Part II. The Basic Foundations of Kuwaiti Society
Article 7
Justice, freedom and equality are the pillars of society; and cooperation and compassion are the firm link binding all citizens.
Article 8
The State shall preserve the pillars of society and shall guarantee security, tranquillity and equal opportunity to all citizens.
Article 9
The family is the foundation of society; its mainstays are religion, morals and the love of country. The Law shall preserve its entity, shall strengthen its bonds and shall, under its aegis, protect mothers and infants.
Article 10
The State shall watch over the youth and shall protect it from exploitation and from moral, corporal and spiritual negligence.
Article 11
The State shall guarantee assistance to citizens in their old age, in sickness or in disability. It shall also provide them with social insurance services, social help and medical care.
Article 12
The State shall maintain the Islamic and Arab heritage and shall share in the path of civilization and humanitarianism.
Article 13
Education is a cornerstone in social advancement. The State shall guarantee and tend it.
Article 14
The State shall supervise education, literature and the arts, and shall encourage scientific research.
Article 15
The State shall care for public health through measures of precaution and cure of diseases and epidemics.
Article 16
Ownership, capital and labor are the mainstays of the State’s social entity and of national wealth. They all are individual rights with social functions regulated by Law.
Article 17
Public property is inviolable and its protection is the duty of every citizen.
Article 18
Private ownership is safeguarded. No person shall be prevented from disposing of his property save within the limits of the Law; and no person shall suffer expropriation save for the public benefit in the cases determined and in the manner prescribed by Law provided that he be equitably compensated therefor.
Inheritance is a right governed by Islamic Law.
Article 19
General confiscation of property is prohibited; and only by Court Judgment, in the circumstances described by the Law, can private confiscation as a punitive measure be imposed.
Article 20
National economy is based upon social justice; its mainstay is a balanced cooperation between public and private enterprise; its aims are the realization of economic development, the increase of production, the raising of the standard of living, and the substantiation of the citizens’ prosperity, all within the limits of the Law.
Article 21
All of the natural wealth and resources are the property of the State. The State shall preserve and properly exploit those resources, heedful of its own security and national economy requisites.
Article 22
While keeping to the rules of social justice the Law shall, on economic principles, regulate the relations between laborers and employers and the relations between landlords and their tenants.
Article 23
The State shall encourage cooperation and savings and shall supervise the organization of trusts.
Article 24
The basis of taxation and of public expenditure shall be the achievement of social justice.
Article 25
The State shall guarantee the solidarity of Society in bearing burdens arising from catastrophes and public calamities and shall guarantee compensation to those sustaining damages by reason of war or in the performance of their military duties.
Article 26
Public functions are a national service entrusted to those holding positions of responsibility and the aim of State functionaries in the performance of their duties shall be the public interest.
Save in the cases defined by Law aliens shall not be entrusted with public functions.
