Kuwait Court of Cassation principle number 239

Summary: - The right of habitation provided for in Article 955, Civil Code. How it is determined. According to what the right-holder and his family require for their own personal needs. Assessment of the right-holder’s need or of exceeding that need. Within the authority of the court of merits without review by the Court of Cassation. The condition for this. An example concerning the partition of a house. Rule: The scope of the right of habitation under Article (955, Civil Code) is determined according to what the right-holder and his family require for their own personal needs. Assessment of the right-holder’s need or of exceeding that need is a question of fact which the court of merits has exclusive authority to determine, without review by the Court of Cassation, unless it contradicts what is established in the papers or derives its ruling from matters that cannot rationally support it. The first-instance judgment ordered partition of the house allocated to the female appellant and the first respondent by Housing Welfare. She objected to that partition because it prejudiced her and her children. The court considered it appropriate to refer the action to the expert for repartition. The expert submitted his report, and the litigants were notified of its receipt. The female appellant appeared and agreed to the new modification as set out in the report. This is what the court orders, disregarding what the court of first instance proposed or approved.