Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Kuwait Law Needs Presence

How many times did a policeman stop you and tell you that something you did/have is illegal?
I remember 3 occasions, and probably forgot more. In each time, the policeman would say it's illegal without providing proof or making sense as to why it is illegal. When questioning him, seeking a logical explanation, I get the same answer: "it's illegal."

Example: Bumper Stickers on cars.
Verdict: Illegal.
Reason: Because he said so.
Actual reason: A friend had a small questionnaire for the Department of Motor Vehicles in Kuwait, and it turned out that what they meant is stickers that change the color of the car, i.e., those that cover the entire car.

As you can see, what they meant is not what was being applied because there was not enough description of the item being banned.

Ironically, if you have a sticker that covers the entire rear window but it's a picture of the Amir or it's verses from the Quran, it's not illegal!!!

My proposal to this is to force all government agencies to publish Kuwait's laws & regulations online, in both Arabic and English, so that everyone knows what are their rights, be able to easily search for them without paying a lawyer, and to be able to even question the details or application of these laws.

There's a legal software being sold in the market for many years, monopolized by one lawyer, which contains laws of Kuwait (I don't know if it includes DMV regulations) and their changes throughout the years.
This software targets lawyers, but since a digital copy is available, it's  quite easy to publish it online! Yet no one seems to care to go for the effort.

I'm tired of questioning mindless policemen over idiotic regulations that they keep coming up with. I need evidence. Or maybe they should carry booklets of regulations as proof.

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