Reports
Discussion Papers
No.653 Utilising the Judiciary to Reject the Popular Will? Legal Mobilization after the Arab Uprising in Kuwait
March 2017
ABSTRACT
This
study
examines
the
role
of
the
judiciary
in
the
political
process
after
the
Arab
Uprising,
focusing
on
a
Constitutional
Court
and
its
judgements
in
a
case
where
the
popular
will
was
rejected
via
a
judicial
ruling.
In
particular,
I
will
analyse
a
case
of
Kuwait
where
the
Constitutional
Court
declared
election
void
and
ordered
the
dissolution
of
parliament,
after
the
opposition
had
won
a
stable
majority.
This
case
conjures
images
of
legal
mobilization
by
the
regime;
however,
considering
the
political
context
where
the
government
and
parliament
were
in
a
serious
ongoing
conflict,
the
constitutional
rulings
by
the
Constitutional
Court
can
be
evaluated
as
a
mediator
intended
to
ease
the
stalemate
and
prevent
a
fall
into
a
more
serious
crisis
concurrent
with
the
political
upheaval
in
other
Arab
countries.
Keywords: legal
mobilization,
judicialization
of
politics,
democratization,
Kuwait
JEL
classification:
PDF available at http://hdl.handle.net/2344/00048859
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