Kuwait Court of Cassation principle number 96

Summary: - The offense of counterfeiting banknotes criminalized by Article 263 of the Penal Code. Committed by imitation or forgery, whatever the alteration. Their meanings. Provided that this is done with intent to use the imitated or forged note in circulation. The judgment need not expressly and separately discuss the existence of the elements of that offense. Assessment of the existence of knowledge is a matter of fact. Rule: The offense of counterfeiting banknotes prescribed in Article 263 of the Penal Code is committed either by imitation, by making a note resembling genuine banknotes, or by forgery, by altering a genuine banknote, whatever the alteration, with intent to use the imitated or forged note in circulation. The judgment need not expressly and separately discuss the existence of the elements of the offense of counterfeiting banknotes, including the accused's knowledge of the imitation, so long as the facts it recites indicate the existence of those elements and that knowledge. Determining the existence of the accused's knowledge of the imitation falls within the independent competence of the trial court, which infers it from the facts and elements presented to it. What the judgment established in its reasoning when setting out the facts of the case and the evidence establishing them, as previously explained, namely that the appellant imitated banknotes by making notes resembling them using a computer printer, a paper cutter, and paper used to counterfeit financial papers, fulfills all the legal elements of the offense of imitating banknotes as defined by law and provides a sufficient response to the appellant's defense that those elements were absent. His objection to the judgment in this regard is therefore unfounded.