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 29, 2020BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN: THREE BANGLADESHIS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING COMPATRIOT
Three people who bludgeoned another to death with a hammer and a brick on 28 January 2020 were condemned to death in Bahrain.
JANUARY 9, 2020BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN: COURT REIMPOSES DEATH PENALTY FOR TWO PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS
Bahrain’s top criminal court has reimposed the death penalty on two pro-democracy activists using “false confessions” obtained under torture, rights groups said on 8 January 2020.
- JANUARY 1, 2020BahrainDEATH PENALTY
The offences for which capital punishment either can or must
The offences for which capital punishment either can or must
JULY 29, 2019BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN: TWO SHIA ACTIVISTS EXECUTED DESPITE CALLS TO HALT DEATH SENTENCES
Two Shia activists - Ahmad al-Mullali, 24, and Ali Hakim al-Arab, 25 - were executed at Jaw prison, south of the Bahraini capital Manama, on 26 July 2019 after private meetings with their famili
MAY 16, 2019BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN: TWO MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SMUGGLING HASHISH
Two of seven men who were caught smuggling 68 kilograms of Hashish to Bahrain from Iran were sentenced to death by the Supreme Court of Appeals on 13 May 2019.
MAY 14, 2019BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN: COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCES AGAINST TWO ANTI-REGIME ACTIVISTS
Bahrain’s supreme court of appeal on 12 May 2019 upheld death sentences against two anti-regime activists.
MAY 7, 2019BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN: COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCES AND PRISON TERMS LINKED TO TERRORIST CELL
Bahrain’s supreme court of appeal on 6 May 2019 upheld death sentences for two men convicted of forming a terrorist group that attacked security forces.
MARCH 3, 2019BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN: DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG SMUGGLERS
The First High Criminal Court on 27 February 2019 sentenced two defendants to death after finding them guilty of smuggling 68 kilograms of hashish from Iran through the sea
- FEBRUARY 26, 2019BahrainDEATH PENALTY
BAHRAIN: TWO DEATH SENTENCES UPHELD IN TERROR CASE
The Cassation Court in Bahrain upheld the death penalty for two defendants in the case of establishing and funding an illegal terrorist group, the murder of police officers and the attempted murder of others, Gulf News reported on 25 February 2019.
FEBRUARY 20, 2019BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN: MOSQUE IMAM MURDERER DEATH SENTENCE UPHELD
The Court of Cassation upheld on 11 February 2019 the death sentence handed down to the killer of the Imam of Bin Shaddah Mosque.
- FEBRUARY 11, 2019BahrainDEATH PENALTY
BAHRAIN: COURT GIVES DEATH PENALTY TO ACTIVIST, LIFE TERMS TO NEARLY TWO DOZEN OTHERS
Bahrain's Fourth High Criminal Court on 31 January 2019 passed the death penalty on a Bahraini national and sentenced 23 other activists to life in prison, the Arabic-language Lualua television network reported.
- JANUARY 9, 2019BahrainDEATH PENALTY
BAHRAIN: COURT HANDS DOWN DEATH SENTENCES TO DUO CONVICTED OF SELLING NARCOTICS
Seven men have been handed down various sentences on drug-related charges, Northern Prosecutor Mohammed Al Maliki announced on 31 December 2018.