Kuwait Court of Cassation principle number 82

Summary: - The offense of illicit gain criminalized by Article 12 of Law No. 1 of 1993 concerning the Protection of Public Funds. Its establishment. - Criminal intent in the offense of illicit gain. Its inference is a matter of fact. Rule: The felony of illicit gain provided for in Article 12 of Law No. 1 of 1993 concerning the Protection of Public Funds is established when a public official or a person treated as such exploits his office by obtaining or attempting to obtain for himself, directly or through an intermediary, or for another, in any unlawful manner, a profit or benefit from an act of his office. In this offense, exploitation of public office consists of working to secure a private interest through it. There is an undoubted conflict between the private interest that the official seeks for himself or another and the public interest that he is charged with safeguarding and achieving with integrity and impartiality, without seeking a profit or benefit for himself or another. Criminal intent in this offense is established when the offender’s will and intention are directed toward obtaining a profit or benefit for himself or another without right. Inference of the existence or absence of criminal intent from the evidence in the case and its various elements is within the trial court’s unfettered discretion, provided its inference is reasonable and supported by the circumstances of the case, its evidence, and its circumstantial indications.