The Phenomenon of Checks without Balance Threatens Kuwaiti Fabric and Destroys Family Relationships

Symposium 2, Dated 03/11/2003

Al-Da'aij: 99 Council has more political doses and it puts forward the issues related to the nature of Kuwaiti people.

Al-Masaud: Usurers and cashing companies are the real reason for the phenomenon of checks.

MP Mr. Hamad Al-Da'aij called the Legislative and Executive Authorities to reduce political  does leading to the confusions everywhere. He pointed out that the intervention of the executive authority has new mechanisms for minimizing these negative impacts especially in regards of transacting in the check without balance. He also pointed out in the symposium, he has held in his divan, entitled "Checks without balance and their impacts on economic and social development", where he hosted Faysal Al-Masuad, the representative of Kuwait Social Work Group, that some Kuwaiti families have come into a very dangerous social, financial and moral slide as a result of the wide spread of the phenomenon of check without balance and that this phenomenon threatens Kuwaiti fabric and leads to the destruction of family relationships.

Faysal Al-Masaud has also pointed out that the phenomenon of checks without balance has reached the limit of the outbreak of social and economical problems and moral deterioration in addition to bargaining on people's honors. He indicated that Kuwait is the only state that incriminates checks without balance with the spreading of negative phenomenon especially in the way of using these checks and the change of their concept from a mode of payment to a mode of guarantee.

Al-Da'aij: Political council

First of all, MP Mr. Ahmed Al-Da'aij broached the fact that Council 99 had more political dose; it has been associated with posing issues of political and economic stamp. This is in addition to the supervision role on the executive authority. Therefore, the Council should turn to achieving political aims through the real management. The Council deliberately posed a number of issues such as the negative phenomenon related to the nature of Kuwaiti people and that the phenomenon of checks without balance is one of these cases especially after its increase in gravity which resulted in negative impacts on the individual and society, which led to threatening the cooperating Kuwaiti fabric; this will lead to negative reactions and backfires on the Kuwaiti family.

He said the legislator made a mistake when he amended the law of checks without balance into a felony, thinking that he is minimizing this phenomenon, but with doubling the power of penalty, the rate doubled especially after liberation.

The Check is a mode of payment:

Al-Da'aij added that the check is a mode of payment and can be used in commercial and economic transaction and banking work but it is wrong to use the check as a mode of guarantee for incrimination and pursuing the issuance of check, which will lead to degrade man's dignity.

He added also that some Kuwaiti families have gone into a dangerous social, financial and moral slide because of this phenomenon. Therefore, several studies and questionnaires were prepared for considering the law of checks in order to reach a way so as not to incriminate checks without balance. Thus, these studies were contributed to by Kuwait Social Work Committee, Kuwait Central Bank. This is in addition to the efforts of the government to find a new mechanism for dealing with check without balance. He indicated also that this mechanism is not for rewarding the criminal who has prior intentions for committing such acts through tricks but these are just attempts to minimize this phenomenon through the solidarity and cooperation committees especially after it has been related to the disintegration of Kuwaiti families.

Al-Masaud: Usurers and Cashing Companies:

On his own part, Faysal Al-Masaud, the representative of Kuwait Social Work Committee pointed fingers of accusation at usurers and cashing companies that provide all temptation methods for needy citizens especially that those could tamper in law and began to apply the principle that the check is a mode of guarantee and as a result, complains on citizens have increased due to many of such mistakes.

Al-Masaud praised the efforts of MPs who submitted the law proposal, also those who called for solving this problem and to the Legislative Committee in the Nation Council which understood the prevailing situation and the dangerous phenomenon of the Kuwaiti society. He assured that there are attempts to raise the penal aspect. Then, he broached three pivots about the checks without balance. The first one is a historical account about the punishment of the crime of checks without balance which was enacted in 1960 as a misdemeanor sentence for penal protection and the circulation of cash. Then, the change of criminal sentence in 1978 after contraventions and phenomena in the purely commercial processes and that a lot of crises have resulted from this atmosphere afterwards.

Whereas for the second pivot is that there are several social dilemmas after the end of the sentence term and claim for the value of the check though civil sentences, noting that the check owner has run out of all the means to suspend the sentence issued against him. This is in addition to the social problems, family disintegration and moral decline that broke out among these families because of the sentences that were enforced against them till the matters have reached the imprisonment of husband in Talha prison and the imprisonment of the wife with her three children in the Women prison. In addition, some usurers encroached upon the honors of people till it was announced that there is a network of Common Law Marriage in these prisons who fish in the troubled waters.