KUWAIT Law and Practice Contributed by: Alex Saleh, Asad Ahmad, Mohammed Nader Al Awadhi and Liana Rashid, GLA & Company
any violations of the licence conditions, CITRA may investigate the complaint and make a decision to either not pursue any action or notify the Licensee to remove the violation within 90 days. Under Article 52 of the CITRA Law, CITRA must decide with the Licensee on the procedures for any investiga - tions into complaints. Under Article 54 of the CITRA Law, CITRA must ensure that the Licensee complies with all the provisions of the CITRA Law, and may take any actions it deems necessary in order to do so, such as: • conducting physical examination(s) of the network and telecommunications devices; • examining the Licensee’s technical records to ensure invoices and records are accurate; • assuring the quality of the services and adequacy of the complaint procedures provided to clients; and • reviewing the maintenance and failure records of the Licensee to ensure the management service is efficient. Lastly, under the CITRA Law, CITRA must also ensure compliance with any international, regional and bilat - eral agreements to which Kuwait is a party. Executive Regulations of the CITRA Law Under Decision No 933 of 2015 (the “CITRA Regulations”) Under the CITRA Regulations, CITRA may refer a matter to other competent authorities if – following investigation(s) – there are reasons to suspect a crimi - nal offence. Employees of CITRA are empowered to monitor the implementation of CITRA’s laws and regu - lations. To this end, they have the right to enter places in order to inspect and control any unlicensed com - munications devices where the following are known or suspected to be present: • devices or networks; • communications facilities; and/or • all or part of the infrastructure used in the commu - nications service. In the process of doing so, the employees are empow - ered to:
• request and examine the Licensee’s licences, records and documents; • examine and view any communications equipment related to the provision of the service; and • view any form of information or documents related to the provision of the services. The E-Transactions Law Under Article 37 of the E-Transactions Law, individu - als who unlawfully access, disclose or publish any personal data registered in records or electronic pro - cessing systems of the relevant entities, related to the professional affairs, social status, health or financial status of individuals, whether registered with the enti - ties or their employees, without the consent of the data subject or their legal representative, may face imprisonment for up to three years and a fine ranging from KWD5,000 to KWD20,000. Confiscation of the tools, programs or devices used in the commission of the offence may also be ordered. Under Article 37, entities that collect, register or pro - cess any of the personal data stored with them on their electronic records or processing systems, using unlawful methods or without the consent of the per - son concerned or their legal representative, or that use the stored personal data for reasons other than those for which it was collected, may face imprison - ment for up to three years and a fine ranging from KWD5,000 to KWD20,000. Confiscation of the tools, programs or devices used in the commission of the offence may also be ordered. The Cybercrime Law The Cybercrime Law addresses various forms of ille - gal access to electronic systems and data. It applies to individuals who unlawfully gain access to a com - puter, system, data processing system, automated system or information network. The penalty for such actions is imprisonment for up to six months or a fine ranging from KWD500 to KWD2,000, or both. If the illegal access leads to the deletion, alteration, damage or unauthorised disclosure of data, the punishment increases to up to three years in prison and a fine between KWD3,000 and KWD10,000, especially if the data is personal (Article 2).
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