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 3, 2019BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN: DEATH PENALTY UPHELD FOR DEFENDANTS IN 2015 BOMBINGS
Bahrain’s High Court of Appeal on 26 December 2018 unanimously upheld a verdict handed down to 26 suspects in the 2015 Abu Saiba bombings that killed a security officer and injured many others including civilians, announced Chief of the Terror Crime Prose
- JANUARY 1, 2019BahrainDEATH PENALTY
The offences for which capital punishment either can or must
The offences for which capital punishment either can or must
DECEMBER 31, 2018BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN: 9 NEW DEATH PENALTIES, 5 ON DEATH ROW AND 147 LIFE SENTENCES IN 2018
In 2018, nine new death sentences were handed down to political prisoners.
DECEMBER 31, 2018BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN: 9 NEW DEATH PENALTIES, 5 ON DEATH ROW AND 147 LIFE SENTENCES IN 2018
In 2018 nine new death sentences were handed down to political prisoners, secondo il Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR)
NOVEMBER 16, 2018BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN: REGIME COURTS ISSUED DEATH SENTENCES FOR 32 ACTIVISTS SINCE 2011
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) on 13 November 2018 condemned the kingdom’s persistence on passing death sentences against anti-regime activists, calling the practice an “inhuman punishment” as the ruling Aal-e Khalifah regime presses ahead wit
NOVEMBER 13, 2018BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN: COURT SENTENCES FOUR NATIONALS TO DEATH OVER TERROR CHARGES
A Bahraini court on 12 November 2018 sentenced four of its nationals to death for their alleged roles in a deadly bombing last year.
- OCTOBER 31, 2018BahrainDEATH PENALTY
BAHRAIN: COURTS UPHOLD DEATH SENTENCES AGAINST TWO ANTI-REGIME ACTIVISTS
Bahraini courts on 29 October 2018 upheld death sentences against two anti-regime activists and revoked the citizenship of six others as the ruling Al Khalifah regime presses ahead with its heavy clampdown on political dissidents and pro-democracy activis
OCTOBER 24, 2018BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN REVERSES DEATH SENTENCE AGAINST TWO CITIZENS
Bahrain’s Court of Cassation accepted the verdict in form and turned down the appealed death penalty in substance against defendants Hussain Ali Moussa and Mohammed Ramadan Essa, Asharq Al-Awsat reported on 23 October 2018.
JUNE 17, 2018BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN: 3 SHIA CLERICS SENTENCED TO DEATH, 8 OTHERS TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT
Bahraini regime officials have handed down death sentences to three Shia clergymen and condemned eight others to life imprisonment
MAY 22, 2018BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCES AGAINST 2 ANTI-REGIME ACTIVISTS, REVOKES CITIZENSHIP OF 9 OTHERS
Manama upheld death sentences against two activists
APRIL 26, 2018BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCES HANDED DOWN BY MILITARY COURT
Bahrain’s king has commuted death sentences handed down to four men by a military court to life in prison, state news agency BNA reported.
MARCH 9, 2018BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN: 15 PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH
The Bahrain Court of Appeal confirmed the death sentence of 15 and the prison sentences of nineteen.