Penal, Civil and Administrative Lawsuits Department

ALRAEDA deals with both administrative and judicial proceedings. While “administrative proceedings” are those that take place before governing bodies, such as the Labor Department of Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MOSAL) and other similar governing bodies. “Judicial proceedings” are those actions that take place in court, such as a breach of contract suit or other civil actions.
Both administrative and judicial proceedings begin with some form of a complaint. However, the administrative complaint is normally less detailed than a complaint in a judicial proceeding. Both types of proceedings require an answer, or other response, to a complaint. Yet the forms these answers take are different. In an administrative proceeding, a party is generally asserting a position or pointing out to the administrative body why a given complainant has no case. In some administrative proceedings, this can take the form of a traditional motion to dismiss, but in other cases, the position statement more often looks like a legal brief which explains the law and how it does or does not apply, in a given situation. In a judicial proceeding, the prototypical response to a complaint is the motion to dismiss, which tends to point out legal deficiencies in a claim or raises a defense that completely nullifies a complaint. While administrative and judicial responses tend to have the same goal in mind, the defeat of a complaint, the structure and process of these responses are different.
An answer to a complaint in an administrative or judicial setting is similar in the sense that it admits or denies the allegations in the complaint. However, because an administrative complaint tends to be less factually specific and formal, the administrative answer is also less formal. Comparatively, a judicial proceeding answer is tightly formatted and most answers merely admit or deny the allegations of the complaint.
Procedure up to trial and/or public hearing also varies between judicial and administrative proceedings. While the forms of discovery, such as interrogatories, requests for production of documents, and requests to admit can be similar in both proceedings, there can be subtle differences in these discovery requests that can vary from administrative agency to administrative agency because each administrative agency often has its own set of procedural rules. In a judicial proceeding, these discovery requests and responses tend to be similar as there is only one set of procedural rules governing judicial proceedings. Another difference between administrative and judicial proceedings arises in the context of deposing witnesses. While depositions of witnesses are common in judicial proceedings, in certain administrative proceedings there are no depositions at all.
Finally, the actual trial or hearing of an administrative or judicial proceeding tends to be different. Administrative hearings tend to be less formal, both structurally and in terms of evidence. Judicial hearings tend to be more form centered and the rules of evidence are always applicable. However, the end result of both an administrative or judicial proceeding is still the same: the judge makes a determination in favor of one party or the other which can, ultimately, be appealed further up the chain.
The Law Firm is committee to representing its clients before all investigation authorities, whether before prosecution or in different types of courts, police stations or the Labor Department of Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, etc.

First: Maritime

The Law Firm provides unique services in both Maritime and Aviation sectors in connection with loading and unloading cargo and travelling of passengers, adding to all relevant in-rem rights in regard to drafting and reviewing contracts, as well as, settling all sorts of disputes, regardless of the cause, via amicable solutions.
Shipping is considered to be the cornerstone of the economy of most coastal countries, located near seas or oceans, facilitating exchange of trade, leading to the existence of legal impacts, accompanied with loading and unloading of container cargo operations form harbors to customized piers.
ALREADA Law Firm provides professional legal assistance programs for registering shipping corporates and the settlement of disputes that may arise with and second party, in all areas of business and at any stage or level.

Maintenance and cure

The obligation to "cure" requires a ship owner to provide medical care, free of charge, to a seaman injured in the service of the ship, until the seaman has reached "maximum medical cure". The concept of "maximum medical cure" is more extensive than the concept "maximum medical improvement". The obligation to "cure" a seaman includes the obligation to provide him with medications and medical devices which improve his ability to function, even if they don't "improve" his actual condition. They may include long term treatments that permit him to continue to function well. Common examples include prostheses, wheelchairs, and pain medications.
The obligation of "maintenance" requires the ship owner to provide a seaman with his basic living expenses while he is convalescing. Once a seaman is able to work, he is expected to maintain himself. Consequently, a seaman can lose his right to maintenance, while the obligation to provide cure is ongoing. A seaman who is required to sue a ship owner to recover maintenance and cure may also recover his attorneys fees. If a ship owner's breach of its obligation to provide maintenance and cure is willful and wanton, the ship owner may be subject to punitive damages.
Personal injuries to passengers
Ship owners owe a duty of reasonable care to passengers. Consequently, passengers who are injured aboard ships may bring suit as if they had been injured ashore through the negligence of a third party. The passenger bears the burden of proving that the ship owner was negligent. While the statute of limitations is generally three years, suits against cruise lines must usually be brought within one year because of limitations contained in the passenger ticket. Notice requirements in the ticket may require a formal notice to be brought within six months of the injury.

