Kuwait Court of Cassation principle number 81

Summary: - The offence of profiteering from official duties. Article 48 of Law 31 of 1970 amending certain provisions of the Penal Code. Its nature: a public official or a person treated as such obtaining or attempting to obtain, directly or indirectly, a private interest consisting of a profit for himself or another. The legislature's purpose in criminalizing it. Rule: Article 48 of Law No. 31 of 1970 amending certain provisions of the Penal Code provides that "Every public official or employee having a role in managing contracts, supplies, or works relating to the State or to a public body or institution, or to companies or establishments in whose capital the State or a public body holds any share, or having a role in supervising them, who obtains or attempts to obtain for himself or another, by any unlawful means, a profit from any of the aforementioned activities, shall be punished by fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years." By criminalizing this offence, the legislature intended to prohibit an official absolutely and in any form from exploiting the public duties entrusted to him to obtain or attempt to obtain, directly or indirectly, a private interest consisting of a profit for himself or another, in order to protect the public interest and prevent its exposure to danger.