Bahrain is a country located in the Middle East. About 47% of them are
Bahraini. 43% Asian, 5% other Arabs etc. 80% follow Islam. 14%
Christian, 10% Hindu, 2% Buddhist, less than 1% Jewish. The official
language is Arabic.
According to the constitution, the state
provides extensive encouragement in science and related research.
Education is free and compulsory. Health and preventive measures will be
ensured for every citizen. All natural resources are also considered as
resources. Taxes will not be levied on low income citizens. In reality,
whatever the situation is, according to the constitution, everyone is
guaranteed equal rights irrespective of gender, language and religion.
Everyone has the right to assemble at their own place without permission
or prior notice. Whatever the real situation is, according to the
constitution, the legislative, the executive and the judiciary are
separate.
These are positive aspects. Now let's discuss the negative aspects.
Whatever the constitution says, in reality Bahrain is a monarchy.
Technically all power is in the hands of the king. And the current Prime
Minister is also his son. According to the constitution, the king is
the "Protector of Islam", and thus all opposition movements are
suppressed. Whoever opposes the monarchy will be the enemy of Islam. The
state religion is Islam, and the main source of law is Islamic Sharia
law. According to the constitution, Bahrain is an "Arab state", and one
of Bahrain's goals is to uphold the Arab brotherhood. The members of the
legislature have to swear, "I swear by Almighty God that I shall be
loyal to the country and the King ...".
Admirable Articles of Bahrain’s Constitution
Article 7 (Part of it)
a. The State sponsors the sciences, humanities and the arts, and encourages scientific research. The State also guarantees educational and cultural services to its citizens. Education is compulsory and free in the early stages as specified and provided by law. The necessary plan to combat illiteracy is laid down by law.
c. Individuals and bodies may establish private schools and universities under the supervision of the state and in accordance with the law.
Article 8
a. Every citizen is entitled to health care. The State cares for public health and the State ensures the means of prevention and treatment by establishing a variety of hospitals and health care institutions.
b. Individuals and bodies may establish private hospitals, clinics or treatment centers under the supervision of the State in accordance with the law.
Article 9 (Part of it)
e. The relationship between the owners of land and real estate and their tenants shall be regulated by law on economic principles while observing social justice.
f. The State shall endeavor to provide housing for citizens with limited income.
h. The State shall take the necessary measures for the protection of the environment and the conversation of wildlife.
Article 11
All natural wealth and resources are State property. The State shall safeguard them and exploit them properly, while observing the requirements of the security of the State and of the national economy.
Article 13
a. Work is the duty of every citizen, is required by personal dignity and is dictated by the public good. Every citizen has the right to work and to choose the type of work within the bounds of public order and decency.
b. The State guarantees the provision of job opportunities for its citizens and the fairness of work conditions.
c. Compulsory work cannot be imposed on any person except in the cases specified by law for national exigency and for a fair consideration, or pursuant to a judicial ruling.
d. The law regulates the relationship between employees and employers on economic basis while observing social justice.
Article 15
a. Taxes and public costs are based on social justice, and their payment is a duty under the law.
b. The law regulates exemption of low incomes from taxes in order to ensure that a minimum standard of living is safeguarded.
Article 18
People are equal in human dignity, and citizens are equal before the law in public rights and duties. There shall be no discrimination among them on the basis of sex, origin, language, religion or creed.
Article 19
a. Personal freedom is guaranteed under the law.
b. A person cannot be arrested, detained, imprisoned or searched, or his place of residence specified or his freedom of residence or movement restricted, except under the provisions of the law and under judicial supervision.
c. A person cannot be detained or imprisoned in locations other than those designated in the prison regulations covered by health and social care and subject to control by the judicial authority.
d. No person shall be subjected to physical or mental torture, or inducement, or undignified treatment, and the penalty for so doing shall be specified by law. Any statement or confession proved to have been made under torture, inducement, or such treatment, or the threat thereof, shall be null and void.
Article 20
a. There shall be no crime and no punishment except under a law, and punishment only for acts committed subsequent to the effective date of the law providing for the same.
b. Punishment is personal.
c. An accused person is innocent until proved guilty in a legal trial in which he is assured of the necessary guarantees to exercise the right of defence at all stages of the investigation and trial in accordance with the law.
d. It is forbidden to harm an accused person physically or mentally.
e. Every person accused of an offense must have lawyer to defend him with his consent.
f. The right to litigate is guaranteed under the law.