Maritime liens and mortgages

Banks which loan money to purchase ships, vendors who supply ships with necessaries like fuel and stores, seamen who are due wages, and many others have a lien against the ship to guarantee payment. To enforce the lien, the ship must be arrested or seized.

Salvage and treasure salvage

When property is lost at sea and rescued by another, the rescuer is entitled to claim a salvage award on the salved property. There is no "life salvage". All mariners have a duty to save the lives of others in peril without expectation of reward. Consequently, salvage law applies only to the saving of property. There are two types of salvage: contract salvage and pure salvage, which is sometimes referred to as "merit salvage". In contract salvage the owner of the property and salvor enter into a salvage contract prior to the commencement of salvage operations and the amount that the salvor is paid is determined by the contract. In pure salvage, there is no contract between the owner of the goods and the salvor. The relationship is one which is implied by law. The salvor of property under pure salvage must bring his claim for salvage in court, which will award salvage based upon the "merit" of the service and the value of the salvaged property. Pure salvage claims are divided into "high-order" and "low-order" salvage. In high-order salvage, the salvor exposes himself and his crew to the risk of injury and loss or damage to his equipment to salvage the damaged ship. Examples of high-order salvage are boarding a sinking ship in heavy weather, boarding a ship which is on fire, raising a ship or boat which has already sunk, or towing a ship which is in the surf away from the shore. Low-order salvage occurs where the salvor is exposed to little or no personal risk. Examples of low-order salvage include towing another vessel in calm seas, supplying a vessel with fuel, or pulling a vessel off a sand bar. Salvors performing high order salvage receive substantially greater salvage award than those performing low order salvage. In both high-order and low-order salvage the amount of the salvage award is based first upon the value of the property saved. If nothing is saved, or if additional damage is done, there will be no award. The other factors to be considered are the skills of the salvor, the peril to which the salvaged property was exposed, the value of the property which was risked in effecting the salvage, the amount of time and money expended in the salvage operation etc. A pure or merit salvage award will seldom exceed 50 percent of the value of the property salved. The exception to that rule is in the case of treasure salvage. Because sunken treasure has generally been lost for hundreds of years, while the original owner (or insurer, if the vessel was insured) continues to have an interest in it, the salvor or finder will generally get the majority of the value of the property. Due to refinements in side-scanning sonars, many ships which were previously missing are now being located and treasure salvage is now a less risky endeavor than it was in the past, although it is still highly speculative and expensive.

International conventions

Prior to the mid-1970s, most international conventions concerning maritime trade and commerce originated in a private organization of maritime lawyers known as the Comité Maritime International (International Maritime Committee or CMI). Founded in 1897, the CMI was responsible for the drafting of numerous international conventions including the Hague Rules (International Convention on Bills of Lading), the Visby Amendments (amending the Hague Rules), the Salvage Convention and many others. While the CMI continues to function in an advisory capacity, many of its functions have been taken over by the International Maritime Organization, which was established by the United Nations in 1958 but did not become truly effective until about 1974. The IMO has prepared numerous international conventions concerning maritime safety including the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), the Standards for Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STCW), the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (Collision Regulations or COLREGS), Maritime Pollution Regulations (MARPOL), International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue Convention (IAMSAR) and others. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) defined a treaty regarding protection of the marine environment and various maritime boundaries. Restrictions on international fishing such as International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling also form part of the body of conventions in international waters. Other commercial conventions include the International Convention relating to the Limitation of the Liability of Owners of Sea-Going Ships, Brussels, 10 October 1957. and International Convention for Safe Containers. Once adopted, the international conventions are enforced by the individual nations which are signatories, either through their local Coast Guards, or through their courts.

