The death penalty is provided for by laws based on the Sharia.

The death penalty is provided for by laws based on the Sharia. Capital crimes include murder, rape and crimes against the security of State. Sexual molesters are also liable to capital punishment.
Since 1995 the death penalty has been a mandatory punishment for certain drug-related offences. The first drug-related executions were in 1998 when Kuwait hung two Iranians found guilty of drug smuggling.
Death sentences, which are normally carried out by hanging, can be appealed twice and must receive the final approval of Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Emir of the State of Kuwait.
At least seven people were put to death in 2005. Two people had been executed in 2001, including a woman, five in 2002, and nine in 2004. No executions were reported in the country in 2003.
Kuwait introduced the death penalty in 1964. According to AFP, by November 2006 Kuwait had executed a total of 70 people including three women. At least 11 executions took place in 2006 and one was recorded in 2007.
On December 18, 2008 Kuwait voted against the Resolution on a Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty at the UN General Assembly.