Bahrain
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- constitutional monarchy
- CONSTITUTION
- February 14, 2002; amended in 2012, 2017
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- mixed legal system of Islamic law (sharia), English common law, Egyptian civil, criminal, and commercial codes; customary law; has not submitted a declaration of jurisdiction to the ICJ
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- bicameral legislature composed of the Consultative Council and the Council of Representatives (House of Deputies)
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Court of Cassation (composed of the president and 3 judges); Supreme Court of Appeal (composed of the president and 3 judges); Constitutional Court (composed of the president and 6 members); High Sharia Appeal Court (court sessions include the president and at least one judge); High civil appeal courts; intermediate and lower civil courts; High Sharia Appeal Court; High Sharia Court; Administrative Appeal Courts; military courts
RELIGIONS
Muslim 73.7%, Christian 9.3%, Jewish 0.1%, other 16.9% (estimate 2017)
From the country
- JANUARY 1, 2001BahrainDEATH PENALTY
The first execution in 20 years took place on March 29, 1996
The first execution in 20 years took place on March 29, 1996
- JANUARY 1, 2001BahrainDEATH PENALTY
The offenses for which capital punishment either can...
The offenses for which capital punishment either can or must be applied are: premeditated murder, plotting to topple the regime, collaborating with a foreign hostile country, threatening the life of the Emir, and defiance of military orders in time of war
- DECEMBER 31, 2000BahrainDEATH PENALTY
Bahrain executed Shi'ite activist Isa Ahmed Qambar...
Bahrain executed Shi'ite activist Isa Ahmed Qambar for killing a policeman, the first such move against an anti-government protester since political unrest erupted in the Gulf Arab state in 1994
- DECEMBER 26, 2000BahrainDEATH PENALTY
Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa issued a decree...
Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa issued a decree commuting to life terms the death sentences against Ali Ahmed al-Asfoor, Youssef Hassan Abdul-Baqi and Ahmed Khalil al-Kattab, three Bahraini Shi'ite Muslims for a 1996 arson attack in which seven Bang
- DECEMBER 25, 2000BahrainDEATH PENALTY
Yeshiwork Desta Zewdu, a 20 years old Ethiopia woman...
Yeshiwork Desta Zewdu, a 20 years old Ethiopia woman was sentenced to death by a Bahraini court in November after she was found guilty of killing her Filipino employer in 1998
- MARCH 6, 2000BahrainDEATH PENALTY
On March 6, 2000, Sheikh Hamad Bin `Issa Al Khalifa...
On March 6, 2000, Sheikh Hamad Bin `Issa Al Khalifa succeeded his late father Sheikh `Issa Bin Salman Al Khalifa as amir
- JANUARY 1, 2000BahrainDEATH PENALTY
The offenses for which capital punishment either can...
The offenses for which capital punishment either can or must be applied are: premeditated murder, plotting to topple the regime, collaborating with a foreign hostile country, threatening the life of the Emir, and defiance of military orders in time of war
- JANUARY 1, 2000BahrainDEATH PENALTY
The first execution in 20 years took place on March 29, 1996
The first execution in 20 years took place on March 29, 1996
- JULY 22, 1999BahrainDEATH PENALTY
Bahrain signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999, addressed...
Bahrain signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999, addressed to the President of the Economic and Social Council, in which the retentionist countries dissociated from the Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/61 on the question of the death penalty
- FEBRUARY 20, 1999BahrainDEATH PENALTY
On February 20, the trial of Sheikh Abdul-Amir al-Jamri,...
On February 20, the trial of Sheikh Abdul-Amir al-Jamri, Bahrain's leading Shiite Muslim opposition activist began in the island's State Security Court and was adjourned to allow Jamri's wife, who was also present with their three sons, to form a group of
- JANUARY 1, 1999BahrainDEATH PENALTY
The offenses for which capital punishment either can...
The offenses for which capital punishment either can or must be applied are: premeditated murder, plotting to topple the regime, collaborating with a foreign hostile country, threatening the life of the Emir, and defiance of military orders in time of war