedings after having made substantial progress in discussing their elements, thereby becoming better able than any other court to adjudicate their merits. This approach also entails averting any conflicts of jurisdiction that might arise between it and the Misdemeanor Court. Furthermore, jurisdiction depends upon the legal characterization of the act under which the proceedings were instituted. Since the challenged judgment addressed the appellant’s defense in this regard and rejected it in accordance with this approach, the criticism of it in this respect is unfounded.