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Ministry of Justice statistics show juvenile crimes in Kuwait dropped from 1,523 cases in the first half of 2025 to 795 cases in the first half of 2026, a 48 percent reduction that Counselor Nasser Al-Sumait announced on Saturday. The minister told the Kuwait News Agency that this marked the second consecutive year of declines, with the latest total 52 percent below the 1,665 cases recorded in the first half of 2024. Al-Sumait attributed the trend in part to government legislative measures aimed at strengthening deterrence and prevention for offenses with the greatest impact on safety.
Traffic-related juvenile cases recorded the sharpest fall, decreasing 63 percent from 1,048 to 383 according to the ministry’s data. Assault cases declined by 32 percent during the period. The Juvenile Prosecution handled reductions across several prominent offense types, the minister stated.
Al-Sumait said in remarks reported by Times Kuwait that the improvements coincided with a package of legislative amendments targeting dangerous behaviors. These included the new traffic law with elevated penalties for serious violations, increased sanctions for manslaughter and accidental injuries, and a statute to combat narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. The changes also criminalized possession or carrying of bladed weapons without justification in public places while raising penalties for their use in assaults or intimidation.
In a May statement, the same minister reported a 44 percent decrease in drug trafficking and psychotropic substance cases in the first four months after the new narcotics law took effect, with the total falling from 255 to 144. The Ministry of Justice figures at the time pointed to the role of both legislative tightening and field efforts by the Ministry of Interior. This prior result reinforces the pattern now evident in juvenile offense data.
A 2022 symposium by the Kuwaiti Society for Information Security attributed nearly 70 percent of juvenile crimes to electronic games, with participants noting connections to aggressive behavior stemming from prolonged unsupervised play. The society highlighted the need for stronger parental supervision and educational guidance to address such factors. Officials have continued to stress the importance of combining legal reforms with broader preventive measures under the existing juvenile justice framework.
The declines align with the rehabilitative focus of Juvenile Law No. 111 of 2015, which a United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child document states created a specialized system including the Juvenile Court, Juvenile Prosecution Office, Juvenile Protection Police and associated social welfare institutions. Historical records from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor placed the number of juvenile offenders between 4,000 and 10,000 annually during the 1980s and 1990s. The Public Prosecution handled 49,763 total cases in 2025, a report from the same body showed.