Article 25
Dwellings are inviolate. They cannot be entered or searched without the permission of their occupants exception in cases of maximum necessity as laid down and in the manner provided by law.
Article 26
The freedom of postal, telegraphic, telephonic and electronic communication is safeguarded and its confidentiality is guaranteed. Communications shall not be censored or their confidentiality breached except in exigencies specified by law and in accordance with procedures and under guarantees prescribed by law.
Article 28
a. Individuals are entitled to assemble privately without a need for permission or prior notice, and no member of the security forces may attend their private meetings.
b. Public meetings, parades and assemblies are permitted under the rules and conditions laid down by law, but the purposes and means of the meeting must be peaceful and must not be prejudicial to public decency.
Article 32 (Part of it)
a. The system of government rests on a separation of the legislative, executive and judicial authorities while maintaining cooperation between them in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution. None of the three authorities may assign all or part of its powers stated in this Constitution. However, limited legislative delegation for a particular period and specific subject(s) is permissible, whereupon the powers shall be exercised in accordance with the provisions of the Delegation Law.
Article 48 (Part of it)
b. While in charge of his Ministry, a Minister may not assume any other public office, nor may he even indirectly practice a profession or conduct industrial, commercial or financial business, nor may he participate in contracts concluded by the Government or public institutions, or combine his ministerial position with the membership of the board of directors of any company except as a non-remunerated Government representative. Also during this period the Minister may not purchase or rent a State asset even by way of public auction, nor may he lease, sell, or barter any of his assets to the State.
Article 59
Should a seat in the Chamber of Deputies become vacant prior to the end of its term, for any reason, a replacement shall be elected within two months of the Chamber’s announcement of the vacancy, and the new member’s term shall last for the remaining term of his predecessor.
If the vacancy was caused by the resignation of the member, that member may not nominate himself for the membership in the Chamber during the legislative term in which he tendered his resignation.
If the vacancy occurs within the final six months of the term of the Chamber, a replacement shall not be elected.
Article 85
Should the two Chambers disagree over a bill twice, the National Assembly, presided over by the President of the Chamber of Deputies, shall convene for deliberation on the disputed clauses, and the bill shall require the approval of the majority of the members of the National Assembly present. If the bill is rejected in this manner, it may not be submitted to the National Assembly again during the same legislative session.
Article 109
a. The financial year shall be prescribed by law.
b. The Government prepares the draft budget, including the state revenues and expenses, and presents it to the Chamber of Deputies and the Consultative Council at least two months prior to the end of the fiscal year. Following the submission of the draft budget, the financial committees of either Chamber shall meet in a joint session to discuss the draft budget with the Government, following which each committee submits a separate report to its Chamber. The draft budget is presented to the Chamber of Deputies for discussion and then submitted to the Consultative Council for review in accordance with the constitution, and amendments to the draft budget are possible in agreement with the Government.
c. Discussion of the draft budget is on the basis of the itemization contained therein. A budget may be prepared for two years at the most, and none of the public revenues may be assigned to an expense without a law.
d. The State general budget shall be promulgated by law.
e. If the Budget Law is not promulgated before the beginning of the financial year, the previous budget shall be adheres to until the law’s promulgation, and revenue shall be collected and expenditure disbursed in accordance with the laws in force at the end of that year.
f. Under no circumstances may the maximum estimates of expenditure stated in the Budget Law and laws in amendment thereof be exceeded.
Article 118
The law shall regulate cash and the banks, and shall regulate weight, measures and standards.
Facts of Bahrain’s Constitution
Preamble (Part of it)
In the name of God on high, and with His Blessing, and with His help, we Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Sovereign of the Kingdom of Bahrain, in line with our determination, certainty, faith, and awareness of our national, pan-Arab and international Responsibilities; and in acknowledgment of our obligations to God, our obligations to the homeland and the citizens, and our commitment to fundamental principles and our responsibility to Mankind.
This amendment has taken account of all the lofty values and the great human principles enshrined in the National Action Charter. These values and principles confirm that the people of Bahrain surge ahead in their triumphant march towards a bright future, God willing, a future in which the efforts of all parties and individuals unite, and the authorities in their new garb devote themselves to achieve the hopes and aspirations under his tolerant rule, declaring their adherence to Islam as a faith, a code of laws and a way of life, with their affiliation to the great Arab nation, and their association with the Gulf Cooperation Council now and in the future, and their striving for everything that will achieve justice, good and peace for the whole of Mankind.