Piracy

Merchant vessels transiting areas of increased pirate activity (i.e. the Gulf of Aden, Somali Basin, Southern Red Sea and Bab-el-Mandeb straits) are advised to implement Self-Protective measures in accordance with most recent Best Management Practices agreed upon by the members of the merchant industry, and endorsed by the NATO Shipping Centre, and the Maritime Security Centre Horn-of-Africa (MSCHOA)

Individual countries

Most of the common law countries (including Pakistan, Singapore, India, and many other Commonwealth of Nations countries) follow English statute and case law. India still follows many Victorian-era British statutes such as the Admiralty Court Act 1861 [24 Vict c 10]. Whilst Pakistan now has its own statute, the Admiralty Jurisdiction of High Courts Ordinance, 1980 (Ordinance XLII of 1980), it also follows English case law. One reason for this is that the 1980 Ordinance is partly modeled on old English admiralty law, namely the Administration of Justice Act 1956. The current statute dealing with the Admiralty jurisdiction of the England and Wales High Court is the Supreme Court Act 1981, ss. 20-24, 37. The provisions in those sections are, in turn, based on the International Arrest Convention 1952. Other countries which do not follow the English statute and case laws, such as Panama, also have established well-known maritime courts which decide international cases on a regular basis.
Admiralty courts assume jurisdiction by virtue of the presence of the vessel in its territorial jurisdiction irrespective of whether the vessel is national or not and whether registered or not, and wherever the residence or domicile or their owners may be. A vessel is usually arrested by the court to retain jurisdiction. State-owned vessels are usually immune from arrest.
There are five types of cases which can only be brought in federal court: •Limitation of Ship Owner's Liability,
•Vessel Arrests in Rem,
•Property arrests Quasi in Rem,
•Salvage cases, and
•Petitory and Possession Actions.
The common element of those cases are that they require the court to exercise jurisdiction over maritime property. For example, in a Petitory and Possession Action, a vessel whose title is in dispute, usually between co-owners, will be put in the possession of the court until the title dispute can be resolved. In a Limitation Action the ship owner will post a bond reflecting the value of the vessel and her pending freight.
Aside from those five types of cases, all other maritime cases, such as claims for personal injuries, cargo damage, collisions, maritime products liability, and recreational boating accidents may be brought in either federal or state court.
Maritime law is governed by a uniform three-year statute of limitations for personal injury and wrongful death cases. Cargo cases must be brought within two years (extended from the one-year allowance under the Hague-Visby Rules), pursuant to the adoption of the Rotterdam Rules. Most major cruise ship passenger tickets have a one-year statute of limitations.

Second: Aviation

Usage of aircrafts establish legal bonds entered under certain regulations and obligation provisions, namely in-rem rights on the aircraft, contract of transportation, liability of the transporter, and the passenger, along with insurance aspects. ALREADA Law Firm is poised to assist with any matter related to Aviation.
Aviation law is the branch of law that concerns flight, air travel, and associated legal and business concerns. Some of its area of concern overlaps that of admiralty law and, in many cases, aviation law is considered a matter of international law due to the nature of air travel. However, the business aspects of airlines and their regulation also fall under aviation law. In the international realm, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) provides general rules and mediates international concerns to an extent regarding aviation law. The ICAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations.

Third: IPR, Patents & Trademarks

Whether you are an individual or a multi-national company, our legal services provide your respective side with instant response and effective representation to protect your inventions or designs or trademark globally.
In light of the International Treaty of Patents, our Law Firm enables its selective clients to seek protection for their patents in nearly all countries, through submitting of certain international applications in one language and fees payable in one currency. The international treaty concerned with protecting patents postpones major cost related to the protection of international patents and provides solid foundation for accrediting patents, clearly utilized by international companies, think tanks and universities.
In compliance with the international mechanisms concerned with regulating intellectual property, the Hague statue enables the registration of industrial designs in different countries, with minimum amounts of costs and limited procedures. The Hague statute replaces several recordings with only one that enables the registration of one hundred industrial designs, via one application only, which facilitates the management of registered designs, constraining changes or amendments by using only one procedure.

