Major amendments to Bahrain's 40-year-old Penal Code, including harsher punishments for manslaughter and defaming government employees, have been approved by the Shura Council.

The amendments, originally suggested by parliament, were endorsed by Shura yesterday and if ratified by His Majesty King Hamad will bring about the most sweeping reforms of Bahrain's criminal law in almost half a century, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Supporting the changes, Shura foreign affairs, defence and national security committee chairwoman Sawsan Taqawi pointed out that the current Penal Code was introduced in 1976 and, aside from some minor amendments in 2000, had remained largely unchanged.

“The punishments that were tough in 1976 are not tough anymore and for that changes are necessary now to ensure justice,” she said.

“Some crimes have dangerous repercussions on society but are not being dealt with accordingly.

“Therefore the amendments presented by parliament and fine-tuned by us will put the Penal Code on the right track, where the punishment fits the crime.”

Under the new amendments, which will now be studied again by parliament due to Shura's revisions, staff at government-owned companies will face the same penalties for bribery as civil servants.

This amendment was put forward by the Interior and Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments ministries to tackle the problem of private companies that cannot be dealt with as if they were in the public sector even if the government owns more than a 50 per cent stake in them.

Military and security personnel, public representatives and non-government employees tasked with undertaking public services will also be included in this newly defined 'civil servant' bracket.

Meanwhile, those who insult parliament, the Shura Council, security forces, judges or 'public interest' will now face jail sentences under the revised code.

Publicly encouraging others to defame someone will also now carry a jail sentence of up to two years and a fine of up to BD300 ($790), which will increase to up to three years and a fine of no less than BD300 if the reputations of government employees or their families are involved.

Publishing the defamation in local media will result in a more severe punishment, to be determined by the court.

Jail sentences for manslaughter are also set to triple, with a new maximum of three years in prison set for those convicted of the crime, five years if there are multiple victims and up to 10 years if it was caused by the negligence of a government employee. - TradeArabia News Service