The amendments to the Constitution proceed from the premise that the noble people of Bahrain believe that Islam brings salvation in this world and the next, and that Islam means neither inertness nor fanaticism but explicitly states that wisdom is the goal of the believer wherever he finds it he should take it, and that the Qur’an has been remiss in nothing.
In order to achieve this goal, it is essential that we listen and look to the whole of the human heritage in both East and West, adopting that which we consider to be beneficial and suitable and consistent with our religion, values and traditions and is appropriate to our circumstances, in the conviction that social and human systems are not inflexible tools and instruments which can be moved unchanged from place to place, but are messages conveyed to the mind, spirit and conscience of man and are influenced by his reactions and their circumstances of his society.
Thus these constitutional amendments are representative of the advanced cultural thought of our beloved nation. They base our political system on a constitutional monarchy founded on counsel [shura], which in Islam is the highest model for governance, and on the people’s participation in the exercise of power, which is the foundation of modern political thought. The Ruler, with his perspicacity, chooses certain experienced people to constitute the Consultative Council (Majlis al-Shura), and the aware, free and loyal people choose through elections those who make up the Chamber of Deputies (Majlis al-Nuwwab), and thus the two chambers together achieve the popular will represented by the National Assembly (Al-Majlis al-Watani).
Article 1 (Part of it)
a. The Kingdom of Bahrain is fully sovereign, independent Islamic Arab State whose population is part of the Arab nation and whose territory is part of the great Arab homeland. Its sovereignty may not be assigned or any of its territory abandoned.
b. The regime of the Kingdom of Bahrain is that of a hereditary constitutional monarchy, which has been handed down by the late Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa to his eldest son Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the King. Then forward it will pass to his eldest son, one generation after another, unless the King in his lifetime appoints a son other than his eldest son as successor, in accordance with the provisions of the Decree on inheritance stated in the following clause.
c. All provisions governing inheritance are regulated by a special Royal Decree that will have a constitutional character, and which can only be amended under the provisions of Article 120 of the Constitution.
f. This Constitution may be amended only partly, and in the manner provided herein.
Article 2
The religion of the State is Islam. The Islamic Shari’a is a principal source for legislation. The official language is Arabic.
Article 5
a. The family is the basis of society, deriving its strength from religion, morality and love of the homeland. The law preserves its lawful entity, strengthens its bonds and values, under its aegis extends protection to mothers and children, tends the young and protects them from exploitation and safeguards them against moral, bodily and spiritual neglect. The State cares in particular for the physical, moral and intellectual development of the young.
b. The State guarantees reconciling the duties of women towards the family with their work in society, and their equality with men in political, social, cultural, and economic spheres without breaching the provisions of Islamic canon law (Shari’a).
c. The State guarantees the requisite social security for its citizens in old age, sickness, disability, orphanhood, widowhood or unemployment, and also provides them with social insurance and health care services. It strives to safeguard them against ignorance, fear and poverty.
d. Inheritance is a guaranteed right governed by the Islamic Shari’a.
Article 6
The State safeguards the Arab and Islamic heritage. It contributes to the advancement of human civilization and strives to strengthen the bonds between the Islamic countries, and to achieve the aspirations of the Arab nation for unity and progress.
Article 9 (Part of it)
a. Ownership, capital and work—in accordance with the principles of Islamic justice— are basic constituents of the social entity of the State and the national wealth, and are all individual rights with a social function regulated by law.
Article 30
a. Peace is the objective of the State. The safety of the nation is part of the safety of the Arab homeland as a whole, and its defense is a sacred duty of every citizen. Performance of military service is an honor for citizens and is regulated by law.
Article 33
a. The King is Head of State, and its nominal representative, and his person is inviolate. He is the loyal protector of the religion and the homeland, and the symbol of national unity.
Article 51
The National Assembly consists of two Chambers: the Consultative Council and the Chamber of Deputies.
Article 52
The Consultative Council consists of forty members appointed by Royal Decree, in accordance with the procedures, conditions, and the method defined by Royal Decree.
Article 78
Every member of the Consultative Council or the Chamber of Deputies shall take the following oath in public session, prior to pursuing their work in the Chamber or its committees:
“I swear by Almighty God that I shall be loyal to the country and the King, shall respect the Constitution and the laws of the State, shall defend the freedoms, interests and assets of the people, and shall perform my work honestly and sincerely.”