Fourth: Manufacture and Industry

In this context, ALREADA Law Firm supplies unique legal services distinctive from those provided by other laws firms, particularly related to the registration and/or the renewal procedures of licenses concerned with undertaking businesses, among other procedures imposed by special government bodies. Moreover, legal services provided in regard to these areas also include disputes that arise, with persons or entities, as a result of carrying out activities by our clients in the field of Manufacture and Industry, on a domestic or international level.
Legal services include the following areas of practice of law: • Oil and Gas,
• Iron and Steel,
• Textile and Fabric,
• Mining and Metals,
• Energy,
• Clothing,
• Pharmaceuticals,
• Plastic and Rubber,
• Medicine,
• Consuming Products, and
• Porcelain and Bo China

Fifth: Construction Works

In reference to the Law Firm's reputation on the local market, our clients are the most prestigious working construction companies in Kuwait and we were truly honored to have ALAHMADIAH CONTRACTING & TRADING CO., THE ARAB CONTRACTORS-KUWAIT, and others as our clients in the practice of law.
The value o some projects implemented by our clients in the state of Kuwait has exceeded the amount of 100 million KD per project. Handling various and different legal aspects allowed us to accumulate sufficient professional expertise to deliver all of our clients the required legal protection that enhances business flow.
Clients of the Law Firm, in the field of construction works, are varied form international enterprises to domestic corporations and differ in the scope of their works, from buildings to real-estate constructions.

Sixth: National and International Trade

The Law Firm affords all legal services relevant to commercial procedures, such as drafting of corporate foundation contracts and attendance of ordinary and non-ordinary meetings of general assemblies.
In the field of national trade, we demonstrate our expertise to our selective clients by legalizing their business in Kuwait, through the issuance of license, reconciling any related disputes and interpreting governing domestic trade laws.
In the context of international trade, ALRAEDA Law Firm makes available special legal assistance programs to corporates, working within the framework of Import and Export, that target raising of the awareness of laws, regulations and procedures that govern such transactions and trade processes, in general. Moreover, the Law Firm bestows all economic foundations working in this field with all sufficient and required legal protection.

Seventh: Capital Market and Stocks

ALRAEDA has accumulated legal expertise in the handling of various stakeholders working in the area of Capital Market and stocks, that enable us to have a clear vision of the importance of financial institutions as bases and pillars of national and the global economic system. We have taken into account the economic integration in different shapes, such as free trade zone, custom union, common market, full economic integration, and emerging economies.
The Research and Development Legislation Unit of the Law Firm studies the factors and variables driving the domestic and global economic process. At the same time, we extract pointers that illustrate the consecutive approach, possibilities and scenarios, for amends that may occur on the legislation scene, due to studies carried out by the Unit.
The Law Firm provides a legal base for financial institution transactions, both in domestic or international markets. Whether in connections with finance, financial re-structuring and hiccups, nominal capital value and issued capital value, securities, stock companies, banking sector, funds, an donors, we are prepared to serve our clients.
ALRAEDA offers legal assistance programs on all levels and state of collaboration, in regard to activities carried out by economic entities.

Eighth: Legal Frame for Practicing Medicine

Our Law Firm facilitates the most professional legal services in connection with the issuance of operation licenses for medical centers and its operational staff, based on our expertise and exposure to laws and bylaws regulating such activity in the state of Kuwait.
The Legal capacity of the Law Firm draft and review supplies contracts for medical devices, as well as, drafting and reviewing the operational investment contract, employment contracts and follow-up procedures of issuing the medical sponsorship licenses and the operational licenses of medical centers regardless of their specialization.
ALRAEDA Law Firm handles medical negligence and tort lawsuits and achieves judgments in favor of our clients. Our record speaks for itself.

Ninth: Compensations

Our legal team includes skilled lawyers and legal representatives in the area of lawful compensation claims, as the Law Firm believes that every human being has the right to preserve his rights to refrain from being subjected to damages. This is one of the fundamental and logical rights protected by religions and laws and international conventions.