Kuwait's 2026 counter-terrorism decree-laws — Decree-Law No. 47 of 2026 on Combating Terrorism Crimes and Decree-Law No. 51 of 2026 on the criminal circuits for state security and terrorism

DECREE-LAW No. 47 of 2026 on Combating Terrorism Crimes — issued 15 March 2026, published 16 March 2026, as reported.
- Definitions of terrorist acts, persons and organisations, described as aligned with FATF standards and the Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.
- Life imprisonment or death for terrorist crimes, with minimum sentences that cannot be reduced.
- Jurisdiction over terrorist crimes committed abroad that target Kuwait's interests, citizens, embassies, aircraft or ships.
- Preventive measures ordered by a court against a person posing a terrorist danger — surveillance, rehabilitation, restricted communication, exclusion from places — with criminal penalties for breach.
- No limitation period for terrorist crimes.
- A ministerial committee chaired by the Minister of Interior, and controlled delivery of devices that could be used in terrorist acts.

DECREE-LAW No. 51 of 2026 — issued 30 March 2026, as reported: criminal circuits with exclusive jurisdiction over crimes against state security and terrorist crimes.

Amnesty International (August 2026) reports that the definition of terrorism is broad, that the death penalty applies to acts classified as terrorist, and that the specialised courts restrict appeal — see the Source Log entry on that report.

This entry is written from the reports; the decree-laws' texts in Kuwait Al-Youm have not been read for it.

For financial-crime work the law matters through terrorist financing and designation: Law No. 106 of 2013 still governs financing offences and the duty to report, while this law defines the terrorist acts and organisations those provisions refer to.