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
- FEBRUARY 26, 2018BahrainDEATH PENALTY
BAHRAIN UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE FOR BOMBING LINKED TO IRAN
Bahrain's highest appeals court upheld a death sentence and lengthy jail terms in a mass trial over a fatal 2016 bombing that authorities have linked to Iran.
FEBRUARY 1, 2018BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN: TWO DEATH PENALTIES
The Fourth High Criminal Court in Bahrain, headed by Judge Ali Khalifa Al Dhahrani, unanimously sentenced Mousa Abdullah Mousa Jaafar to death on charges of killing a policeman in the Karana bombing.
JANUARY 31, 2018BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN: TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH IN JAW PRISON ESCAPE AND POLICE OFFICER MURDER CASE
A Bahraini court issued harsh sentences against 58 defendants in the case involving the Jaw Prison escape, harboring of fugitives and killing of police officer Al-Hammadi.
JANUARY 29, 2018BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN: ACTIVIST'S DEATH SENTENCE UPHELD DESPITE TORTURE ALLEGATIONS
Manama’s Cassation Court ruled in favor of upholding Maher al-Khabaz’s death sentence.
- JANUARY 1, 2018BahrainDEATH PENALTY
The offences for which capital punishment either can or must
The offences for which capital punishment either can or must
DECEMBER 25, 2017BahrainDEATH PENALTYBAHRAIN: SIX SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, TERROR ATTACKS
Bahrain’s High Military Court sentenced six defendants, including a soldier, to death on charges of forming a terrorist group, attempting to assassinate the Commander-in-Chief of Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) and carrying out terror attacks.
- NOVEMBER 23, 2017Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
ANTI-TERROR STATES ADD 2 ENTITIES, 11 INDIVIDUALS TO TERRORIST BLACKLIST
The Anti-Terror Quartet (ATQ); Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain, added two entities and 11 individuals to its blacklist.
- NOVEMBER 22, 2017BahrainDEATH PENALTY
BAHRAIN: COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY AGAINST HUSSEIN MARZOUQ, ACCUSED BY AUTHORITIES OF BEING BEHIND FAKHRIYA MUSLIM’S DEATH
The Bahraini Court of Appeal upheld the death sentence issued against detainee Hussein Marzouq, who was accused by the authorities of being behind a bombing that resulted in the death of Fakhriya Muslim.
- JUNE 19, 2017BahrainDEATH PENALTY
BAHRAIN: ONE SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER DEADLY 2016 BOMBING
A Bahrain court sentenced to death one person and another to life in prison over a 2016 bombing that killed a woman in a Shiite-majority village.
- JUNE 6, 2017BahrainDEATH PENALTY
BAHRAIN COURT GIVES DEATH, JAIL SENTENCES TO DOZEN DISSIDENTS
Bahrain's Fourth High Criminal Court, presided by Ali Khalifah al-Dhahrani, delivered the death verdicts to Sayed Ahmed Fouad al-Abar and Hussein Ali Mahdi, sentenced two other defendants to life imprisonment and passed prison sentences ranging from 3 to
- APRIL 3, 2017BahrainDEATH PENALTY
Bahrain's king approved the amendment to Article 105(b) of Bahrain's constitution granting military courts the right to try civilians, according to the official BNA news agency.
Bahrain's king approved the amendment to Article 105(b) of Bahrain's constitution granting military courts the right to try civilians, according to the official BNA news agency.
- MARCH 29, 2017BahrainDEATH PENALTY
BAHRAIN COURT GIVES JAIL, DEATH SENTENCES TO DISSIDENTS
A Bahraini court has handed down a jail sentence to a leader of the banned opposition al-Wefaq National Islamic Society and death and jail sentences to other anti-regime activists.